It was a Saturday morning in the year 1986. With so
many thoughts and expectations in my mind, I was rushing to catch a bus. Where
was I rushing and what kind of expectations were there in my mind?
Cut back to the year 1980 when I started listening
to Classical Music seriously (thanks to one gentleman!) and was getting exposed
to names like Maharajapuram, D.K.Jayaraman, Ravi Shankar, Amjad Ali Khan,
Ramani, MSG, Lalgudi… Over a period of time, I was able to identify and discern
the various styles not only in vocal music but also in instrumental music.
Of all the instruments, the violin caught my eye (or
is it the ear? perhaps the heart!) and the reason is not very difficult to
understand. The violin always played a very important role in ILaiyaraaja’s
music and it was natural for me to like the sound from this particular
instrument. Moreover, no carnatic music concert is complete without the violin
as an accompaniment.
As I listened to concert after concert-thanks to the
radio and Madras ‘A’- the sound from the violins of two artistes was surely
very different. One artiste was Shri.M.S.Gopalakrishnan. My exposure to
Hindustani Music through a programme called ‘Sangeet sarita’ on Vividh Bharati
every morning at 7.30 am made me a great fan of Hindustani form too and I found
the Hindustani style predominant in Shri.MSG’s playing. That was the time when
I was also listening to songs like ‘Jyan Jyan’(PoonthaLir) and ‘Yaar maamano’(Vetrikku
oruvan) and I was able to relate to the Hindustani style of bowing very easily.
The sound from the other artiste was somewhat
different. I could hear the violin speak(please note that I am not talking
about ‘gimmicks’ in violin where some people imitate the human voice in violin
throwing all classicism to the wind!). It was obvious that the musician was in
love with each swara and the raga and caressed them with affection. It was
almost like listening to vocal music. For the first time in my life, I felt the
meaning of meditation, though I learnt meditation only 9 years after this.
The name of the musician is Lalgudi Jayaraman and I
became instantly attached to his music.
It was to this great musician’s
lecture/demonstration session that I was heading to on that Saturday morning in
1986 with excitement. I would be watching him for the first time and hearing
him talk about music. Could there have been a better moment?
His talk was as sweet as his music and he touched
various aspects of life itself. My respect for him grew by leaps and bounds
when he said ‘If I say something that might hurt somebody, then it is ‘apaswara’
in real life’. I knew here was a man who respected life and enjoyed life to the
fullest.
After this, I attended many of his lec/dems and
concerts and each and every lecture/concert was an experience by itself. He
would quote Bharati and go on to describe the beauty in a cuckoo’s call. His childlike
enthusiasm while explaining the intricacies of a particular raga had to be seen
to be believed.
As a person who appreciated all forms of music, it
was not surprising that he loved ILaiyaraaja’s music. Once he said that this
kind of music is surely the result of ‘puNyas’ from seven janmas. He was also
very appreciative of Raaja sir’s orchestration and his ability to write music
in a jiffy. In fact, the admiration was mutual. Raaja sir was a special guest
in the audio release function of ‘Sringaram’, the music of which was scored by
Lalgudi sir himself and remarked that he was a great fan of Lalgudi’s and that
he simply loved the Thillanas of his composed in Hindustani raags with western
style orchestration in the preludes and the interludes.
Today’s rare gem from the movie ‘Isai Paadum
ThendRal’ is dedicated to this great legend. The speciality of this composition
is that it has only the ‘swara korvais’.
The gandhrava voice of Yesudass sings only the
Shadjamam and we hear only this swara for two cycles of Roopaka taaLam. The
swaras ‘ri’, ‘ga’ and ‘ni’ join now and with the gamakams we clearly get to see
the sketch of Kharaharapriya. The mridangam follows suit and plays a brief
korvai of four avartanams in roopakam. It is 3 avartanams then and the
mridangam starting at the ‘dha’ in the third avaratanam with the ‘dha’ being
given the ‘kaarvai’ is a master stroke..
The violin joins the vocals rather subtly and from then
on, the swaras move in single avartanam. Kharaharapriya smiles, caresses, fondles
and dances. The ‘teermanam’ in the end is a connoisseur’s delight. The
composition ends with the akaaram of Yesudass.
And we start humming ‘Samaanam evaru..(Jaya)Raama nee
samaanamevru..Raaja nee samaanameveru..
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