The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : The classy and the classical

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 02, 2010
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

The classy and the classical

Ranjani Govind

BANGALORE: Several events make the three-day Annual Music Festival of Hamsadhwani Creations starting Friday at the Gayana Samaja) an interesting assortment; but what is bound to make it memorable is the release of a rare CD containing 108 kritis of Muthaiah Bhagavathar, sung by vocalist M.S. Sheela, written in praise of Chamundeshwari.

Carnatic music aficionados may be aware of the saint-composer's set of kritis on the deity but very few have been sung by performing musicians. Hamsadhwani Creations, a sabha nurturing classical arts and music (run by vocalist Ms. Sheela and B.K. Ramaswamy) took up the task of collating the 108 glorious descriptive melodies in two CDs (MP3 format) bringing across its rich musical value to public.

“The value is in their inherent musicality. The saint has offered something so rich I thought only a recording of the entire lot will help preserve them for posterity,” said Ms. Sheela who has sung all the 108 kritis.

Rare scales

Muthaiah Bhagavathar, as Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar's court musician, had been asked by the king himself to take up the ‘108 Chamundeshwari Ashtottara Shatha Archana Namas' to pen the kritis. The composer has employed 108 ragas for the work, bringing in rare scales as Pashupathipriya, Valachi and Gouda Malhar!

Ask Ms. Sheela about the colossal exercise that entailed poring through hundreds of full-fledged notations and she says: “Only God gave me the strength to study the nuances of each creation. My months of practice and nearly 40 days of recording was all worth it. My students will present some of the songs from the CD during the festival.”

To be honoured

The 11th Annual Festival of Hamsadhwani Creations includes the Hamsadhwani Puraskara presentations to senior musicians — vocalist Neela Ramgopal and the Indonesian angklung exponent H.S. Anasuya Kulkarni, as well as to scholar Mathoor Krishnamurthy for his contribution to culture.

Vidwan R.K. Padmanabha will perform on the evening of December 4. A Goshti Gayana of Devi Kritis and a Kannada music feature, Girija Kalyana, will be presented on December 5, morning session.

The venue for all the events in the Gayana Samaja.

Call 23325302 or 23326901.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka