Foretaste of music

THEY ARE out. Those little books, put out by various outfits, distributed free of charge and containing particulars of the music concerts, dance/ Harikatha performances, plays etc., held during the season. A firm indicator that the season has arrived. Already, of course, we see around us, other signs and omens in the form of pre-season flurry of cultural happenings.

For instance, the Carnatica Archival Centre presenting a Raganubhava/ Vadyanubhava series designed to enhance our levels of appreciation. I am not sure whether I evolved into a better- informed rasika at the end of the day. But I did enjoy listening to a Pallavi Concert in Mukhari.

Or like Sowmya singing, at the Kumara Rajah Muthiah Hall, a concert of Tyagaraja Kritis chosen to illustrate the concept of ``Nava Vidha Bhakthi''. A large audience heard the concert with pleasure till the end, aided, no doubt, by the fact that this is perhaps the best concert hall in the city to-day. I enjoyed an additional bonus, watching Hamsadhwani Ramachandran being interviewed, impromptu, on Vijay TV at the end of the concert. Not to be outdone, in the matter of subject-specific concerts, Nityashree presented Bharathiar songs. So, theme concerts are in and are here to stay. Consider for a moment. Concerts can be woven round a hundred different themes offering, or appearing to offer, a wider field of choice to meet special preferences or the demand for variety. If the trend is established, it is only because it is in tune with the spirit of this consumerist age.

On a different tack, The Other Festival, initially an anti- establishment gesture but now settled down into an annual feature, offered, on their last day, a new experience. Aruna Sayeeram and Dominiuqe Vellard sang Carnatic and Western vocal music in succession, alternately. Aruna sang Alapanas, Kirtanas, Slokas, Trippugazh and even a Ragam Tanam. Dominique sang early forms of Church music, like Gregorian chants. The alternate singing mode, carefully designed, gave the performance the form of a dialogue structure, of musical statement and response which came through pleasingly on the ear. The reason was obvious. Both sang pieces with a melodic approach. Dominique's Church Music, with its long vowel syllables resembled, sometimes, snatches of alapana and, at others, a form of Sama Gana, perhaps the oldest form of religious music. With the result, the audience heard twin streams of melody, broadly similar-sounding, flowing side by side, twinkling and glancing at each other but not merging. I am happy that the performers themselves claimed only this and denied any exercise in fusion. When they sang, occasionally, to-gether, they were duets, with Aruna singing the same songs as Dominique.

With the globe shrinking fast due to instant communication and more travel, cross-cultural encounters will be the order of the day. We will be treated to many more musical products of this type. And that is all to the good. Let nation sing unto nation. A noble concept. But not all together, please. It was tried once before, at a place called Babel, remember?

The festival itself. Is it coming in a little more quietly this year? One senses a lower decibel count in the fanfare of its arrival. One hopes a few lessons have been learnt from past experience. One hopes, but one fears that the process of education may be longer and more painful. When Nityasree sang for the Brahma Gana Sabha, the Gnanananda Hall was packed half an hour before the concert began. But that swallow, high-flying as it may be, does not make a summer, or a Chennai Festival winter either.

N. VAIDYANATHAN

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