From: krisna@cham.cs.wisc.edu (Krishna Kunchithapadam)
Newsgroups: rec.music.indian.classical
Subject: Re: Musician Among Musicians
Date: 14 Apr 92 16:12:28 GMT
Followup-To: rec.music.indian.classical
Organization: Dept. of CS, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison

In his article jaykay@orion.oac.uci.edu (R. Jayakrishnan) writes:
>In his article mrangasw@lynx.cat.syr.edu (Muralidhar Rangaswamy) writes:
>>S.Pandian in his articles mentions that Balamuralikrishna is the musician among
>>musicians. I wholeheartedly agree. It is worthwhile pointing out that he has
>>done something that only the great musical luminary Muthuswamy Dikshitar has
>>accomplished (i.e., composing songs in 72 Melakrata Ragas). Among other things,
>>
>>Muralidhar Rangaswamy
>
>  This is not correct. Koteeswara Iyer has composed songs in all the 72
>  melakarta ragas. In any case, I do not understand what is so great about
>  composing songs in all those ragas. How many have heard even a handful of
>  Koteeswara Iyer's songs ?  If Balamurali's songs are good (and I would
>  expect them to be reasonably good..), time will prove that. If not, it is
>  not a big deal.
>
>  BTW, what have the experts said about those compositions ?  Do they bring
>  out the ragabhava ?  Are the songs appropriate for the ragas ?  How many
>  experts have enough knowledge to comment on the rarer Melakartas ? Just
>  wondering.
>
>  R. Jayakrishnan         Civil Engg, Univ of California, Irvine.


Firstly, I do not think that Muthuswamy Dikshithar  has  composed
krithis in all the 72 mela ragas (someone more knowledgeable with
the Dikshithar sampradaya can verify this). And  as  Jayakrishnan
pointed  out, Koteeswara Iyer has composed krithis in the 72 mela
ragas, and as far as is known, he was the first  composer  to  do
so. Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer did compose in the 72 mela ragas before
Koteeswara Iyer, but this was the Mela-Chakra-Ragamalika,  not  a
set of 72 complete krithis.

Secondly,  I  would  like   to   express   a   few   remarks   on
Dr.Balamuralikrishna's  compositions  in  the 72 mela ragas. They
are currently available in 9 volumes  from  Sangeetha  cassettes.
It is has been my observation that Dr.BMK's expressiveness in his
krithis is of a very high order. I shall point out a few examples
of  these from the 72 mela raga krithis. Even though I will quote
only a few examples, these are many many such instances in  these
krithis.

(1) Raga bhava: The compositions in  Dhenuka  and  Sarasangi  are
very moving indeed.  In accordance with the plaintive mood of the
ragas, the krithis "Raavaiya  Raamaiya"  and  "Vandheham  Govinda
Pada Kamalam" also express the bhakthi bhava.


(2) Krithis and Ragas: Dr.BMK has used the raga mudra in many  of
his  krithis  (a la Dikshithar).  Many krithis are in ragas whose
names are appropriate for the sahitya of the krithi. For example,
the  krithi "Nandeesam Vandhe Sada" is in the raga Rishabhapriya,
"Taamra Lochani Lathangi" in the raga Lathangi, ".... Raama Naama
Rasikapriya, Pavana Tanaya Paalayamam", a krithi on Lord Anjaneya
in the raga Rasikapriya.

I am not saying that other composers have not made  use  of  such
literary  devices  like these before.  It is just my opinion that
the krithis do qualify as pieces of poetic value.


(3) Rarer melakarthas: I think any student of music  must  listen
to  rare  Vivadi  mela  ragas  in  these compositions to learn to
appreciate them. Dr.BMK's use of the Sudha Nishada and Shatsruthi
Dhaivatha gives these ragas a superb musical quality, something I
have not heard  from  any  other  vocalist  (and  from  very  few
instrumentalists).  I  do  not  think  that anyone would say that
Vivadi melas are devoid of musical scope after listening to these
krithis.


(4)  Dr.BMK  has  consciously  followed  the  literary  style  of
Tyagaraja  and  Dikshithar  in  some  of  his krithis. One of the
lovliest examples is  the  krithi  "Chintayaami  Santhatham,  Sri
Muthuswamy  Dikshitham"  in  the raga Sucharithram. In fact, this
mela is a double vivadi (with both the  Shatsruthi  Rishabha  and
Sudha Nishada). This krithi is in praise of Muthuswamy Dikshithar
and employs many of the literary devices that Dikshithar  himself
used  in  his  krithis. The krithi has the variations of Gathi so
characteristic  of  the  Dikshithar  style,  especially  in  slow
compositions,  where  a  sangathi  is sung in slow tempo and them
progressively in speed of ratio 2 and 4, all synchronous with the
tala.

Another superb literary device is the Srotovaha yathi at the  end
of  the charanam of this krithi -

                             Nipunam
                          Gaana Nipunam
                      Desiya Gaana Nipunam
                   Marga Desiya Gaana Nipunam
                     Chintayaami Santhatham

The  yathi  is  set  to synchronise with one cycle of  the  Misra
Jathi  Jhampa  tala.   An  example  of  the  Srotovaha  yathi  in
Dikshithar's  compositions  is

                               Sam
                            PrakaSam
                        Svarupa Prakasam
                     Tattva Svarupa prakasam
                 Sakala tattva svarupa prakasam
          Siva sakyaadi sakala tattva svarupa prakasam

from the Ananda Bhairavi krithi "Tyagaraja yoga vaibhavam".  This
remarkable  composition also has a Gopucha yathi in the pallavi.

Once  again,  I  would  like  to  say  that  the  72  mela   raga
compositions of Dr.BMK are worth serious study by all students of
music. I am not talking  about  a  comparison  between  musicians
here.  I  would  only like to reiterate that Dr.BMK is not only a
great vocalist but also a talented Vaggeyakara. And let me  point
out  that he composed these krithis when he was about 14 years of
age. One must accept his genius.

Music is such a personal experience  that  there  is  hardly  any
surprise  that  different people have such contradictory opinions
about different artistes, instruments, composers, ragas etc. etc.
and  what  is more, stick to their point of view with a good deal
of determination. My aim is not to convince anyone that Dr.BMK is
the  greatest  musician  ever.  That  *I*  personally think so is
another matter.

In this article, I have simply listed some of  the  literary  and
musical  devices  employed by Dr.BMK in his compositions. If this
thread of discussion were to focus on similar techniques used  by
other  composers  in their krithis, I am sure it would make for a
far more valuable discussion on  Carnatic  music  than  simply  a
comparison  between different artistes (which is very unlikely to
produce a decision conducive to everyone).

Thank you for your patience in reading this article.

-- Krishna


+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|    Krishna Kunchithapadam             krisna@cham.cs.wisc.edu |
|    Department of Computer Sciences                            |
|    University of Wisconsin, Madison                           |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+