Genius of Balamurali

Balamurali sings swaras for Sri Ramana Vibho which is a very catchy song in Arabhi by Swati Tirunal. The title of this post is explained at 3:38. He sings regular BMK-style swaras till that point and then produces something out of this world. Some people might argue that it's not Arabhi but who cares.

Sri Ramana Vibho

Here's one more version by Prof. Venkataramanan. He sings swaras at Rama Sodara Durita Samuha which is equally catchy.

Teratheeyaga Gowlipantu

MDR left his stamp so hard on some krithis that it's really difficult to listen to other renditions no matter how hard you try. This is one such example. Each and every syllable and swara oozes with bhavam. This is stripping music to its bare bones and presenting it in all its beauty.

Abhishek Raghuram

I don't know how I chanced upon Abhishek Raghuram. Probably heard people talking about in rasikas.org. I've been hooked ever since I started listening to him. I think he's an extremely intelligent musician who probably works really hard to make his voice do the things his mind wants to do. He seems to have borrowed the best of S.Kalyanaraman, Balamurali, TNS and others. His ideas seem to keep gushing out and I guess he has a hard time coming to a stop sometimes. There's a pretty good collection of his music on Sangeethapriya. I especially recommend his Sri Valli Devasenapathe, Needayaradha in Vasantabhairavi (the alapana is one of its kind), Seethamma Mayamma. Of course, there's his magnum opus Thodi at the Music Academy in 2010.

Here's a link to his Needayaradha

Kharaharapriya Janyas - I

Of late, I've been smitten with Kharaharapriya janyas. Especially, Suddha Dhanyasi, Abheri and the mela Kharaharapriya itself. I'm not able to explain this sudden affliction towards these melas but certain renditions have played a part in this regard. I'll start out with some compositions I like in Suddha Dhanyasi.

Suddha Dhanyasi

This raga has taken over me like no other in the recent past. I feel that I've subconsciously been partial to certain pentatonic scales but they have not come out so strongly before. This raga has a nice gaiety feel to it. There's nothing more I enjoy than listening to a nice, energetic SD in the morning.

1) Entanerchina by BMK

This is one of the finest expositions of this raga. I've blogged about TRS' Subramanyena in the past, even calling it the best exposition of the raga but I understand now that that declaration was borne out of my lack of exposure. BMK has a unique way of exploring ragas and when he is not indulging in his gimmicks, he can leave an imprint on you and this is one such rendition. I'm a big fan of elaborate swaraprastharas as they help me understand the raga and its patterns better. My swarajnaana has not developed to an extent to be able to analyze and ingest a raga using only the alapaana. :-)

2) Subramanyena by MMI

If you want to know everything about Suddha Dhanyasi in 7 minutes, you should listen to MMI's rendition. He goes about exploring this raga as only MMI can.

3) Himagiri Thanaye by S. Rajam

A scholarly interpretation of the raga. This is a wonderful composition and Sri Rajam has done full justice to it. I should probably listen to this rendition more.

4) Shri Rajamathangi - Varnam - S Kalyanaraman

Thanks to Muthiah Bhagavathar for composing this varnam. A very fine rendition by SK.

5) Pranapathe Gunapathe Ganapathe - Madurai GS Mani

A little known composition sung by a not so popular yet knowledgeable musician.

6) Bhavamulona - Nedunuri Krishnamurthy

A fine Annamacharya composition popularized by MSS but it sparkles at the hands of Nedunuri too.

I'll post the links shortly. You can find most of them on www.sangeethapriya.org

In my next post in this series, I'll cover another grand and popular raga Abheri.

So much to share

People who know me know that I live and breathe music. A lot of music goes into my ears everyday. I can't get enough of music. I'm not happy with listening to the same musicians or the same music everyday. Just like a musician, I feel the need to experiment and listen to new music or ideas all the time.

One of my biggest gripes with myself has been my inertia in sharing these ideas with others. I don't know if others will share my taste of music but if I can find one other soul who does, I'd have achieved the purpose of this blog.

This post is more of a self-admonishment than anything else. I shall strive to update this blog as often as possible and I shall dedicate it solely to Music.

Aaha!!

That's what I cried out. For the umpteenth time. AnandAtmAnubhavE, declared T.M.Krishna emphatically. One who experiences Supreme Bliss, that's what it means. Supreme bliss it was for me, every time I listened to that particular rendition of Shri Nilotpalanayike by TMK. It had been 2 weeks since he had put me in a trance at a concert here and I didn't want to come out of it.

The raga was new to me yet it was not. It was Nariritigowla. Reetigowla with a Suddha Dhaivatham instead of Chatusruthi Dhaivatham. At first, it wreaked havoc on my mind for obvious reasons. I was finding it difficult to fathom the emotions created by the raga. Soon, I came to love the havoc it was creating. The feeling it generated was a mixture of pathos, curiosity, calm and much more.

Each and every phrase in that krithi was profound. It was sung in the most aesthetic manner possible. The whole rendition oozed with bhava. I couldn't help going gaga over it each time I listened to it. It was at one such instant that epiphany struck. What was I appreciating here? The phrase? The meaning of the krithi? The krithi itself? The beauty of the raga? The brilliance of the composer? The genius of the person who invented this music? The magnanimity of the Creator who created all this and brought it all together at that instant in time. Aaha!!

[audio:http://shripathi.com/music/Shri_Nilotpalanayike.mp3]

'Muscle tone'

"The Pythagoreans regarded the body as a musical instrument whose soul-strings must have the right tension and we still unwittingly refer to our mortal frame as a kind of stringed guitar when we speak of 'muscle tone' or describe John as 'good tempered'. :

- from 'The Act of Creation' by Arthur Koestler