Master of all musical trades
RANJANI GOVIND
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Balamurali Krishna reminisces his achievements and elucidates his beliefs about the creation of ragas and talas and the riches of South Indian music
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PHOTO: BHAGYA PRAKASH K.
MUSICAL MAESTRO Balamurali Krishna: `Why do we have to follow rules in creativity?'
Do you know how the celebrated vocalist got the prefix Bala to his name Murali Krishna? As a five-year-old, he had presented his first public concert and stunned his neighbourhood in Sankaraguptam, Andhra Pradesh. At 14, he had composed works in all the 72 melakarta ragas of Carnatic music. Distinguished Harikatha performer Musunuri Satyanarayana prefixed `Bala' to his name in the presence of noted musicians in 1935.
Endowed with immense creative skills, the prodigy took to violin, viola, kanjira, veena and mridanga in a magical way, even without formal training. As years rolled by, the world of Carnatic music got richer with the maestro presenting ragas and kritis of saint composers in his inimitable neo-classical style. The amazing hardiness of his prolific seven decades of musical service explains the creative genius in him who has penned around 400 musical compositions that include varnas, kritis and tillanas. He has shaped and fashioned several ragas and talas that are groundbreaking in their grammar and content. The maestro with a musical lineage was the first ever musician to be honoured by All India Radio's `Top Grade' in seven performance areas. Padma Vibhushan Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna is one of the few musicians to win National Awards for classical music, music direction in films and film playback singing!
Friday Review caught up with the septuagenarian who fondly reminisced his achievements and elucidated his fervent beliefs in aspects as creating ragas and talas and the riches rooted in South Indian music. The maestro was in the city for participating in Advaita Foundation's Dasara Music and Dance Festival.
You are the Jack-of-all-musical-trades and master of all?
I enjoy every branch of music, vocal and instrumental, composing and fitting them up in timed-paces, i.e., talas. The tougher, the better, the more intricate it is, the more joyous it seems to be. I took to violin, viola, khanjira, veena and mridanga as fish to water. It was all God's grace. There was no teacher to guide me. I can't even recollect how it all happened. For film music one needs a different mind-set. Your sensibilities have to switch with every aspect of creativity. It has to be natural and none of this can be cultivated. I enjoy being a classical performer, composer, playback singer, lyricist and music director. But there are no compromises, nothing but numero uno in every role. Basically being a vocalist helps one be a good instrumentalist and it is vocal knowledge that can open up a musician's mind to fine gradations of musicality. If an instrumentalist is not a vocalist, he is still considered incomplete.
Rewards and controversies, your creations have seen it all... I have said this for years, I reiterate for the benefit of young growing minds in music. When I created ragas of three or four notes, the traditionalists were upset as ragas were known to have a minimum of five notes. I protested, as I knew that even the first Veda had three notes and only with the emergence of Sama Veda were there five notes, then it gradually developed into seven and 12. Music is born out of the Vedas. Ragas are scales that take across a script in a musical form. Why do we have to follow rules in creativity? Are we taking part in competitions that have rules for participation? Ingenuity can get stifled in a regulated atmosphere. As long as you put across your idea in a scholarly form, nothing should seem wrong. I have never been theoretical; I demonstrate my creations practically to make people understand and enjoy my new finds. Anyway, the response to my ragas like Mahati, Ganapati, Trishakti, Pushkar Godavari, Siddhi, Sumukham, Rohini, Manorama, Vallabhi and Lavangi has been overwhelming. Finally it's this state of ananda that translates my effort. But criticism is the best food for growth. I welcome a critic as I can explain my stance better and make a complainer also enjoy my discovery!
Good moments with your raga and sahitya creations...
Well, every stage has been exciting... When the Tamil movie Apoorva Raagangal was released, I ran into M.S. Vishwanathan in AIR who was setting music for the movie. As the story revolved around strange relationships, the music director wanted to introduce new ragas to go with the ambient theme. I offered my `Mahati' scale and the Records created then are history now.
My first concert in Bangalore was in Gayana Samaj in 1952. And I am delighted that during the Samaja's centenary celebrations too I penned a few lines on stage. The respectable institution deserves every bit of good from musicians who have benefited from it.
My simple varna `Amma Anandadayini" in Gambheeranattai was received well for its simple sahitya which stresses on akaara, ukaara and makaara in describing the Shakti. Similarly the gathi stress in my Tillanas has made them popular both in the music and dance platforms worldwide.
Your calculations in muktayis are unusual...
God knows, I am so poor in maths. When I listen to my recordings later, I feel so elated because I don't know how I get them on stage. Many ask me why I like teasing my accompanists with my computations. It beats me! Even the new tala system that I created was in a jiffy. The variations of tala depend on laghu, not on dritham. I have brought variations in Sashyabda kriyas with no difference in Nishabda kriyas. Of course, it needs total commitment and it is not meant for beginners.
You always say Carnatic system is the best. Even your student Ajoy Chakraborty has created learners' lessons in Hindustani.
Yes, Ajoy has understood the fact that our music has the strongest foundation with the richest raga-scale resource. Where can you find 72 melakarta ragas and a myriad of its derivatives? Hindustani has 16 melakartas, China and Japan have two major scales and Western about six to eight. Isn't it palpable to know how sumptuous our music is? By the way, there is nothing called `Carnatic' music. It is South Indian music. Even in books dated as early as the Sangeetha Ratnakara there is no mention of Carnatic music. "Karnaha Atati, Iti Karnaataha" goes the saying, which means, any music that pleases the ear is Karnatic music. So, every music sung with passion and devotion is mellifluous, and so is Karnatic!
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