Audio | Live concert by Bhushany Kalyanaraman

Bhushany Kalyanaraman

Complete live recording of a classical South Indian (Carnatic) vocal recital with announcements for each item

Items

1. Mangalavara Ganapate (Varnam) 05:14
Raga: Hamsadhvani; Tala: Adi; Composer: Tanjavoor S. Kalyanaraman

2. Sogasuga Mridanga Talamu (Kriti) 11:29
Raga: Sriranjani; Tala: Rupakam; Composer: Tyagaraja

3.Taye Tripura Sundari (Kriti) 07:05
Raga: Suddhasaveri; Tala: Khanda Chapu; Composer: Periyaswami Tooran

4. Minakshi Memudam (Kriti) 25:31
Raga: Purvikalyani (= Gamagakriya); Tala: Adi; Composer: Muttusvami Dikshitar

5. Shobhillu Saptasvara (Kriti) 05:17
Raga: Jaganmohini; Tala: Rupakam; Composer: Tyagaraja

6. Ninne Nammiti (Kriti) 35:26
Raga: Simhendramadhyamam; Tala: Misra Chapu; Composer: Mysore Vasudevachar

7. Raga Tanam Pallavi 24:40
Raga: Sankarabharanam and Ragamalika; Tala: KhandaTriputa

8. Bhavayami Gopalabala Sevitam (Padam) 04:55
Raga: Yamunakalyani; Tala: Khanda Chapu Composer: Annamacharya; 

9.Tillana 05:33
Raga: Brindavani; Tala: Adi; Composer: Tanjavoor S. Kalyanaraman

10. Ni Nama Rupamulaku (Mangalam) 00:59
Raga: Saurashtram; Tala: Adi; Composer: Tyagaraja
(followed by Madhyamavati raga)

Tips

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Credits

Organized and recorded by the Media Department of University Lüneburg for students of the distance education course The Music of South India – www.carnaticstudent.org

Performers

Bhushany Kalyanaraman – Vocal
Pakala Ramadas – Violin
T. R. Sundaresan – Mridangam, Kanjira, Morsing and Konnakkol
Katharina Bunzel – Tambura

Place and date

Hitzacker (Germany), 27 May 2002 

About the main performer

SINGLE-MINDED devotion to Carnatic music — that sums up Bhushany Kalyanaraman. Hers is an extraordinary tale, spanning oceans. Born and brought up in Colombo, Sri Lanka, it was a typical Tamil household where her father used to ensure that everyone was awake at 5 a.m., reciting the Tiruvempavai. A renowned musician, her father had won the title “Sangita Bhushanam” from Annamalai University. All her sisters too sang well.

Love of Carnatic music brought Bhushany to Chennai, at 16,to stay and study music at the Government Music College. She went back to Sri Lanka, to teach music at a Jaffna college. The riots in 1982 brought her back to India, drawn by her deep admiration for her subsequent guru and husband, Tanjore S.Kalyanaraman, senior disciple of the legendary G.N.B. […]  

A senior vocalist today, Bhushany has number of students both here and abroad, and many foreign students of Indian origin, who come to live with and learn from her. Many of her foreign-based students have had their formal arangetrams, proving her success as a teacher. […]  

Grateful for everything that music has bestowed on her, she also wishes to do something for destitute women and children “to be able to reach out to people who do not have the luxury of music, people weighed down by pressing basic needs, to survive.” […]  

Bhushany is a fortunate person — she has the best of both Sri Lanka and India, the best gained by besting life’s many odds

Source: Rupa Gopal in The Hindu (print edition), 7 March 2004 profiling “women who have made a career out of their passion”

Information about the persons, items or topics

Learn & practice more

Video | Keeping tala with hand gestures: Adi (8 beats) & Misra chapu (7 beats)

Adi tala (8 beats) demonstrated by T.R. Sundaresan
Misra chapu tala (7 beats) performed as konnakkol by T.R. Sundaresan

