ENCORE
Tussle over Tamil
SRIRAM VENKATAKRISHNAN
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A resolution passed at the conference convened by the Annamalai University Syndicate sparked off a controversy.
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CONFERENCE VENUE: The Annamalai University.
It was a strange irony. Despite Thanjavur being the heartland of Carnatic music, most songs sung on the concert platforms till the 1940s were in languages other than Tamil. Telugu and Sanskrit dominated.
It was at this juncture that an announcement appeared in The Hindu dated July 28, 1941, under the heading "Encouragement of Tamil Songs." The Annamalai University Syndicate had "approved a scheme for the composition of new Tamil songs and the popularisation of old songs." The announcement stated that "a conference of votaries of music in this part of the country will be held... in August and all the songs that will be sung there will be in Tamil only."
Enthusiastic start
On August 3, 1941, Tiger K. Varadachariar, Principal, Music College, Annamalainagar, wrote to The Hindu, giving details of the conference, scheduled to begin on August 14, in which several prominent musicians were participating. The Hindu of August 15 reported that the conference "began amidst scenes of enthusiasm" with Sir Kurma Venkata Reddi inaugurating it. A concert by Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar accompanied by Kumbhakonam Rajamanickam Pillai and Palani Subramania Pillai followed. The Subjects Committee of the Conference convened at 1 p.m. with T. Lakshmana Pillai presiding. The list of attendees was a veritable who's who of Carnatic Music. Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar dominated the show and ended it with a discourse on the "Greatness of Tamil Music and its Songs."
The conference concluded on August 17 and its resolutions were published in The Hindu dated August 19. The second of three resolutions sparked off a major controversy. This read "The Sangeetha Sabhas (are) to arrange kacheries in such a way that the songs were in Tamil and that only a minor portion of the kacheri was devoted to songs in other languages."
Several musicians and music lovers felt that this spelt an end to the songs of the Carnatic Trinity and other great composers. The Hindu gamely entered the fray with a stinging editorial on September 2, titled "Musical Chauvinism." It stated that there was "no room for protection in music. Those who think that composition in Tamil will be stimulated by compelling singers to sing only Tamil pieces little understand the way in which the creative imagination functions."
Letters poured in from personalities such as M.S. Ramaswami Iyer, Dewan Bahadur K.S. Ramaswami Sastrigal, T.T. Krishnamachari and Mylapore Sundaram Iyer (father of S. Rajam and S. Balachander), expressing various points of view. Fuel was added to the fire when Tiger sent in a letter on September 6 in response to The Hindu's editorial where he said that "when great Tamilian musicians composed in Telugu, (it was) because of the adventitious aid which the Telugu princes of the Tanjore Court gave them."
This was published with a rejoinder from the editor that Mr Varadachariar's reply "does not at all meet the point we raised." On September 8, The Hindu reported a meeting of the previous day at the Tyagaraja Sangeetha Vidwath Samajam, Mylapore, where T.L. Venkatarama Iyer presided with Parur Sundaram Iyer and C.S. Iyer speaking against the Annamalainagar resolution.
On September 10, Dewan Bahadur K.S. Ramaswami Sastry's speech, delivered on the occasion of a public felicitation for violinist Marungapuri Gopalakrishna Iyer, was reported wherein he attacked the resolution tooth and nail. To counter this, on September 16, a meeting was organised by Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar, the venerable playwright, at the Victoria Public Hall which was attended among others by M.K.Tyagaraja Bhagavatar and Tanjore K. Ponnaiah Pillai, all of whom spoke in favour of the resolution. In the meanwhile, reports came in on the same day from the Telugu speaking province of Cocanada (now Kakinada) where a meeting was organised at the Town Hall to "protest against the resolution passed at the Chidambaram Music Conference."
Appeal for calm
On September 18, the Vellore Sangeetha Sabha held a meeting with A.S.P. Ayyar, ICS, in the chair where an appeal for calm was issued with a request that "all music concert songs should be selected with reference to their aesthetic quality without distinction of language."
On September 22, a Tamil Isai Kalai Conference was held at Nungambakkam with T. Chengalvarayan and Dr. T.S. Tirumurti being the speakers. Both lauded the Chidambaram resolution and stated that "the Tamil songs sung very largely in concerts would not prejudicially affect the reputation of Sri Thyagaraja or Dikshitar or other classic composers whose fame was immortal."
The battle went on and a truce was not to be declared till 1946. With the setting up of the Tamil Isai Sangam in 1943, Tamil songs and their composers received their long overdue honours on the Carnatic platform. Carnatic music emerged, greatly enriched by several beautiful Tamil songs, as the real winner.
(The author can be contacted at srirambts@gmail.com)
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