Ancient melodies
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A veena recital by D. Balakrishna carried in it resonances of a bygone time
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ENCHANTING D. Balakrishna’s veena recital transported listeners to a different realm
Even after ages, veena, one of the most ancient musical instruments, still carries the same melody and magic to spellbound listeners. This was very evident in the musical concert organised by connoisseurs of classical music. The soul stirring, nearly
two-hour long concert was organised by Patanjali Samskritika Academy and Ananya G.M.L. Samskritika Academy and Brahman Sangha at Gayatri Kalyan Mantap in Chitradurga here on Sunday evening.
Renowned vocalist vidwan D. Balakrishna of Bangalore, who played the instrument, took listeners on a journey of enchanting resonance of music. Several heart-warming ragaas such as Athana, Hamsadhwani, Kadana Kuthuhala and Poorvi Kalyani were a soothing treat.
Son of the late veena doyen Doreswamy Iyengar, vidwan Balakrishna was accompanied by his pupil Manjula Surendra, vidwan V. Krishna on the mridanga and vidwan T. N. Ramesh on the ghatam.
The blend of all of the ancient instruments created a euphoric feeling inside the hall. The listeners, who remained intact in their seats, appeared to enjoy every bit of music.
“This ancient instrument has undergone sea-change, from its traditional to modern electronic look, yet the classical nature of this music is still the same,” says city-based veena artiste, vidwan M. Dwarkish.
Being one of the organisers, he feels the veena is arguably the only instrument which can be harmoniously blended with Western or Indian Classical music.
Illustrating the changes that have taken place in the instrument, he said the earlier veena had only four frets, in the later years many frets were added to bring perfect music with the usage of every note. The present veena has 21 frets, the strings are made up of brass.
“A few artistes still use veena of bronze strings, but the most popular are brass strings,” he said.
He refutes the common belief that this ancient classical instrument is losing its sheen, because of the hegemony of Western music. “The veena never had any sort of communication gap, in fact over the years, the popularity has grown into many folds. Thanks to immense encouragement by media, both the artists and listeners have increased rapidly,” he asserts.
FIROZ ROZINDAR
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