Down memory lane...

Over the past 70 years, C. V. NARASIMHAN has had the ``good fortune to listen to the greatest music of the century and to have some of the musicians as close personal friends.'' He pauses to look back.

I HAVE been a student of Carnatic music for the past 70 years. My elder sister was a good veena player and I listened to her music whenever she was practising. In a sense she was my first guru, because it was from her I learnt to identify the ragas. She used to buy every new gramaphone record that came out, and I still remember how captivated I was when I first heard Musiri's ``Nagumomu''. I used to attend the concerts organised by the local Sabha, which were usually held at the Hundred Pillar Mandapam at Rock Fort, Tiruchi. There was no public address system in those days, but this hall had excellent acoustics. I had the good fortune to listen to several vocalists such as Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar accompanied by violinist such as Marungapuri Gopalakrishna Iyer, young mridangam genius Palakkad Mani Iyer, and the Jambavan of percussionist, Pudukottai Dakshinamurthi Pillai, on the Kanjira.

One of my classmates was the nephew of a rasika called Ratnachalam Iyer, who lived in a spacious houses close to Rock Fort and was often host to many visiting musicians. I thus had a chance to meet them socially. I was a student in those days at National College and later St. Joseph's College in Tiruchi. Thus, before I went to Oxford in 1934, I had the chance to listen to great masters like Palladam Sanjivi Rao on the flute, Ariyakkudi, Musiri and the young Semmangudi, among the prominent vocalists, and a large number of accompanying artistes on the violin and percussion. Marungapuri used to conduct Tyagaraja Aradhana every year in January and I heard several concerts held in the pandal in front of his house in Srirangam. It was there that I first heard Vidwan Naina Pillai of Kanchipuram and the young Madurai Mani Iyer.

When I returned to India in October 1937, as an officer of the Indian Civil Service, I was able to pursue my interest in Carnatic music to a much greater degree. In 1940, I was transferred from Visakhapatnam to Dindigul as Sub-Collector. I was able to attend many programmes held in Madurai. I also organised a few concerts myself in Dindigul, and in Palani during Panguni Uttiram. Ariyakkudi, Musiri and Palladam gave concerts in Palani at my request. I also arranged a programme by M. S. Subbulakshmi in Dindigul.

In September 1942, I was transferred to the Madras Secretariat and I entered a new phase in my musical education. I attached myself to Musiri, and the day was not complete without my spending an hour or two with him - a kind of gurukulavasa. On Vijaya Dasami day in 1943, Musiri accepted me as a disciple, and taught me my first Tyagaraja kriti, ``Telisi Rama Chintanato''.

Between 1950 and 2000, I spent some six years in Delhi and over 25 years in New York. But I made several trips to Madras and kept up my interest in music. In fact, my interest was so well-known that the President of the Music Academy, Chennai, K. R. Sundaram Iyer, invited me to preside over the Sadas in 1976, and also to inaugurate the 55th annual Music Conference in 1981. I also presided over the Sadas of the Music Academy on January 1, 2000, on the invitation of Mr. T. T. Vasu, president, and the Executive Committee of the Music Academy.

Over the past 70 years, it has been my good fortune to listen to the greatest music of the past century and even more, to count some of our greatest musicians as close personal friends. I would like in this article to record my recollection of some of them, beginning with the vocalists.

Sonorous voice

Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar will be accepted universally as the greatest singer of this period. He had a sonorous voice, which was capable of producing brigas whose every note had its full value. He was a complete musician. His alapanas were models of clarity: In less than five minutes, he could delineate the complete svarupa of a raga. His neravals and savara prastaras were similarly short and sweet. His greatest admirer was Palakkad Mani Iyer, who was also his favourite mridangam player. In those early days, a concert would last for over four hours and all this without the benefit of a microphone or public address system. Ariyakkudi may be said to have standardised the pattern of a kutcheri, which is followed to this day, even though in an abbreviated form.

Affectionate friend

Musiri Subramaniam will always have a special place in my life. Apart from being my guru, he was an affectionate friend. What little I know about Carnatic music today I owe to him. He had a high pitched voice in those days close to four kattais. Even towards the end of his days, he used to sing at two and a half kattais. His voice was in perfect unison with sruthi, and his gramaphone records were very popular. Like Ariyakkudi, he belonged to the Sishya Parampara of Tyagaraja. He was a great devotee to Tyagaraja, and organised the aradhana at Tiruvaiyaru every January for several years. His special forte was his kirtana singing. He would take up a krithi like ``Enta Vedakondu'' or ``Evarani'' and polish it to a level of perfection which was inimitable. He also had a unique style of neraval singing.

As the Principal of the Central College of Carnatic Music for several years, Musiri influenced a whole generation of musicians. Several talented musicians, both men and women were his disciples and took lessons from him at his home in (Oliver, now called) Musiri Subramania Road. Two of his disciples, Vidushi Mani Krishnaswami, and Vidwan T. K. Govinda Rao, have been awarded the Sangita Kalanidhi title. (This has been the case with two disciples of Ariyakkudi as well, Sangita Kalanidhi K. V. Narayanaswami and B. Rajam Iyer). Apart from his status as a musician, Musiri had many friends in all walks of life, doctors, lawyers, civil servants, etc. Of him, Semmangudi made a memorable observation - ``He brought dignity to our profession''.

