Dolorous

Sometime during last year, I had to hire a cab for a specific purpose. The drive -on one part of ECR- was interesting and exciting not least because of the music that was being played.

It is a well known fact that whenever I drive (my car), music also travels with me. No long drive is complete without ILaiyaraaja. Today, when I saw the pen drive hanging from the USB port in the car, I asked the driver if he had ‘old songs’. He replied, ‘I have ILaiyaraaja songs only’. Needless to say I was on cloud nine. When he switched it on, it started playing a sad song. It was followed by another sad song. I asked him if I could fast forward and he obliged by doing it himself. What followed was a feast of romantic songs and as I was listening I made mental notes on songs which I felt deserved long posts (though I know all these songs, it is on such occasions that I decide to write since my mind is relatively free then).

This should be interesting. In between, whenever a sad song ‘started’, the driver would fast forward almost instantly without even waiting for my gesture (read as ‘frown’).

Now, this is a rather lengthy introduction (or is it?) . But what I am trying to say or express is that as a rule, I don’t like sad songs.

But, aren’t there exceptions to rule? And doesn’t it sound nice if rules are broken?

Precisely for this reason, I am taking up this song. If by any chance you are led to believe that this song was played today in the car, I request you to change your belief. The reason for my writing about this song has to do more with the love for my song and the only reason for my writing about what happened today and about the driver was that my non-preference for ‘sad songs’ is now known even to the driver of a reputed cab company. But the saving grace is that my love, affection, respect and madness for ILaiyaraaja songs is also known to him. He of course had to put up with my humming and singing , but that is a different story.

So, why/how is it that I love this song in particular despite its being a ‘pathos song’? Before I proceed further, let me clarify that my ‘exceptions list’ is also big and it is not that among all the sad songs, I like/love only this one. If you feel that I am contradicting myself, let me also clarify that that is what is my intention..

‘Maadaa un kovilil’ from ‘AcchaaNi’(1977) has an interesting story too. Though I had written about this particular incident during the recording, I have no qualms in repeating it.

The fact that Raaja sir is a perfectionist is well known. Before the recording, the orchestra would rehearse all the portions many times before going for take. It should be remembered that those days, there was ‘live orchestra’ who would play along with the singer(s) and even if somebody made a small mistake, the entire recording had to start all over again.

The recording of this song took many takes unusually. Raaja sir, who always placed a premium on time, lost his cool beyond a point and started yelling at his assistant, R.Govardhanam. Finally, the real reason was out. Mesmerised by the tune and Janaki’s rendering, it seems Govardhanam forgot to show the hand gestures (this is called as ‘conducting’) to the orchestra team. But this alone was not the reason and he alone was not the culprit. Whenever he managed to show the hand gestures, some members of the orchestra forgot to play. And whenever he showed the gestures and the orchestra played, Janaki forgot to sing and instead was seen sobbing!

This goes to show the impact the composition had on all concerned. And the impact it has had on me cannot be defined. Even after listening to it for 1000+ times, it never fails to make my eyes moist and make me feel light(and not heavy!).

This must surely rate as one of the best songs Janaki has ever sung. And I don’t think any other singer would have done even 1% of justice to the composition. That is why, I still cannot digest the fact that some other singer (who in my opinion, sings off key most of the times) was roped in to sing this song when it was ‘used’ again in a 2009 film.

Anyway, since I do not want to talk about anything negative now, let me move on to the song and try and highlight some of the features.

How the raga Sindhu Bhairavi can take this kind of an avatar is beyond my comprehension. No doubt the raga as such has an inherent poignancy but my thoughts also go to the peppy numbers in this raga by the same composer. Even then the kind of eerie feeling one gets in the third interlude is quite unbelievable. And people who say (foolishly) that his grand orchestration started only during the ‘80s must listen to this particular interlude.

The interlude starts with the bells sound going at a faster pace with the violins responding now and then. What follows then is a rhapsody of sorts with the violins reaching a crescendo. Ethereal experience!

The next segment in the same interlude shows the brilliance of the composer. He uses the sarod and sitar in the Madhya laya(medium tempo) and this literally shakes us up.

