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Music Season
What spells success…
KRIPA SUBRAHMANIAM
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Voice, insight, format…what makes a musician famous?
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M.S.Subbulakshmi
The charm of Carnatic music is that one’s creativity can be tapped well within the scope of stipulated norms. One can be exclusive, well within the parameters of the grammar, to explore and interpret the raga and swara scales. But when it comes to a performance, which one of these three factors contributes to the success of the performer? — is it an appealing presentation, gnanam or a pleasant voice?
Let’s take the last first. To train a voice, one needs to put in years of practice. There are no shortcuts whatsoever. Men have a distinct disadvantage of the voice breaking up in their adolescent years and have to work harder to attain a standard. Actually, voice mechanism is the same for one and all, but rendition and voice culture depend on individual craftsmanship.
Universal appeal
Some voices have to be cajoled and coaxed and made pliable. Some voices have a universal appeal, like that of M.S.Subbulakshmi. The sonorous voice of M.D.Ramanathan was inimitable. Some have extremely sruthi aligned voices, for instance, Madurai Mani Iyer and K.V.Narayanaswami. The lilt of M.L.Vasanthakumari was something unique. Now for jnanam. The word cannot be explained in a few words. Perhaps, the nearest word we can use may be musical insight and this is certainly a divine blessing. Jnanam enables the performer to understand the depth of music and aids in the presentation.
What exactly is presentation? One should have the musical acumen to select the songs of the Trinity for rendition, come up with the right mix of rakthi ragas interspersed with different talas, to sustain the interest of the listeners. The performer should have the ability to judge the ambience and the mood of the rasikas, which is of prime importance.
Mixed audience
An audience, invariably, will be a mix of the well-learned, partially-learned, and non-learned. The performer should be able to please all of them.
The ragas, the talas, and the kutcheri format are all the same, but how come some seem to have that edge over the others and this decides success or failure? Some get an iconic status because of their perfect understanding of grammar, coupled with jnanam, delivered by a trained voice. We do find that sometimes a performer, well versed in all the facets of Carnatic music, possessing a vibrant voice that can traverse in all octaves, failing to take off. The performers’ presentation may be at fault somewhere. Some may have a good voice and score with the presentation although they may fall short of jnanam. On the other hand some win over the audience with their insight although the voice may play truant. Does it mean that those with a perfect amalgam of jnanam, voice and fine presentation hog the limelight? Not always. So what actually determines success? The elusive factor called LUCK. To quote from a poem of Thomas Gray will be appropriate here:
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen
And waste its sweetness on the desert air
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