A rich repast with several courses
SUGANTHY KRISHNAMACHARI
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The musician those days was supported by a full complement of accompanists. A look at the rare instruments.
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Time was when life was unhurried and sedate. People had the time and the inclination to savour four-hour concerts. Concerts of Konerirajapuram Vaidyanatha Iyer, Naina Pillai and Chitoor Subramania Pillai were often `full bench' concerts, with konnakkol and morsing artistes sharing the honours with the mridangists. Even in the 78-rpm records, upa pakkavadyams were used. Toraiyur Rajagopala Sharma had, apart from Venu Naicker on the mridangam, Seetharama Iyer playing the morsing and Parthasarathy on the kanjira. In later years, Chembai often had full bench concerts. The duration of concerts these days has shrunk to two-and-a-half hours, keeping in mind the needs of a generation that always seems to be in a hurry. Upa pakkavadyams therefore do not find a place in most concerts. The author caught up with some exponents of these instruments that are not heard as often as they used to be in the past.
Difficult art
Konnakkol is the name given to the oral articulation of rhythmic phrases or sollus. The word is derived from the Telugu phrase `konu kolu,' which means `a measuring rod.' It is the Carnatic music equivalent of the Hindustani bols. Muthaiah Pillai, Ekambara Iyer and Pakkiria Pillai were some of the famous exponents of this difficult art. Pakkiria Pillai was by far the most famous konnakkol artiste. He hailed from a family of nattuvanars of Thanjavur. He started learning the tavil at the age of 20. Such was his genius it is said that, his fingers could not keep pace with the speed with which his mind produced intricate patterns, and hence he turned to konnakkol. His son Vaidyalingam Pillai learnt konnakkol from his father.Vellore Ramabhadran's father Gopalachari used to recite sollus. It was particularly delightful to hear Gopalachari's konnakkol when Chembai sang in a fast tempo. Gopalachari would recite jatis in the raga that was being sung.
Morsing/Moharsing is a sruti based percussion instrument. This is the Indian version of the Jew's harp, used in Rajasthan, where it is called morchang, Assam and in South India.
HARDLY SEEN: Morsing
Morsing artiste A. S. Krishnan says the name morsing probably came from the words `mukham' (face) and `sangu' (conch). The instrument is held close to the face, and is shaped like a conch. The instrument consists of a conch-shaped iron frame, with two parallel forks. Between the forks is a metal tongue, fixed at one end to the ring, and free at the other end. The free end is struck to produce resonating notes. The two parallel forks are placed delicately between the teeth. The rhythmic patterns (sollus) have to be spelt with the mouth, and accordingly the resonator is struck. Interesting patterns are produced by exhaling and inhaling one's breath. The tongue of the morsing is cut from a hack-saw blade.
Krishnan says the tonal quality of the morsing used by artistes in India is far superior to that of the cheaper ones available abroad. The reason for this, he says, is that the latter are machine made versions. The South Indian artistes use morsings made of forged iron. Krishnan says it is a versatile instrument, that is used in ad jingles, jazz and fusion concerts. He himself has played for Malayalam film songs, and plays quite often for Bharatanatyam dancer Malavika Sarukkai.
Percussion instrument
Gethu also called Jhallari.
In the 1950s a civil suit required the scrutiny of certain records of the Ramanathapuram Samasthanam, and the records thus procured contained references to the `jhallari kainkaryam' of the samasthanam in the 1600s. This is the earliest written evidence that is available of the use of the `jhallari' that later came to be known as `gethu' (stringed percussion instrument).
Sage Agasthya is believed to have used the jhallari, for which Lord Muruga and Goddess Ambika have a marked preference. Dikshitar in his Dwijavanti kriti "Akhilandeswarim Rakshamam" refers to Goddess Ambika as "Jhalli maddhala jarjara vaadhya rasike." In the Avudayarkovil temple the jhallari is the only instrument that is played in the first prakaaram.
At first glance the jhallari looks like a veena. But it is not rested. So the kudam of the jhallari has a flat bottom, unlike the spherical kudam of the veena. The jhallari has no suraikkudukkai, and its yaali has a flat bottom to ensure that the instrument rests firmly on the ground.
There are no calibrated frets in the jhallari, which has four silver strings of different gauges, tuned to the basic tonic of the concert. There are beads called manikkais that facilitate micro tuning.
The strings pass through a fixed fret on the kudam. A mobile fret is inserted at the requisite place on the left side of the trunk to obtain sthaayi sruti (hike in basic tone/pitch). Two bamboo sticks are used to strike the instrument. The metallic rings attached to the handles of the sticks have tiny metal balls that give a pleasant jingle, when the strings are struck.
Avudayarkovil Subramanyam gave the author a demo. He learnt how to play the instrument from his father Harihara Bhagavatar. The Jagannatha Bhaktha Sabha, established 12 years before the Music Academy, had a tradition of encouraging exponents of rare arts. Harihara Bhagavatar played there in quite a few concerts and accompanied many stalwarts like Chitoor Subramania Pillai and Alathur brothers. He also played at the Music Academy. Today Subramanyam has one disciple who comes all the way from Vellore to learn the art from him. Not many are aware of the potential of the instrument, which is one of the `Ashtadasavaadhyams."
In 1945, the Tamil Isai Sangam insisted that every vocalist should have konnakkol. Vaidyalingam Pillai performed konnakkol for all the vidwans that year. Maybe sabhas should insist that every cutcheri have at least one upa pakkavadhyam for a cutcheri. Otherwise most of the old forms of accompaniment would become extinct.
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