On the music of Kerala
RAJASREE WARRIER
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A three-day workshop on the music of Kerala delved into different kinds, styles and aspects of music.
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A three-day seminar on `Music of Kerala,' conducted under the aegis of the Department of Music, Kerala University, turned out to be a success owing to the versatility of the artistes and connoisseurs who participated in it.
Kilimanoor R. Thyagarajan began the session with a demonstration on the comparative elements of violin and viola as an accompaniment to Carnatic vocal music. Starting from the evolution of the violin as a musical instrument, he went on to describe the structure and peculiarities of each instrument in relation to both Indian and western classical music.
The afternoon session, which was led by N.P. Vijayakrishnan, discussed `The ritualistic music of Kerala' with special reference to Sopana sangeetham. While discussing traditional music in general, he also mentioned the various banis prevalent in Sopana sangeetham like Ramamangalam, Guruvayur, Valluvanadu and Payyannur. N.P. Ramadas rendered a few musical pieces in Sopana style, with the support of the edakka. The duo also gave some insights into the structural and symbolic aspects of the edakka.
Kadammanitta Vasudevan Pillai took the small gathering to the world of ethnic music of Kerala.
The noon session on the second day had a brief presentation on the musical works of Mahakavi Kuttamath, which was presented by G. Sreelatha and G. Sreeram. The third day's session focussed on `styles and forms in Kathakali' and its integral part, Kathakali sangeetham. The session began with a lecture- demonstration on the evolution and development of Kathakali sangeetham also called abhinaya sangeetham, which was presented by V. Kaladharan.
According to Kaladharan, the development of this branch of regional music can broadly be split into three phases. The period of Mundaya Venkita Krishna Bhagavathar, who was responsible for the standardisation of Kathakali sangeetham, Kalamandalam Neelakandan Nambeesan who had introduced bakthi ragas into its repertoire and the existing period of Sankaran Embranthiri, who had intelligently experimented with the aesthetics of voice modulation and diction, thus bringing a high quotient of emotional quality in its rendition.
The session also included a demonstration on the techniques of Kathakali by Balasubrahmanyan.
Balasubrahmanyan, who follows the Northern school of Kathakali, presented the varied aspects of nritha (pure dance) and nrithya (histrionics) akin to Kathakali. This was followed by a brief discourse on the musical forms of Kathakali sangitham by V.R.Prabodhachandran Nair, Chairman of Kerala Kalamandalm.
The session had a presentation on the musical pieces of Kathakali like melappadam, vandana slokam, padams, dandakams and slokams. The songs were rendered by Kalamandalam Harish Namboothiri and Kalamandalam Manoj.
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