M.
L.Vasanthakumari ...had her initial training from her mother and later
from G.N. Balasubramaniam, (GNB). MLV imbibed some of GNB's style in her
renditions... She could very easily render an elaborate ragam-tanam-pallavi in
uncommon talam with an unusual eduppu, sing kritis set in two kalai talam or
regale her audience with popular and semiclassical songs..." Kalyani
Ragam by MLV Thani
avarthanam (Carnatic percussion solo)
G.N.Balasubramaniam
- "GNB - the first and arguably the most famous acronym in Carnatic
music. The name somehow still retains freshness even now...
GNBs name will figure in anybody’s short list of all time greats. He was perhaps
the first of Carnatic Music’s intellects.."
Rajkumar Bharathi"...is the great grandson of the great
Tamil poet and composer
Subramania Bharathi. ..He started delving deeper into the works of his
great-grandfather. It made him look at life from a different perspective. People
began to expect him to sing more and more of Bharatiyar's compositions, and
Rajkumar also musically, spiritually, philosophically and content-wise found his
work rich and fulfilling..."
Isai Mani,
Padmashri, Dr. Sirkali Govindarajan is respected by millions all
around the globe as a maestro of Tamil Classical, Devotional and Film music,
with an excellent voice range and tonal purity. His ringing voice, rendering the
songs with expression and expertise, with clear pronunciation of the language,
and with classicism intact, was his speciality. He is regarded as an embodiment
of humility and an excellent humanitarian among his contemporaries.
Madurai
Somasundaram
- "...In his voice, the fluid line of Carnatic music took on a novel shape - the
theme developed the technique instead of the technique molding the theme.. "
Padma
Shri T.M.Sounderarajan "
Most of the TMS fans get real surprise when they come to know about classical
songs sung by TMS. When I lived in Chennai, India during 1990 to 1998, I used to
record his concerts from radio and other sources. During my recent visit to my
motherland, I collected considerable number of karnatic songs from TMS himself.
Sri TMS showed keen interest in bringing out this web site and he not only
helped but also encouraged me. I also collected his karnatic classical songs
from his close associates. I have presented here my
entire
collection of Karnatic songs sung by Sri TMS...I have also presented
some
movie songs which depicts his various bhavam and moods. "
Muthai
Thiru Ulagam
Pirandadu Naan Yen
Pirenden
"...தமிழன் சொந்தத் தாய்மொழிச் சொல்லில்
இசையைக் கேட்க இச்சை கொள்வதே
'தமிழிசை' என்பதன் தத்துவ மாகும்..."Nammakal
Kavijnar
"..In consideration of the tremendous original contribution of the ancient Thamizh people
to the development of isait Tamizh, the least we can do to recognize their efforts is to
present their ideas in a simple form which can be understood by ordinary people. Mere
references to mutthamiz (முத்தமிழ்)
alone is not adequate to convince the world that Thamizh
music traditions go way back to the fifth century A.D. or
even earlier..." Dr.C.R.Krishnamurthy on இசைத் தமிழ்: Tamil Music
Tamil music is sometimes categorised into Devotional, Classical and
Popular Folk music. Rythms of popular folk music express a vitality which stems from the
closeness of its contact with the life of a people. Classical music deepens and refines
these associations with life and its moving ragas and melodies have withstood the passage
of time and remain almost timeless. Finally, the devotional music of the Tamil people,
gives expression to the ecstasy that comes from
transcending our fragmented and partial
self and becoming one with that which is whole and therefore holy.
The
musical traditions that have developed amongst the Tamil people have also been influenced
by the differing origins and languages of the peoples of the Indian sub continent.
Carnatic classical music is related to speakers of the Dravidian group of languages.
"The name Carnatic music refers to the traditional music of a region called
Carnatic. All books on recent Indian history note that before British rule, the kingdoms
in South India were: Travancore - most of today's Kerala, Mysore - the southern part of
today's Karnataka excluding the west coast, and Carnatic- most of South India. (almost the
same as Madras State of the 1950s i.e. all of today's Tamil Nadu, southern Andhra and some
neighboring areas). When the Carnatic kingdom came under British control, they renamed it
Madras Presidency. They also renamed the town of Chennai patnam as Madras City... see
Encyclopedia Britannica for a map of Carnatic....
