CARNATIC SUMMER BY V.SRIRAM

Carnatic Summer by Sriram. V ; Published by East West Books (Madras ) Pvt Ltd ; Pages 311 ;Price Rs. 295/
**********************
Close on the heels of “Great Masters of Carnatic Music “ by Indira Menon, I have with me another book of the same genre. It is again about Carnatic musicians. The author has impeccable credentials. Sriram is currently contributing Editor of Sruti,the classical music journal. He is co-author of a Quiz book on Carnatic music and writes regularly on music in Indian Express and Madras musings. Along with Sanjay Subrahmanyan he is running a website on music.
He has culled out twenty Carnatic musicians of the 20th Century who were top performers marking a high noon in this art form entitling the book to be appropriately christened “Carnatic Summer ”. The introduction is a consummate summary of the history of this art from Sarangadeva to Purandaradasa. Kshetragna, Venkatamakhin, the benign Tanjore kings, the reign of the Classical trinity and the giants of twentieth century, some of whom we were lucky to hear.
We have a veritable galaxy including a dozen vocalists, four violinists, one Nagaswaram vidwan, one flautist and two percussionists. Their lives and lifestyles which had an impact on their art are succinctly covered. Since copious material is available on the major artists—like M.S , Semmangudi, Chembai, etc I shall concentrate on those about whom not much is known or written. Rightly has the author written, ‘If Carnatic music is still heard all over the world and makes an emphatic and grand statement of survival each year during the annual December session in Chennai it is because of these great men and women, powerful personalities who bore the art form aloft amidst crisis and threats.”

I shall begin with a story on Madurai Mani Iyer. He had a house on Luz Church Road just behind a bus stop which was called “Mani Iyer Stop”. During the time he resided there, the Paramacharya of Kanchi happened to pass that way with his entourage.
He stopped outside Mani Iyer’s house. The Paramacharya was well received and he asked for Mani Iyer and was informed that he had not yet bathed that day and was hence indoors as regulations demanded that nobody could appear before the seer before taking bath first. The Acharya called out Mani Iyer and blessed him saying that his music was his mode of worship and he need not worry about worldly rituals and observances. What great piety !.

Papanasam Sivan treated D.K.Pattammal as his daughter and he suggested that she should sing the song ‘Desa Seva Seyya Varir’. The song was enormously popular with Pattammal’s emotional rendering, Kalki’s lyrics, and Papanasam Sivan’s tune. In 1949,Vazhkai of AVM saw the debut of Vyjayanthi Mala plus Pattammal singing Bharata Samudayam Vazhgave. This rendition was accorded a national song status. Attending a Pattammal concert was akin to a slow boat ride, taking in the beauties of the roadside with the mind in a state of complete relaxation. Her music was deceptively simple and appealed directly to the heart.

Bade Ghulam Ali Khan visited Chennai in 1952 and took the city by storm. He developed great respect for M.L.Vasanthakumari whose performances he attended. Once on his way back to Bombay, the Khan discovering that M LV was also in the same train, moved over to her compartment and the two performed an impromptu jugalbandi to the delight of fellow passengers, taking turns in singing svaras between the tunnels in the Poona –Bombat ghat section!.

Dwaram Venkataswami Naidu was one of the greatest violinists of Carnatic music. He was extremely near-sighted almost to the point of blindness. Among many of his admirers were Sarojini Naidu, Harindranath Chattopadhyaya, S,Radhakrishnan and Rabindranath Tagore. So impressed was Tagore that he sang Rabindra Sangeeth to Dwaram’s accompaniment. Dwaram was the first violinist to be conferred Sangitha Kalanidhi in1941. To relocate him from Andhra to Madras a Sammana Mahotsav was arranged and a princely sum of Rs.35,000 was collected. Dwaram accepted this award provided Rs 2,000 was given to his guru, Venkatakrishnayya and another Rs 2,000 to a violinist who had written damagingly about him in the 1920s but was now sick and requiring help. Compassion was his hallmark.