Listen * Learn * Practice

More about the above person(s) and topics

Periodicals and sites included | More resources | Disclaimer >>

Flow | Combine exercises & vocal ranges

  • 7 notes: Any sampurna (melakarta) raga
  • 6 notes: ragas Sriranjani & Hamsanandi
  • 5 notes: raga Hamsadhvani
  • 5 notes: raga Mohana
  • 5 notes: raga Valaji
  • 5/\7 notes: ragas Bilahari & Mohana Kalyani
  • 5/\6 notes: Vasanta
  • 6 notes: raga Kuntalavarali

<< swipe >> to try another exercise
Flow | Exercises, related resources & tips >>

Tambura and sruti petti: “Sa” = G# without Pa
Tambura and sruti petti: “Sa” = G#
Tambura and sruti petti: “Sa” = G
Tambura: “Sa” = F without Pa
Tambura and sruti petti: “Sa” = F
Tambura and sruti petti: “Sa” = D
Tambura and sruti petti: “Sa” = D without Pa
Sruti petti: “Sa” = C-sharp
Sruti petti: “Sa” = C without Pa
Tambura and sruti petti: “Sa” = C
Tambura and sruti petti: “Sa” = A# (lower octave)

Credit: eSWAR / FS-3C Sruthi petti + Tanjore Tambura

Flow | Mela practice

sa = middle octave (madhya sthayi), ‘sa = higher octave (tara sthayi)

The present “Flow” series of exercises is meant to supplement the comprehensive standard syllabus (abhyasa ganam) attributed to 
16th c. composer Purandara Dasa >>

Concept & images © Ludwig Pesch | Feel free to share in accordance with the 
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license >>

Explore renditions of raga Mayamalavagaula, raga (Dhira)Sankarabharanam and raga (Meca)Kalyani on YouTube >>
Listen to two kritis in ragas
Simhendramadhyamam and Sankarabharanam (6th and 7th items)
sung by Bhushany Kalyanaraman >>
Find song lyrics (composers) & translations for these and other ragas >>
Practice with basic “Sa” = G#
Download this audio file (2 MB, 2 min. mono)
Credit: eSWAR / FS-3C Sruthi petti + Tanjore Tambura

Become fluent with the help of svara syllables (solmisation): practice a series of exercises, each based on a set of melodic figures that lend themselves to frequent repetition (“getting into flow”) | Practice goal, choosing your vocal range & more tips >>

South Indian conventions (raga names & svara notation): karnATik.com | Guide >>

raagam: mAyAmALavagauLa
Aa: S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N3 S | Av: S N3 D1 P M1 G3 R1 S

raagam: shankaraabharaNam 
Aa: S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S | Av: S N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S

raagam: kalyANi
Aa: S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N3 S | Av: S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R2 S

Listen to Uma Ramasubramaniam demonstrating the svaras (notes) for the present raga(s) on Raga Surabhi >>

Practice with basic “Sa” = G#
Note: this recording has no fifth note “Pa”
(as advised for those janya ragas wherein “Pa” will not be sung or played)
Download this audio file (2 MB, 2 min. mono)
Credit: eSWAR / FS-3C Sruthi petti + Tanjore Tambura

The above svara pattern may be sung, hummed or practiced silently with any svara variants: those you are already familiar with (e.g. raga Mayamalavagaula, mela 15, raga Dhirasankarabharanam, mela 29, raga Mecakalyani, mela 65) or any other you want to practice.

Once internalized you may want to contemplate and remember the same exercise with the help of the “8 x 8 beads” pattern shared here >>

Enjoy practicing by way of gradually getting into a state of flow: deep concentration while feeling completely absorbed by an activity.

And with a rich store at our fingertips in the digital age, let’s remind ourselves that there really is no such thing as a ‘learner’ raga’; a fact that sets us free to explore any raga with a sense of wonder: through joyful – active – involvement, whatever level or age group we happen to occupy!