...Tamil 'Nadu' is also often called as Tamil 'agam'. 'Karu' means black and also means
central. 'naadu' means country and 'agam' means home. Thus Karunaadu meant central
country, as well as black (people) country. The name 'karu naad agam' got anglicized to
'Carnatic' state. In Tamil, the word karunaadagam is still used. The British renamed the
territory as Madras. The music of karunaadagam was called karunaadaga isai..."
Dr.Srinivasan's interpretation of the origin of the expression 'carnatic
music' is not without controversy.
Appapillai
Rajendra points out:
" 'Carnatic music' did not come from the word karnatak nor does it have any
connection to the state of Karnataka. Although the western world up holds
the Roman Empire as the crux of all ancient civilization, in reality, long
before the advent of the Roman Empire, the glory of the Tamil arts and culture
was at its peak during the Chera, Chola and
Pandya dynasties.
Cilappathiharam makes mention of Cavari Puhum Pattinam. During this period
the performing arts were very popular and as a matter of routine, dramas and
music expositions were held on every full moon night on the banks of
the river Cavery, where it merges into the sea. The popularity of these dramas
cum music prevailed in the township that was located on Cavery near the sea
shore (Kadal Carai) which got its name as Cavery puhum Pattanam and the
festivity on the sea shore became known as ‘Carai’ (Shore) ‘nadaham’ (Drama) and
‘issai’ (music), which turned out ‘carai nadaha issai’ to ‘carnadaha isssai’ and
anglicized as ‘Carnatic music’."
"..To which
country does Carnatic music belong? There is no doubt that it belongs to
Tamilnadu. Since the days of Silappadikaram Carnatic music has been present
in Tamilnadu for generations. This music has not attained its pre-eminent
state in Andhra or Karnataka. Only in Tamilnadu has it reached its pinnacle
of glory. But then why is it called Carnatic music? It is similar to Bharath
being called India. The Greek invaders when they entered India they
encountered the river Sindhu. So they called this country Sindhu, which in
course of time got changed into India. In the same way the North Indians
named the south Indian music as Carnatic music because the state of
Karnataka was nearest to them..."
"இப்புவியெங்கும் வழங்கிவரும் இசை முறைகளுக்கெல்லாம் அடிப்படையாய் இசை விளங்குபவை
ச, ரி, க, ம, ப, த, என்னும் ஏழு சுரங்களே. இவற்றை உலகுக்குத் தந்தவர்களும்
பழந்தமிழர்களே.."
"Carnatic music is the classical music of Southern India. The basic
form is a monophonic song with improvised variations. There are 72 basic scales on the
octave, and a rich variety of melodic motion. Both melodic and rhythmic structures are
varied and compelling. This is one of the world's oldest and richest musical
traditions..."
"As a Westerner interested in Carnatic music, I am frequently asked
to explain my interest and to articulate what makes South Indian music special. Both
Indians and Westerners ask the same questions. Since I did not grow up with it, but rather
chose it for myself from among a broad range of world traditions, Carnatic music is
special indeed. There is always a sense in which cross-cultural interactions serve not
only to broaden one's horizons, but also to set one's own cultural identity more strongly
in relief.... I value Carnatic music first for the effectiveness with which it can
build positive mental discipline. It helps me to focus and organize my thoughts, and it
helps to eliminate negative mental habits. How does it do this? Of course, I do not really
know. However, I do claim that music naturally illustrates patterns of thought, and in the
case of the great composers of Carnatic music, these mental patterns have been effectively
conveyed at the highest level..."
V. N. Muthukumar and M. V. Ramana point out
"Until the late 19th century,
the primary location for performances of Art music was at the abodes of
kings and other rich patrons. These concerts are described as being centered
on ragam-tanam-pallavis, elaborate exercises in musical creativity, usually
in major ragas like Sankarabharanam, Todi and Bhairavi. The modern concert
format (kaccheri paddhati), on the other hand, is largely dominated by
kritis, which were either composed by "the trinity" – Syama Sastry,
Tyagaraja, and Muthuswami Dikshitar - or vaggeyakaras following their
styles. The relationship between these two musical forms – ragam, tanam,
pallavi (RTP) and kriti – is complex..."