The interlude preceding this one is marvellous too with the brass flute-along with the bells- piercing us like an arrow of Arjuna. The segment before this-which is the beginning of the interlude- has a very specially sounding violin which sounds preternatural. The third segment of violins-which is the end of the interlude-, is uncanny too.

But listen to the first interlude.. and tell me if this is not genius stuff, what else is..

The sustained violin, the bells, the poignant sarod ..and the melancholic single violin..and ah..yes.. the strings playing purely in western classical style.

Blissful!

Can sadness be blissful?

Can pain be a pleasure?

I asked almost a similar set of questions sometime back in one of my older posts..And the answer is...

In the hands of the Maestro, anything is possible.

Then why wouldn’t I like this song? Or for that matter hundreds of his melancholic songs?

Check this out on Chirbit

Right or Wrong?

Wrong information, wrong notions, misconception, perception, mindset….

Of late I come across all of these in the social media and needless to say that it leaves me annoyed, perplexed, irritated and even embarrassed. While I do not need to care for such things and can choose to ignore-which is what precisely I do by not commenting or reacting- it does affect me because it is about a thing very close to my heart. Since what is close to my heart needs no further explanation or elucidation, let me move on and share with you some examples of what I have mentioned in the first line of the post.

Wrong information- Giving wrong year of release can be excused and getting the names   of singers can be pardoned. But mentioning the name of Music Director wrong can neither be excused nor pardoned. I had mentioned about this in my post on ‘Thedum deivam’ in this Blog http://ragamanjari.blogspot.in/2012/08/gems-and-search.html ).

Wrong notions - Recently in a ‘post’ in which musicians who have played in his orchestra were also tagged, it was mentioned by the author that ‘ILaiyaraaja who started his ‘empire’ in 1980 started showing his dominance over the guitar since then.

Two facts are presented wrong here. He started his Empire in May 1976 and had already scored for 100 films by 1980. Secondly, his mastery/artistry of guitar started right from ‘AnnakkiLi’. Wonder if these people would have even listened to the TMS version of ‘AnnakkiLi unnai theduthe’, ‘oru vaanavil pole’, ‘kuiyile kavikkuyile, ‘iyaRkai rathangaLe’, ‘naane naana’, ‘ore naaL unai naan’ just to name a few of the hundreds of songs where guitar spoke in a special language. Even if they have, I doubt if they know these are of course the compositions of the Master!

Misconception- Almost related to this is a comment about one of his songs from a film released during Deepaval-1983. It read ‘His Younger day Music’. I am still scratching my head to find out what exactly is meant by this. Forgetting the grammatical error, what the comment tries to convey is ‘he was still a child in TFM’.  7 years, 200+ movies and still a child? That too in an industry where longevity is short and where many Music Directors haven’t yet crossed the 100 mark? Of course, in all his innocence the gentleman who made this comment would have also thought Raaja sir made his debut only in 1980!

Perception- This varies from his ‘inability’ to score ‘fast-beats’ songs to compositions in Hindutani raags. The latter point was touched upon and explanations with examples were given to break this myth during the Geetanjali-2013 Event but still many(and this includes his ‘fans’ as well as his detractors) continue to believe that he is conversant only with Carnatic Music and WCM.

Mindset- Even people who call themselves as ‘hardcore fans’ say that they do not like his ‘70s music. Maybe this partly answers why some do not even know many of his great compositions and his mastery over guitar. But the funniest part is that these people hardly know many gems of his ‘80s, ‘90s and even the 21^st century compositions.

Well, the objective of this post is not to find fault with anyone nor is the intention to make fun of anybody’s ignorance. At the same time, I feel people will have to be extra careful while writing or talking about a legend and as far as possible try to be objective. But this is also too much to expect in these days of ‘google aaya namaha’ and ‘youtube saraNam’ where one just has to type something in the search box and cut and paste what appear(s) on the screen.

While I know I can’t do much about this in this democratic world, I also know that I can spread genuine information and break the myths about the genius by writing more and more about his works.

