Category archives: Periodicals

Bhava enables the transmission of experience of thoughts and emotions – Narayana Vishwanath

A brief introduction to Carnatic music >>

CHENNAI: We are aware that the ultimate aim of every composer and musician is to achieve the coalescence, the essential factors of classical music namely bhava, raga and tala. We know bhava literally means, expression, the expression of existence. In a composition, bhava encompasses the aspects rasa, raga1 and laya and for a musical composition to be meaningful and beautiful, it should be rich in bhava. In short, bhava is that which enables the transmission of experience of thoughts and emotions from the composer to the musician and from the musician to the listeners. We understand that bhava has to be experienced by every individual, in a personal and subjective manner and devotion is the pre-dominating aspect depicted in a musical composition. I am sure it would be of immense value to study the aspects of bhava, expressed by the musical trinity Thyagaraja, Dikshitar and Syama Sastri, who were contemporaries in the 18th century. […]

Source: “Efficacy of Bhava — An Evaluation” by Narayana Vishwanath, The New Indian Express (21st September 2015) >>

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References
  1. The most concise definition of a raga may be that by Joep Bor: a tonal framework for composition and improvisation.[↩]

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Periodicals and other recommended sites included in the above Google custom search:

  1. Deccan Herald
  2. Hindustantimes.com
  3. The Indian Express
  4. Livemint.com
  5. Madras Heritage and Carnatic Music by music historian V. Sriram
  6. Newindianexpress.com
  7. Sruti.com
  8. Telegraphindia.com (The Telegraph Calcutta)
  9. Thebetterindia.com
  10. TheHindu.com
  11. Timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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“The tambura is back. But where are the players?” – Interviews in The Hindu

Gaining prominence

Despite the many alternatives available today, fortunately we still get to see the tambura player on stage. In fact, the first thing many musicians do after accepting a concert date is to book their preferred tambura player. As more musicians show a renewed interest in the instrument, the tambura is experiencing a resurgence. Paradoxically, though, the number of dedicated artistes playing it is declining. […]

[Eminent violinist] RK Shriramkumar laments the fact that one needs to refer to the instrument as an acoustic tambura to distinguish it from its electronic version. “It’s a tragedy that musicians have brought upon themselves by settling for electronic versions. Just as instrumentalists are expected to bring their own instruments to concerts, vocalists must be instructed to bring tamburas. Students should be encouraged to play the tambura for their gurus on stage to experience the constant give and take.”

Source: “The tambura is back. But where are the players?” by Lakshmi Anand in The Hindu 2 December 2021

https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/the-tambura-is-back-but-where-are-the-players/article37806267.ece

Date accessed: 29 June 2022

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Appreciating the beauty and importance of the nagasvaram: “Carnatic music grew because of the nagaswaram” – S. Rajam

In this part, I quote from my recording with S. Rajam on T.N. Rajarathinam Pillai, done in early 2007 [brief excerpts]

“Carnatic music grew because of the nagaswaram. Our art originated in the temples — especially, dance and nagaswaram. During the daily three-time worship at temples, the nagaswaram would be played all the times.

Source: “Tribute to the genius T.N. Rajarathinam Pillai, whose nagaswaram melodies are timeless” by Rupa Gopal The Hindu, December 27, 2013
URL: https://thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/our-own-pied-piper/article5505258.ece

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Mallari played by ‪Sheik Mahaboob Subhani & Kalisha Bee‬ Mahaboob

With the disintegration of feudalism, Carnatic music, once confined to the precincts of temples and royal durbar halls, stepped out and started filling concert halls. While some music forms such as Mallari, inextricably linked with the rituals of temples and festivals, are still in vogue, others such as Odam, Yecharikkai and Odakkuru have more or less disappeared. […]

Yecharikkai is also played in Vishnu temples when the deity is taken inside the sanctorum after the procession. In earlier times, the devadasis of the temple would perform the ritual of warding off the evil eye after which the nagaswaram player would play this musical form.

“Yecharikkai is played in Saveri set to tisra nadai,” said Mr. Subramaniam. Mr. Chinnathambia Pillai said it could also be played in Yadukula Kambhoji and Ahiri. […]

But in many temples, these rituals are no longer followed,” said Mr. Subramaniam.

Source: “Ancient sounds of temple music fade” by B. Kolappan, The Hindu, 22 December 2013
URL: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/ancient-sounds-of-temple-music-fade/article5487577.ece
Date Visited: 1 February 2014

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Oral transmission vs. notation in Carnatic music: Pondering the “original pathantaram-s of kriti-s” 

One of the debated topics in Carnatic music is the deviation by musicians from the so-called ‘original’ pathantaram of kriti-s. This article is not an attempt to provide a conclusive answer to end the debate but a constructive provocation and an invitation for opening up the topic for a wider debate. […]

While in matters of art and aesthetics no rule can be imposed on either the artists or their audiences, some relevant considerations in the matter appear to be: Is there incontrovertible proof in all such cases that the ‘versions’—which includes the raga, its arohanaavarohana, mela and musical phrasing—touted as the original or authentic are really the versions composed by their authors? In the case of modern composers there may not be any problem because most of them write them down in notation which, in spite of the inherent limitations of any notation to capture all the nuances of Carnatic music, provides at least a defence against wholesale distortion. In the case of composers who lived during an earlier era of entirely oral transmission of music, there would be real difficulty in ascertaining the authenticity beyond doubt. […]

Read this valuable essay and more on Sruti.com >>

Source: “‘Original’ pathantaram-s of kriti-s” by PK Doraiswamy, Sruti Magazine
URL: https://www.sruti.com/index.php?route=archives/article_details&artId=98
Date Visited: 3 March 2022

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