Unusual Pallavi Themes
The Carnatic
Beginner's List, provides a 'fairly broad introduction to the variety of Carnatic
music in a manageable number of recordings' and is 'an attempt ... to provide a
starting point for people who are interested in listening to and learning more about
Carnatic music'. The Carnatic
Recording List sets out at greater length a selection of Dr. T.M. McComb's
favourite Carnatic music recordings.
Sudha Raghunathan's music clips in Real Audio
affords a quick overview of some of the different ragas -
"..இசையின் வடிவில் இறைவனைக் கண்டார்கள். நான் விருப்பு, வெறுப்புகளுக்கு
அப்பாற்பட்டு ஒரு பார்வையாளராக, ஓர் இரசிகனாக, இசையில் புலமை பெற்றவனாக
அல்ல - ஒரு தமிழ்ப் பற்றாளன் என்கின்ற முறையில் அதைப் பார்க்கிறேன்...
தமிழ் இசை, சாதி, மத எல்லைகளைக் கடந்து இருக்கின்றது. கத்தோலிக்கப்
பாதிரிமார்களும், திருச்சபை பாதிரிமார்களும், தமிழுக்குத் தொண்டு
செய்தார்கள் எனில் இங்கே திருவாசகத்தின் பெருமையைத் தருகிறோம்
என்கிறபோது, எல்லை களைக் கடந்து ‘யாதும் ஊரே யாவரும் கேளிர்’ என்று
உலகத்துக்கு ஒரு காலத்தில் கொள்கையைத் தந்தோமே, நம்முடைய நாகரிகத்தை -
நம்முடைய இசைக்கலையை உலகுக்குத் தருகின்ற இந்தப் பெருமை இன்னும் ஆயிரம்
ஆயிரம் ஆண்டுகளுக்கு நிற்கும்"
Outstanding musicians have nurtured, fostered and kept alive the musical
traditions of the Tamil people and many have become household names and these include
Muthuswamy Dikshitar, and
Saint
Thyagaraja.
".. When you listen to Tamil folk songs, the thing that
hits you the most is the intensity variation - the
modulation, sudden up and down in intensity (and sometimes
in frequency) - none of the 'glide' or the 'brighas' or
microtonal acrobatics of the classical music system. Just to
give you an example, if you had listened to 'Inji
iduppalaga' in the recent movie 'Thevar Magan', at the end
of the fourth line ('Marakka manam koodudhillaye') the
singer raises her voice. Another example, (I think from the
movie 'Vaaname ellai') from the song 'Kambangaadu' - the
second time the singer goes 'Kambangaadu', he raises his
voice on the 'kaadu'. A more blatant exhibition of such
voice gymnastics is the 'ullulation' (my spelling may be
wrong) when a chorus of women go into a loud, short, high
pitched scream, to punctuate a song - Ilayaraja employs this
often.
An example I always give as a quintessential Tamil folk
song is from the movie 'Karagattakkaran' which goes 'Mundhi
mundhiri naayagane'. This clearly brings out the simple
melodic grammar of folk songs vis a vis, classical system.
Pure, raw emotional impact seems to be more important than
any ornamental presentation. Even the musical instruments
complement this. Nayanam, a downsized version of Nadaswaram
or simple string instruments like Villu or Kottangachi
violin are often the only ensemble with relentless, simple
drums like Melam (a cousin of tavil) or Udukkai or
Tambattam."
The Tamil film has become a powerful medium for popularising the music of
the Tamil people, and not surprisingly, Tamil film music often draws its inspiration to a
greater or lesser extent, from each of the three categories -devotional, classical and
popular folk music. The Tamil film music greats include S.P.Balasubramaniam, Ilayaraaja,
T.M.Soundarajan, A.M. Rajah, M.S. Viswanathan, and Abdul Rahman.
An increasing number of websites have MP3 and Real Audio links to Tamil
songs, both classical and popular.
"Research findings have established clearly that folk music preceded
traditional, classical music in Tamil Nadu. Cave men and tribal men made sounds that
developed into a language. These people gave simple tunes without any rules, but a sense of
music was apparent even then. In my childhood days, there was no cinema as there is now.
Performers travelled from village to village telling stories . Songs were interwoven in
the stories. The appreciative audience offered these performers whatever they could. This
was the beginning of symphony.... if you look at the chronology of singers,
Kittappa was
followed by T.R.Mahalingam, who was followed by
T.M.Soundarajan,
Sirkali Govindarajan, all persons who could sing in very high pitches. G.Ramanathan
brought a fresh air to cine music. ... The Tamil film songs were strongly based on
Carnatic music tradition. P.U.Chinnappa was followed by
Chidambaram
Jayaraman, Tiruchi Loganathan. Gantasala was followed by P.B.Srinivas,
S.P.B,
Mano..."
"Listening to a few old Tamil songs always
reminds me of the golden era of Tamil Cine
Music. The two decades from the late fifties
seems to me to have produced the best light
music in Tamil. The golden era not only belongs
to MSV (& Ramamoorthy) but also minor composers
like AM Raja and V Kumar who could create music
which has taste and inspiration behind it.
Perhaps the formative years of Tamil Cine Music
had an element of genuine inspiration behind it
that could shape the musical sense of even the
minor composers.
I have observed the songs belonging to this era
having a kind of organic fluidity that is so
natural to good music. The tunes flow to the
natural sequence of music and don't have the
strain of an artificial imagination at all. The
accidental notes fall so perfectly in their
places and add charm instead of a jarring sound
as one hears in modern Tamil cine music. Take
for instance a song like "Unnidam Mayangugiraen".
It varies in its rhythm and tune so differently
but as a whole it is so beautifully synthesized
that it adds so much of beauty and charm to the
tune as a whole. The variation of tune sequence
(or the scale) in those songs always seems to
blend and not forced as one sees in the songs
today.
They still appeal to the music lover, for there
is the charming simplicity of the tune which
combines elegantly with the better lyrics
(mostly from
Kannadasan, who had a fine sense of the
beauty and more importantly, a good sense of
sound in Tamil Language). The lyrics, hence,
came naturally without any forced or exaggerated
poetic association. One notices that those songs
don't involve much complex orchestration of
modern light music, but nevertheless are so
musically elegant ; there isn't any forced
imagination ; no aping of Western music as in
modern light music. We mostly find the composer
in his natural elements trying to synthesize a
musical expression in a medium 'native' to his
sense of music. Even a later composer like
Ilayaraja is original most of the times when he
tries his hand at folk music with which he grew
up with.
In contrast, today's Tamil cine music seems to
appeal to us only by the hi-fi sound effects and
rarely by any musical sense. There is always the
annoying monotony, one who has any musical
sense, observes. I wouldn't say that the songs
of the earlier period were all so creatively
diverse in their compositions. One can't expect
such a thing in a lesser form of music as light
music. But then there was at least that part of
experimenting and a genuine attempt to create
something from the musical sense that was less
falsified in its inspiration. The composer of
those times, as one can observe, had a kind of
devotion to music, which didn't just have
commercial interests alone. It is seldom seen
today.
It seems to me that it is more than a question
of taste and listening pleasure alone when one
responds to Tamil film music of its formative
period...."
The Kannadasan
lyric specially written for a song by Sirkali Govindrajan in connection with the
opening of the London Murugan temple in the 1980s, movingly reflected the spread
of the Tamil diaspora and their links with Tamil and Tamil music:
Here, carnatic vocalist Sowmya's interview about bringing Carnatic
music to the West, on France's TV5, Paris, in November 2004 is not without
interest.
Today, the Tamil people live in many lands and across distant
seas. But wherever they may live, they acquire strength from the richness
of their own cultural heritage - not only because that culture has something to do
with their own roots but also because that culture has a rich contribution to make to the
cultural fabric of an increasingly small world.
Maha Veerar Naal
as well as Pongu Thamizh have provided a platform to
Tamils living in many lands to give expression in dance,
drama and song, to a growing Tamil togetherness - a growing Tamil togetherness
drawing strength from its roots in the ground.
Palghat T.S. Mani Iyer "Mani Iyer’s mridangam playing earned him the
title of "Mridanga chakravarthy". His career spanning over 60 years brought
him among other things the prestigious "Sangeetha Kalanidhi"(1967),
"Padmabhushan" (1971) and the President of India’s "National Award"(1956).
..it is said that he had such a sense of timing and control of thala that
for any song he simultaneously could mark two different talas with his right
and left hands respectively. .."