One of the many rare gems of his is ‘Poo enbatha’ from the unreleased film ‘Uyire unakkaaga’(1984) which of course should not be confused with the 1986 film by the same title, music for which was scored by Lakshmikant-Pyarelal.

The mouthorgan in the beginning sets the tone while the alternate repetition of the same sets of notes-Janaki/mouthorgan, chorus/guitar- shows the innovative brilliance of the composer. The unmistakable shades of Sindhu Bhairavi being shown in the prelude is of course the mark of the Genius!

The repetition mode continues in the Pallavi with the mouthorgan yet again following SPB’s first line.

The mouthorgan makes a brief appearance towards the end of the first interlude but not before, there are question-answer sessions between the chorus and the flute, between the shehnai and the guitar and between the guitar and the flute.

The structure of the CharaNams with three parts- the third part touching the higher octave notes and ending with the humming shows yet again his logical mind.

If the first interlude is interplay of different instruments, the major part of the second interlude uses only the voices. Janaki in upper octave, SPB in lower octave, upper, lower, upper, lower, lower, upper… followed by the chorus. Is this what is called as creative innovation? The Shehnai and the keys then take over the musical romance..

The title of the song is apt. And if people fail to notice the gold and forget to enjoy the fragrance of the flowers, whose loss is it anyway?

http://www.divshare.com/download/24878463-825 

Aadi Breeze..

The Tamizh Month Aadi-that started just a few days back- is considered to be very auspicious. It is believed that if seeds are sown on the first day of Aadi, the plants/trees/paddy will be very healthy and the yield will be good.

I remember how I used to sow the seeds along with my friends in my school-an institution that sowed the seeds of Love for Nature in me- on Aadi 1.

Aadi is considered to be the month of Amman and lot of functions take place in the temples.
Astrologically, the Sun enters the Kataka Rasi. It turns towards the South and the next six months are part of ‘Dakshinaayanam’.If we look up at the sky, we can see that the sun is oriented towards the south.

The breeze in the month of Aadi is very special. In Tamizh, there is a saying that ‘even a huge stone will fly in the breeze of Aadi.

Today, we are going to see a song that is as breezy as the month of Aadi.

It is ‘Aadi Maasa Kaththaadikka’ from ‘Paayum Puli’(1982).

This song is also as special as Aadi.

How?

First - the orchestration and the arrangement.

In the prelude section, we first hear the trumpets and the other wind instruments and suddenly, we hear a folk instrument.And then…Bass Guitar, Synthesiser!

The first interlude is humour personified.The folk instruments in combination with western instruments bring smiles to even a morose face.

The second interlude is jazzy and just towards the end, there is a folk element.
The third interlude can be called as the reverse of the second interlude. It is dominated by the folk instruments and suddenly we hear the western instruments in the end.The change of rhythm here is typical of the Master.There is one more speciality here and we will see that soon.

But one really wonders what makes him choose instruments so perfectly..

Second-The Tune.

Long back, while discussing about ‘Hey Mastana..’ I had mentioned that Sindhu Bhairavi is a multi dimensional Raga.

The same Sindhu Bhairavi that gives us mixed emotions in ‘Mastana..’ makes us laugh in ‘Aadi Maasa..’

Beauty of the Raga?

Yes..intelligence of the composer as well..

And look how the tune starts with a Qawwali style humming and changes wonderfully as a Kuththu song!

Third (in fact this is the first)-The one and only SPB.

What kind of a voice is this?As per the sequence in the movie(I have not seen it but I have read about it), the Hero disguises himself as a Bearer in a Hotel and SPB modulates his voice. Is it just modulation?It is something more than that..Listen to the ‘podi sangathis’ in between.

Possible only by one gentleman!

And this is the 'speciality' I was talking about in the paragraph describing the third interlude..

Fourth-Janaki.

It is difficult not to get affected/influenced by the other singer especially when that singer is singing very differently.Mind you..There was no track system those days and both the singers will be present during recording.

But Janaki sings so nonchalantly..


Whether it is the Aadi Breeze or even the Tsunami, the Citadel of the Emperor of Music is impregnable!