The long-term goal is to become fluent in all the 72 melakarta ragas (including those rarely heard). In this manner it becomes easier to recognize both, melakarta and janya ragas, by distinguishing their characteristic notes even when modulated or “embellished” in accordance with classical conventions (gamaka). Their application is demonstrated in an elegant, highly instructive video (duration: 7 min.): The 13-part Sanskrit composition of Chitravina N Ravikiran. For a more detailed application, listen to Smt Kiranavali’s students at Cleveland Aradhana (Part 1) | Part 2 >>

Learn more and download a free mela-pocket guide here: Boggle Your Mind with Mela (BYMM) method – free mini course >>

For learners interested in staff notation for the above ragas and more, also check this course author’s reference work:

Find a copy of the Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music

Flow | Janya practice 6 notes

sa = middle octave (madhya sthayi), ‘sa = higher octave (tara sthayi)
An exercise inspired by exercises found in the standard syllabus
(abhyasa ganam) attributed to 16th c. composer Purandara Dasa >>
Concept & images © Ludwig Pesch | Feel free to share in accordance with the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license >>

Listen to a kriti (2nd item) sung by Bhushany Kalyanaraman >>
Explore other renditions of raga Sriranjani and raga Hamsanandi on YouTube >>
Find song lyrics (composers) & translations for these and other ragas >

Listen to Uma Ramasubramaniam demonstrating the svaras (notes) for the present raga(s) on Raga Surabhi >>

Practice with basic “Sa” = G#
Note: this recording has no fifth note “Pa”
(as advised for those janya ragas wherein “Pa” will not be sung or played)
Download this audio file (2 MB, 2 min. mono)
Credit: eSWAR / FS-3C Sruthi petti + Tanjore Tambura

Become fluent with the help of svara syllables (solmisation): practice a series of exercises, each based on a set of melodic figures that lend themselves to frequent repetition (“getting into flow”) | Practice goal, choosing your vocal range & more tips >>

South Indian conventions (raga names & svara notation): karnATik.com | Guide >>

raagam: hamsAnandi
Aa: S R1 G3 M2 D2 N3 S | Av: S N3 D2 M2 G3 R1 S

raagam: shrIranjani
Aa: S R2 G2 M1 D2 N2 S | Av: S N2 D2 M1 G2 R2 S

Having but 6 notes (instead of 7), this type of raga pattern is traditionally classified as being “derived” (janya) from a melakarta raga. More specifically, text books refer to any raga limited to 6 notes as shadava raga.

The most characteristic feature in the above svara pattern is the absence of the fifth note (pa) – the very note that conveys a sense of balance in most other ragas. It may be sung, hummed or practiced silently with any sadavasadava raga you are already familiar with (e.g. Sriranjani and Hamsanandi).

Once internalized you may want to contemplate and remember the same exercise with the help of the “8 x 8 beads” pattern shared here>>

Listen to a brief excerpt of a sloka in raga Hamsanandi sung by Aruna Sairam (Padam le chant de Tanjore, Ocora, Radio France, 1999)

More about the above person(s) and topics

Periodicals and sites included | More resources | Disclaimer >>

Please note that the above figures lend themselves to several “Carnatic sister ragas”.

So try and follow the same exercise with the proper notes associated with these janya ragas (carefully avoiding the 5th note, pa):

  • Bhavani (derived from the 44th melakarta raga, Bhavapriya)
  • Hamsanandi (derived from the 53th melakarta raga, Gamanasrama)
  • Lalita (derived from the 15th melakarta raga, Mayamalavagaula, for some composers from the 17th melakarta raga, Suryakanta)
  • Ravicandrika (derived from the 28th melakarta raga, Harikambhoji, and in compositions distinguished by the vakra “zigzag” pattern ni-dha-‘sa heard in the ascending series)
  • Sriranjani (derived from the 22nd melakarta raga, Kharaharapriya)
  • Suddha Todi (derived from the 8th melakarta raga, Hanumatodi)

Learn more and download a free mela-pocket guide here: Boggle Your Mind with Mela (BYMM) method – free mini course >>