Category archives: Musicians and scholars

Flute TS Sankaran – Kalakshetra 1988

  • 1. 0:0:00 kAmbhOdi aTa tALa varNam
  • 2. 0:11:11 gajAnanayutam – chkravAkam
  • 3. 0:20:16 sogasu jUDa – kannaDagowLam
  • 4. 0:26:50 nenaruncarA nApaini – simha vAhini
  • 5. 0:34:15 cinna nADE – kalAnidhi
  • 6. 0:45:35 rAgam + manasu swAdhInamaina – shankarAbharaNam
  • 7. 1:20:22 rAgam+ meevalla – kApi
  • 8. 1:35:38 rAgam + parama pAvana rAma – pUrvikalyANi + thani 9. 2:38:34 mariyAda telikanE – suraTi jAvaLi
  • 10. mangaLam

Vidwan TS Sankaran was Flute Mali’s favorite and most trusted disciple. Apart from imbibing many of his guru’s techniques, he has created several of his own. His music also sometimes reflects his passion for the other great genius piper of the 20th century, TN Rajaratnam Pillai, who hails from the same village as Shri Sankaran. His legacy, and that of his guru Mali, is fortunately being continued through his grandson, Flute Jayanth.

Live recording made on 31 December 1988 – shared by Ludwig Pesch under Creative Commons

TS Sankaran – biographical entry in Garland Vol. II by N. Rajagopalan
(Chennai 1992), p.264

Audio tip | JA Jayanth’s grandfather and guru TS Sankaran live at Kalakshetra >>

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Video | Carnatic Wave: A journey into the Karaikudi tradition


Carnatic Wave is an aural journey into the Karaikudi Veena tradition, a centuries old practice of Southern Indian classical music being carried on by a group of musicians in Portland, Oregon. This short documentary offers a glimpse into their world of Carnatic music, highlighting the importance and challenge of teaching traditional art forms in our modern society. – Documentary maker David Van Auken

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“Sampradaya is like a broad river and the bani is a tributary”: Umayalpuram Sivaraman on his 75 years of performance >>

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Why Carnatic Music Matters More Than Ever

Sruti 35th anniversary issue (October 2018) >>

by Ludwig Pesch

For this musicologist and author, there are good reasons to believe that Carnatic music matters, perhaps more than ever and almost anywhere in the world. So why not perform and teach it in the service of better education for all, for ecological awareness or in order to promote mutual respect in spite of all our differences? And in the process, get “invigorated and better equipped to tackle the larger issues at hand”.

Published by Shankar Ramchandran on behalf of Dhvani Ohio | Read or download the full article (PDF, 800 KB, updated 19 June 2021):

Why_Carnatic_Music_Matters_More_Than_EverDownload

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Related post: A brief introduction to Carnatic music >>

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What makes one refer to Carnatic music as “classical or art music”?

Tyagaraja depicted by Sangeeta Vidvan S. Rajam >>

Tyagaraja worried about many things — about the death of brahmanatva — the lofty way of thinking and living, of sham religiosity, of sycophancy, of Lord Rama’s reluctance to bestow grace. In one such song in the poignant raga Naganandini, he laments: sattaleni dinamunu vacchena

Such days have come…

Days that have no strength (sattu)

Strength that faith in God gives.

Reverence for parents and teachers is nought

And men indulge in evil acts

Such days have come…

But he did not worry for music except that it should not be divorced from bhakti. […]

What makes one refer to Carnatic music as “classical or art music”? Evoking Dr. Ashok Ranade’s suggestion of the musical pentad in India, religious music is a different genre of music from art music. Religious music consists of repertoire that is religious in content and it may and very often does use ragas and the tala. But the whole musical effect is towards heightening religious fervour. The repertoire of Carnatic music is predominantly religious; but the intent of a Carnatic concert is not religious — it is aesthetic. A good presentation of a composition focuses on correctness of lyrics, of patantara, of delivering raga nuances, of following the kala pramana or measure of time or laya, and indeed of bhava or communication of an emotive content. This emotional content is not religious but musical; intensity of imagination, artistry and delivery must evoke emotion, not literal meanings of words. […]

Even the brilliant Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, who was himself deeply religious, clarified that bhakti is essential for a Carnatic music, but this bhakti is for music, not for any personal deity. […]

Read the full article by Dr. Lakshmi Sreeram titled “Carnatic Music Ruminating the Landscape” (Indian Horizons July-September 2013, Indian Council for Cultural Relations New Delhi, PDF, 14,5 MB)

[Bold typeface added above for emphasis]

Roli Books | Other suppliers >>
Mahatma Gandhi on
Music of the mind and heart >>

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Video | “Breath of Life”: Carnatic flute by JA Jayanth

JA Jayant performs for Indian Arts Connection’s Breath of Life fundraising concert to buy oxygen concentrators to help with Indias 2nd wave of COVID.
He is accompanied by B Ananthakrishnan on the Violin, NC Bharadwaj on Mridangam and S Karthick on Ghatam.
Donations accepted
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/breath-…​

Audio tip | JA Jayanth’s grandfather and guru TS Sankaran live at Kalakshetra >>

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