Listen to this beauty and enjoy!

Poetic Lions..

The young lady describes her meeting with her beloved- ‘Aththaan, en aththaan avar enniththaan..eppadi solvenadi!’(it is very difficult to translate this in English since the subtle nuances will be lost, but still this is the gist: ‘Man, My dearest Man, he came to me and…how can I say what happened after that’!).

These days-when ‘Daddy Mummy Veettil Illai’ and ‘EvaNdi Unnai Peththan’ are sung with pride by small kids in gaudy attire in ‘Super’ singing shows(in the presence of shameless parents)- ‘Aththaan..’ may not appeal to the senses of couch potatoes.

However, thankfully, there are still a lot of people around, who with their aesthetic sense appreciate the finer elements in life.There are also people who are like the Cat on the Wall.Unable to decide which side to go, they take the easy way out.The reasons could be many-upbringing, lack of opportunities, ignorance..

I am sure if such people are exposed to the songs of Kannadasan constantly, their life itself will be transformed.

What is it that it makes Kannadasan so special?

1. Simplicity- He never decorated his poems with needless adjectives and superlatives.The words were very simple which can be easily understood not just by the cognoscenti but also by the uninitiated.

2. Versatility: There is not a single subject which has been left untouched by the ‘Kaviyarasar’- Love, Compassion, Affection, Philosophy, Spirituality, Motherhood, Fine arts..

3. Depth: Since he had an in-depth knowledge of all the subjects-including practical knowledge in all aspects of Love-, he was able to go deep into any subject resulting in meaningful words.

4. Brevity: No long winding words despite having the liberty to do so-since those days tunes were set to the songs and not the other way round.He was able to bring out the essence of the subject with just few words.

5. Spontaneity: He hardly racked his brain.Words came in torrents and it was up to the Music Director/Film maker to use what they felt suited the situation. Please recall that in my last year’s special post, I had mentioned about 20 plus charaNams for the song ‘Yezhu SwarangaLukkuL’ putting MSV sir and KB in a quandary.


6.Openness: His life was like a open-book. His songs too have that honesty and openness but again not at the cost of aesthetics.

These are just some of the aspects of that great poet called Kannadasan.

This Blog bows to the genius of this poet on his birthday.

The various aspects mentioned by me equally apply to another gentleman  whose songs are being discussed in this Blog.

 ILaiyaraaja and Kannadasan had a very special relationship. Though the association ran just for about 5 years, the combination brought out some immortal songs.

Let us now look at one of the songs, which by all means is a rare gem.

The film ‘Pattakkaththi Bhairavan’, remade from the Telugu film ‘Katakatala Rudraiah’ flopped miserably at the box office and not without reasons.However, the film had some immortal songs always cherished by Yours Sincerely. Today’s gem is also from this album.

The song sung by two friends describes about their new found love.Not surprisingly, a kind of rustic innocence runs as an undercurrent in the song. But what is surprising is the ‘North Indian flavour’ in the song.

The song set in Sindhu Bhairavi- one of the most favourite ragas of the composer- starts with the flute that pierces our hearts. It then gives an impish smile even as the arabesque Mandolin gives the impetus.

‘Nenjukkulle singakkutti nikkuthu ammaadi ennadi seiven’ sings Suseela.
‘What did he do to you to cast a spell’ asks Janaki.

The strings flow like a river with the Shehnaiswaying like a boat. It meets the accordion on the way and the two are involved in a small question-answer session.The Mandolin appears as like the playful fish.

The first CharaNam says ‘Love is blind’.

In the second interlude, the flute glides, swirls and spirals.The western instruments like the accordion, electric guitar, and trumpet gallop while the strings move with a flourish.

The second CharaNam says ‘Talk as much as you like with him and then take a breath’.

The virulent Shehnai, the lightning Strings and the speedy Guitar, in the third interlude make us see the intermingling of all major genres- folk, western classical, pop.

The erotic third CharaNam says ‘The honey is ready to gush out from the flower’.

Subtle emotions, feelings expressed aesthetically with spontaneity.