During the 1954 visit of Yehudi Menuhin to India Dwaram attended his performance with Dr.P.V.Rajamannar. At the end of the programme Rajamannar took him backstage to introduce him to Menuhin. Dwaram wanted to touch Menuhin’s instrument and possibly play on it as well. But the latter did not agree. The upset Rajamannar arranged a concert of Dwaram’s the very next day and invited Menuhin to attend the same. At the end of the performance Menuhin was so amazed at Dwaram’s virtuosity that he walked up to him, took him by his hand and apologized for his brusqueness the previous day. The two spent the entire evening together and Dwaram was not only allowed to touch Menuhin’s violin but also play on it to his heart’s content.
T.Chowdiah believed that the violin was of Indian origin and cited the unusual sculpture in Agastyeshwara temple depicting a lady playing an instrument with a bow like the violin of today. Chowdiah abandoned the four stringed violin substituting it with one of seven strings and christened it sapta tanthi. On one memorable occasion, at the end of a spectacular performance by Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Chowdiah was so delighted that he hoisted the vocalist on his shoulders and danced a jig all around the concert hall.
The Chowdiah Memorial Hall in Bangalore is shaped in the form of a violin—a fitting tribute to one of the greatest violinists of India.

Another great violinist was Kumbhakonam Rajamanikkam Pillai. “Mummanigalum Manikkamum” was how the handbills would describe the concerts of G N B as vocalist, Rajamanikkam Pillai on the violin and Palghat Mani Iyer on the mridangam and Palani Subramania Pillai on the kanjira. The ruby in the above was the violinist. A very painstaking artist, it was a measure of his ambition to succeed that Rajamanikkam ascended the platform on a day when his wife was in the throes of labour back home. At the end of the programme a visibly pleased Muthiah Bhagavathar presented Rajamanikkam with a set of violin strings along with customary gifts. Nestling among the strings was a telegram which announced the birth of his child. In Tamizh, violin strings and telegrams are both referred to as Thanthi. This reflected Muthiah Bhagavathar’s sense of humour and penchant for punning. Among Pillai’s earliest students was the vocalist and film star M M Dandapani Desigar. Flute Mali had great affection for him and once Mali had come to perform but could not enter the hall due to milling crowds. Pillai gathered the 12-year old Mali, placed him on his shoulders and began striding towards the entrance. Using his enormous paunch as a rudder he shoved his way to the stage with admirable ease and deposited Mali on the stage. He was Mali’s violinist that day.

T N Rajarathnam Pillai was a bohemian character who dominated the Carnatic music world for half a century. He was unique in his rendering of ragas on the nagaswaram and he was one of the unsurpassed geniuses of his time. A man who lived king-size, he also had five wives and drank himself to early death. He got rid of his tuft and adopted the modern hairstyle and refused to follow the accepted practice of nagaswarm vidwans performing bare-chested and came in silk kurtas and shawls.

When Semmangudi was asked to list the great geniuses of Carnatic music, he thought of three names—Flute Mali, T N Rajarathnam Pillai and Palghat Mani Iyer. Mali was a child prodigy.
Mani Iyer’s teaming with Mali was historic and the two made great music for many years. The combination of the two geniuses and the music they produced together has been described as unparalleled
extra-ordinary and incredible. They were made for each other. Mali redesigned his flute, making its reed thicker and its bore smaller to produce a strong and rich tone. He used flutes with eight holes.

Mali was greatly respected by the seniors of the music world. Chembai who was fond of him played the violin while Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer accompanied them on the mridangam at a Tyagaraja Vidwat Samajam performance. When during a performance at the R R Sabha , Mali was disturbed by T L Venkatarama Iyer and Mudicondan Venkatarama Iyer chatting loudly in the front row, he publicly admonished them over the mike. And when they did not stop, Mali ended his own performance by playing the mangalam at once !. Mali was one of the victims of the ‘bottle’.

Palghat Mani Iyer was pure genius and he alone had the ability to weave a magic spell on his audience with his mridangam. Respect for him bordered on fear. Continuously researching on ways and means of improving the mridangam, he perfected the instrument as know it today. The long list of artists he accompanied includes every name worth its salt. He formed close relationship with GNB and Alathur Subbier. In 1966, the Madras Music Academy honoured him with the Sangitha Kalanidhi, departing from the tradition for the first time honouring a mridangist. Mani Iyer’s last words were that he had to leave for a concert of Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar with Dakshinamurthy Pillai accompanying him on the kanjira. Could be a concert for the Gods in their Heavens!.

An added feature is a comprehensive glossary noted for brevity and clarity.

The volume under review is indeed a goldmine, rich in anecdotes and presenting in one volume the growth of Carnatic music and capturing heights of glory with artists of a rare calibre and stature. All students and lovers of Carnatic music will profit greatly by carefully reading this valuable book.