It suddenly struck me that a full-fledged carnatic concert is very much like the sumptuous ‘ elai-sappad’ (meal on a banana leaf), at our weddings.
Why, the very word ‘’saappad’’-does contain
sa (basic note) and paad (sing)
say some wags. Music rasikas appreciate
gourmet traditional food as well as traditional music. People say
that in December , there is
equal attendance at the concert halls and the gourmet canteens . Food is for
the tongue and music for the soul of course. Both delight the afficianado.
First, my pranams to the person or
persons who discovered the use of banana leaf for the feasts.What a beautiful
shape and colour, fresh and healthy green,
with its own mild flavour. It
is divided horizontally into two equal
parts. The top part used for different concoctions. And the bottom half used
for rice and the changing accompaniments. It is eco-friendly and bio-degradable-
according to current terminology.
Carnatic concerts before Ariyakudi Ramanuja
Iyengar , the doyen of music, were pretty different. First ,there would be an elaborate varnam in 4 or 6
speeds. Next, a smallish kriti. Then would come a very long and detailed ragam
, thanam and pallavi. After that would
be a thani avarthanam (also long ) a
slokam or a mangalam . These few items would take at least 4 hours.
This concert can be compared to a basic curry(vegetable), a very huge
helping / helpings of “’ sambar’’ and
rice, and a small cup of butter-milk. No
other special ‘’items’’ or frills.
Those were leisurely days, and male
Vidwans performed in front of Kings or Mirasdars. There were no female artistes .Other learned
poets and musicians appreciated them. Such
concerts happened in Raja Serfoji’s court or in the courts of Mysore
or Ettayapuram or other such venues. .
Rajas gave generous gifts of gold,
pearls, silver, land, etc to the talented folk. Even Tyagaraja’s ancestors were
gifted houses by the Rajas. In return, these
benevolent rulers expected a degree of sycophancy and
fawning. And a few compositions praising
them to glory. We all know that Tyagaraja refused to do so- which he put forth
frankly in his kriti “’nidhi chala sukhama?( are riches comfort
enough or –Rama bhakti ?).
As things changed and gradually progressed , Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, a great musician
and thinker, came on the scene and revlutionised the concert pattern .He came like a bright meteor. He was
the disciple of Ramnad(poochi) Srinivasa Iyengar. Poochi(fast flitting
bee) because of his fast-flitting , nimble voice. He came in the lineage of
Tyagaraja , via the redoubtable singer
and composer , Patnam Subramanya iyer. At that time sabhas were also being
established and court patronage was declining. Ariyakudi Iyengar felt that the concerts were
stale and without variety. He was too
talented to follow this. So he accelerated the pace from Chaukam (very slow)
to madyama kalam (medium pace). He chose many medium-paced kritis like ‘Raju
vedala’(thodi) Evarimata and Majanaki(Kambhodi) and many other slow kritis which he speeded up to a brisk
pace. He included tamil, telugu,
Sanskrit , kannada language kritis in abundance. He also tuned the Tiruppavai
hymns and the Rama nataka kritis admirably. He cut short the raga alapanas,
added racy and interesting swaras and
never allowed his concerts to sag from
start to finish. In fact even between items ,he paused only for one or two seconds . The accompanists
could not remove their fingers form their instruments. The audiences were enthralled and had no time for idle
chit-chat. Three or four hours sped by in enchanting fashion.
Not only that, the “pithamaha”’ gave variety.
Just like a kalyana ‘’elai-sappad”. A varnam in 2 speeds ( 2vegetable curries),
a brisk ganesa vandhanam ( koottu ,
avial) first ragam and song suite ( paruppu usili and kosmalli), another fast
kriti(curd pachadi). Next, a sub-main ragam, kriti ,neraval, and swaras( rice
and sambar with appalam ),A chauka kala kriti or two ( rasam and vadai )- Then
ragam, thanam and pallavi ( payasam , followed by curd rice and pickle)
.There were also the usual Iyengar wedding staples-(puliyodarai, poli and kara sevai) in the form of various catchy and
beautiful songs.. Musically, they were- tiruppavai, rama nataka kirtanam other tamil songs, javalis and virutham. The rasikas had a satiating concert no doubt.
Iyengarval’s concerts were
grand, with all-inclusive aspects of
compositions and improvisation (manodharma). And as Semmangudi Sir used to say often—‘’ they had
PROPORTION’’. He lamented often
that ‘’proportion’’ went out of the
window with Iyengarval. Though I had
listened to Ramanuja Iyengar’s concerts when young , it was only later that I
was dumbstruck by his recordings. What tempo, what raga delineations in crisp
fashion, what imaginative short avartanam swaras, what bhavam , and what a
repertoire. No wonder Semmangudi, GNB and others followed him everywhere and referred
to him as’Anna’ out of great respect. They imbibed many aspects of his style. The
main point was his madyama kala renderings. And his multi-faceted concert
pattern .
GNB even played the tambura for his
concerts. The decorative concert pattern
was laid out by him. Though off-stage he
was not very tall, on-stage he looked very magnificent and colourful. His full,
three-striped namam, his real-zari angavastram and his huge solitaire diamond
kadukkans(ear studs) , his traditional hairstyle (knot), all gave a leonine stage presence. He was the first vidwan with showmanship. He took music to the
layman by way of sweet , short kritis and songs.He had three illustrious
disciples- Sri B.Rajam iyer , Sri Madurai Krishnan and Sri K V Narayanaswamy-
each of whom made a mark in the music field.
This concert pattern has been followed now for
many years. The introduction of bhajans
and abhangs and other songs can be compared to North Indian sweets
in the wedding menu (chum-chum and Rasmalai)
Nowadays , Jugal- bandhis of North and South music and vocal- instrumental concerts, and fusion
concerts with western instruments are the ‘in ‘ thing. which take place
regularly. These can be compared to the present-day wedding buffets. They serve parathas,
naans, cake , and Biryanis in good measure , apart from South Indian dishes. People
eat both types of food and relish jugal-bandhis also. However ‘elai-sappad’and traditional concerts still
continue with regularity. Variety is the spice of life. And Iyengarval was the
first Carnatic vocalist to discover
this.
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