Does this not typify the two geniuses whose compositions will continue to be etched in the memory as long as the Sun and the Moon exist?

Kaalam

One of the most amazing things in this world is Time.

It is a fact that the entire world revolves around Time (literally and figuratively).

Despite our abusing, wasting, killing, passing, Time moves with the same precision. It is also a silent observer and knows every bit of us. One can cheat others; they can cheat themselves; but nobody can cheat Time.

There are different dimensions to Time. We can look back. We can look ahead. We can look now. If understood and utilized well, it is our best friend. If not, it is our worst enemy.

It also gives us a lot of opportunities to learn. It tells us what we know, what we think we know, what we do not know, what we know that we do not know and what we do not know that we do not know.

In other words, if we are wise enough we mature with Time.

Let us now look back.. Exactly 4 years ago, on this very day, this community was started with just one member whose only asset was his having listened to and grown up with the music of one of the greatest musicians.

One of the many specialities of Indian Music (Carnatic music in particular) is the concept of Tala. Each Tala has a unique cyclic pattern in terms of the number of beats. On the face of it, it may appear to be very rigid and therefore monotonous. But because of the possibilities of various permutations and combinations, the Talas embellish a composition and make it more vibrant.

 Needless to say that Time is an integral part of any Tala. It is no surprise that ILaiyaraaja who is known for his sense of Time always loves playing with the Talas.

In this rare gem ‘Vaan Sivanthathu.. Poo Malarnthathu…’ from ‘Anbin Mugavari’(1985), the Talas dance to his tune.

The song that follows the Tisram pattern(3 beats/cycle) starts with the resonant Mridangam that plays 1234 three times in the faster mode.That is each 3 beat cycle in the slower mode(keezh kaalam) equals the 12 beats of Mridangam in the faster mode(mel kaalam played thrice the speed).To make it more vibrant, there is more stress on the 1^st beat in the third 1234.

The Pallavi-rendered by Krishnachandran and Janaki- starts as the Tala is already on or in other words the Tala starts before the Pallavi.Such a start is known as ‘Anaagata Eduppu’ in Caranatic music parlance.

In the first interlude the percussion instrument itself is changed and it plays the 123 pattern twice in the faster mode but not continuously. First when the trumpets start playing, there is no percussion. Exactly after a gap of 24 beats (8 Tisrams) in the faster mode, the bongos start playing 123.But here again, there is magic. The bongos play 123 twice, there is a gap of 6 beats and the bongos start again. This pattern continues 10 times.

Now the soulful guitar takes over to the accompaniment of the reverberating Mridangam which plays the same pattern of the prelude and the Pallavi (1234 thrice in the faster mode).Exactly after 8 rounds, the percussion stops and the electric guitar plays to a count of 24 beats(8 tisrams or 6 chatushrams).

In the first CharaNam, the pattern in the first part of the interlude is followed.

The first part of the second interlude has the drums again following the 1234 1234 1234 in the faster mode.

The magic happens in the second CharaNam this time in a new form. The 1234 pattern is now played in the ‘keezh kaalam’(slower pace).

‘KaalapramaaNam’ at its best!

Pace, Tempo, Tala…. Time-aren’t these amazing-just like his music?

Darkness follows Light..and Light follows Darkness..

I have often wondered at the beauty of the Raga system.A simple permutation and combination of same set of swaras give us what is called as Raga.This set pattern gives us various patterns and the probability of the same pattern getting repeated is very low.

Let us take just three compositions of Saint Thyagaraja- ‘Amma Raavamma’, ‘Nidhi Chaala Sukhama’, ‘Ethaa Unaraa’.All these are in Kalyani but still each one evokes a different kind of emotion.

‘Amma Raavamma’ extols Tulasi,’Nidhi Chaala Sukhama’ridicules the materialistic world and ‘Ethaa Unaraa’has philosophical contours.

While it is a fact that each Raga is unique, the mood of the raga also depends on how the composer conceives the composition and importantly how successful he is in terms of communicating this to the listener.

