Kerala - Kochi   

Chasing the monsoon, musically

HARMONY IN NOTES: Carnatic musician Sreevalsan J. Menon (right) along with his team at the recording of the musical composition on rain at a studio in Kochi. Photo: H. Vibhu

While the scorched city eagerly awaits the arrival of monsoon, a team of musicians have cut an album to welcome it. Monsoon Anuraga — Songs of the Rain is a new experiment by young Carnatic musician Sreevalsan J. Menon.

In six segments, he tries to capture the different moods of rain, or its impact on Earth.

Dr. Menon made a foray into unconventional paths, when he successfully tried a musical interpretation of Vanaprastham, a famous short story by Jnanpith Award winning writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair.

"This work started as a rather vague concept, which evolved over six months through exhaustive discussions," said Dr. Menon, as he takes a break during the recording at the Cochin Arts and Communications studio, Kochi.

This was another attempt to find a blend of classical and contemporary music strains, "without compromising on the qualities of both," as noted by Sivaram Srikandath, Director of Programmes, Manorama Music, which is producing the work.

Dr. Menon had done new compositions for classical works on Lord Krishna for the company earlier. "We believe that the classical music could be taken to more people in this manner," said Mr. Srikandath.

The musical journey to different shades of rain begins with the first segment trying to capture the mood of the first shower.

Then it proceeds to heavy rain, but not violent, followed by a slight drizzle.

The fourth segment, which will be an instrumental piece, is on the interplay of rain and sunlight, as witnessed during Ayilyam Njattuvela.

The fifth segment is on the fury and misery of a violent rain.

The final segment will be on the longing for another rain after one has ended.

"There is a sub-text of an intimate physical relationship between a man and a woman in this pattern. But the main text will be rain.

"There will be no silence in the entire track, and the segments will be separated by the sound of actual rain," said Dr. Menon. As Mr. Srikandath prefers to put it, the musical composition is embedded in rain.

Ragas like Megha rag, Amrutavarshini, Miyan ki Malhar, Megharanjini, Hamsadwani, Saveri and Khamboji are used in the segments, which will feature literary texts like Ritusamhara by Kalidasa, the ancient Tamil poetry of Kurumthokkai, works by Mira Bhai and Muthuswamy Dikshithar and modern Malayalam poems.

"Edappally Ajith in his Carnatic violin and Jackson Aruja on keyboard made invaluable contributions in the evolution of this composition," said Dr. Menon.

The recording of the music is almost over and the team is going through the post-production works.

The final product is expected to be out by the time monsoon cools down the hearts and minds of the land.

Anand Haridas

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