I would now like to turn my attention to Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. He came of a musical family - his maternal grandfather being the legendary violinist Tirukkodikkaval Krishna Iyer. Another famous violinist was his first cousin Semmangudi Narayanaswami Iyer. In the early days, his voice had a noticeable nasal twang, but was capable of any briga that came to his mind. He had a rich musical imagination and his alapana of certain ragas like Kharaharapriya was unforgettable. Later on, he spent 22 years as the Principal of the Swati Tirunal Academy of Music in Thiruvanantapuram. He helped a great deal to popularise the compositions of Maharaja Swati Tirunal.

After completing this assignment, Semmangudi set up residence in Chennai, and was a much sought after concert artiste. He has probably given more concerts over the years than any of his contemporaries. He has a phenomenal memory, and can be called an encyclopaedia of Carnatic music. He is a fine speaker in Tamil, always saying the right things to suit the occasion. He truly deserves to be called the Bhishma among Carnatic musicians, and is the first choice to preside over any musical occasion. He too has a large number of disciples, and two of them have been awarded the Sangita Kalanidhi title by the Music Academy, violin Maestro T. N. Krishnan and vidwan T. M. Thyagarajan.

I cannot even hope in this essay to make a complete record of the musical giants of my time. Among the vocalists, I would like to make a brief reference to four of them. Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar first comes to my mind. He had a melodious and resonant voice, and had the capacity to hold the attention of his audience. He was a great devotee of ``Guruvayur Appan''. Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, at one time Semmangudi's guru, was a great Tyagaraja baktha. He had a husky and highly expressive voice. His musical imagination was very rich, and some ragas, like Mohanam or Arabhi, were his special favourites. His kirtana singing was full of bhava.

Phenomenon

G. N. Balasubramaniam was a musical phenomenon. His singing was marked by his fast brigas and his style was quite unique. He established a recognisable GNB style, and left behind a host of disciples, both men and women, such as Trichur V. Ramachandran. He was also a composer of several krithis, which can often be heard at concerts today. Madurai Mani Iyer was a specialist in swara prastara. His swara singing was replete with raga bhava. He had a voice which was always in full alignment with sruthi. He has left his stamp on some krithis in some rare ragas, such as ``Sarasa Sama Dana'' in Kapinarayani and ``Ora Joopu'' in Kannada Gowula.

Although he is not an old timer, I may mention Sangita Kalanidhi M. Balamurali Krishna, whose versatility is amazing. He is a composer, vocalist, viola and mridagnam player. I may also mention Sangita Kalanidhi Dr. Pinakapani's disciple, Sangita Kalanidhi Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, a fine vocalist, and a good friend.

`Queen of Song'

Let me turn briefly to the distaff side among vocalists. The first singer that comes to mind is M. S. Subbulakshmi, whom I may also call, with her late husband T. Sadasivam, a close personal friend. Her talents have been so widely recognised and written about, including some articles by myself, that a few words would suffice. Prime Minister Nehur called her ``The Queen of Song''. In 1998, she received India's highest civilian award ``Bharat Ratna''. Her film appearances climax with her ``Meera Bai''. Her records and cassettes are too numerous to mention. She is probably the best seller among the releases of the Gramaphone Company of India, including her Venkatesa Suprabhatam and Vishu Sahasra Namam. I arranged two trips by her to the U.S. in October 1966, when she gave a concert in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations, in New York in the context of the annual U.N. Day Observance, and the other in 1977 in Carnegie Hall, New York. Her standing among the vocalists of the last century is quite unique.

Pioneer

D. K. Pattammal is another great vocalist to whom I would like to offer my homage. Her singing exemplifies ``Karnataka Suddham'' at its best. Her rendering of kritis is chaste and mellifluous. She was a pioneer among female musicians, being one of the first to get up on the concert stage, and present a full fledged programme.

M. L. Vasantakumari was a family friend of ours. Her voice had a special fluid quality. Her style of singing had been influenced by GNB but she had her own individuality. She had a rich musical imagination, and could sing with great fluency and utmost ease any rare raga or any vakra raga without deviating from the established arohana and avarohana. She also had complete mastery over laya. Her Devarnamam rendering was her speciality. Sudha Raghunathan is her disciple.

Musician's musician

I shall conclude this part of my essay on vocalists with a brief reference to T. Brinda, grand daughter of the legendary Veena Dhanammal and Sangita Kalanidhi. (Two other grand children of Dhanammal, the incomparable dancer T. Balasaraswathi and her brother, flautist, vocalist and teacher T. Viswanathan, have received Sangita Kalanidhi). Many people used to regard her as a specialist of - Padam and Javali singing which she often sang in concerts along with her sister, Sangita Kala Acharya T. Muktha. In fact both of them were disciples of Vidwan Naina Pillai of Kanchipuram, an authentic repository of the krithis to Tyagaraja, and their repertories of such kiritis is extensive. She also used to render several kritis of Dikshitar and Syama Sastri. Brinda was very much a musician's musician. Semmangudi has told me that he benefited from listening to her singing. Other beneficiaries include Chitravina maestro Ravikiran. She thus influenced several musicians, whose renderings benefited by her style of singing.

(To be concluded)

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