Hindustani music is very strict in even the time of a raga.For example, a Raag like Yaman(Kalyani in Carnatic music) can be sung only in the night while a Raag like Bhairav(Mayamalawagowla in CM) must be sung in the morning only. It is considered sacrilegious if these rules are broken. This is because it is believed that certain ragas evoke certain emotions and these are directly related to our biorhythms.

Carnatic Music does not have such strict rules though it does have morning ragas(Bhoopalam, Bowli, Bilahari), afternoon ragas(Madhyamavathi,Sriragam,Manirangu),evening Ragas(Vasanta, Lalita).There are also ragas for each rasa.

But the greatness of Carnatic music lies in its ability to be flexible and at the same time adhering to the rules.

That is why great composers like Thyagaraja, Dikshithar, and Shyama Sastry have been very successful in bringing out the emotions so subtly.

Long back, the great G.Ramanathan broke a rule.Mukhari, a raga considered to bring tears in our eyes was used by him in a romantic duet in a movie called Ambikapathi.Of course, there was a reason behind this as well.The movie was based on a (supposed)romance between Kamban’s son Ambikapathi and the King’s daughter Amaravathi with the Hero meeting a tragic end. GR sir brilliantly used Mukhari to foretell what was to come later.

Musicians are great indeed!

The Genius whose other name is ILaiyaraaja has used ragas so differently that at times it is difficult to believe that such ragas are also capable of evoking such emotions.

Mohanam was used in a pathos song-Oru Raagam Paadalodu Kaadhil Kettatho.
Kalyani in ‘Alai meethu Thadumaaruthe siru odam’.

Subhapantuvarali in a humourous song-‘Kandu Pidichchen’
Chakravaagam in a love duet-‘Nee Paathi Naan paathi’
VakulabharaNam as a philosopher-‘Aarum Athu Aaazham illai’.

These are just some examples.More examples will be shown in my 'Ragaranjani' Blog.

But I have always been intrigued by his use of one particular raga. Not a single human emotion has he left out using this raga. Not a single facet of this raga has he left uncovered in this raga.

In ‘Madha Un Kovilil’, the raga prays.

In ‘Mani Osai Kettu Ezhunthu’, the raga cries with the lover.

In ‘Shenbagame’, it waits patiently for her husband.

In ‘Enna Saththam intha neram’,it cries,laughs,dances,walks,runs,sits,meditates.

In ‘Enna solli naan ezhutha’, it writes a letter.

In ‘Aaatama Therottama’,it is a cabaret dancer.

In ‘Aasai Adhikam Vaichchu’, it is a tribal dancer.

In ‘Poongaatru Puthithaanathu’, the raga jumps with joy totally oblivious to the uncertain future.

In ‘VaLai Osai ‘, it is the naughty love.

In ‘Muththu Mani Maalai’ it is the newly married couple.

One can go on and on…

The rare gem of today is also based on the same raga.

It is ‘Hey Masthana..’ from ‘Azhage Unnai Aaradhikkiren’(1979).

The sequence is somewhat interesting.Two young lovers travel to Goa and dance with the hippies in the evening.The girl’s aunt- ditched by a man(villain!)-and a man totally devoted to this lady accompany the couple.

Listen to the prelude.The long flute slowly takes us away from the hustle-bustle of city life while the guitar and the chorus leave us in the midst of hippies.
A short interlude with the strings and the trumpet and we start dancing to the voices of Jayachandran and Jency.

The next interlude is what shows us the genius.

The western fast –paced beats suddenly give way to the violin evoking a totally different and contrasting emotion.

The next CharaNam is slow in keeping with the mental state of the senior couple.Vani Jayaram and SPB do full justice to the situation.

As the CharaNam ends, we start jumping with joy with the young lovers.

We continue to dance in the next interlude as the Shehnai and the other instruments stare at us with glee.

This continues in the CharaNam as well.

Now comes the beauty.
The flute and the violin making us close our eyes and just relax.
We become sober in the following CharaNam.

Contrasting emotions depicted so musically.

Well..after all what is life?
Darkness after light..and Light after Darkness..

Just like the Ragam-Sindhu Bhairavi!

http://www.divshare.com/download/16975514-dc7