Changing with the times
KRIPA SUBRAHMANIYAM
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From unchavriti to playback, music and musicians have come a long way. What next?
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Carnatic music is in fact presented with all the gloss of celluloid. That makes the purist wonder — has music come full circle?
Carnatic music is going through a transition with the flood gates opening for the youth. How many of these young aspirants finally make the grade? And more important, for how many of them is music a passion?
Music can be considered a career; but does that mean it pushes values to the background with money dictating terms? The early part of the 20th century saw vidwans presenting concerts in the Hindustani pattern.
Concert format
Thus Hamsadhwani raga was followed by ‘Vatapi Ganapatim’ kriti with niraval and swarams consuming a solid one hour. Then came the percussionists’ thani.
Concerts lasted for four hours as the audience had the time. Ariyakudi changed all that. Now, the duration is not more than 150 minutes.
The yesteryear ‘greats’ had one major aspect to their singing style that won them accolades. Ariyakudi’s trend-setting concert format, Semmangudi’s raga rendition with cascading swara patterns, Musiri’s akshara kala niraval, GNB’s brilliant briga prayogas and Madurai Mani Iyer’s and KVN’s sruti fidelity set the standard. MS’s soulful rendition, DKP’s stately fare, Brinda-Mukta’s inimitable style and MLV’s exhilarating expositions of ragas raised art to great heights.
New ideas were tried. Jugalbandi, thematic presentations, four-hour concerts, one-raga concert and concerts dedicated to pallavis... Lec-dems on musical subjects and music appreciation courses were also offered to educate and arouse public interest.
Gramophone records yielded place to cassettes, which were replaced by compact discs. Now a stage has come when through Skype, the student can take lessons from the guru thousands of miles away. More and more artists crossed the oceans to become cultural ambassadors. The trend-setter was the Cleveland cultural festival at U.S.
Globalisation got a fillip with Hamsadhwani throwing the doors open to the NRI artists. They came from all parts of the world to woo the Chennai rasika.
From temple and unchavriti, Carnatic music has made a long journey. Earlier it was passion and devotion that led them to attain perfection. Now through adept marketing, the artists sells his talent.
MS acted and sang in films. MLV and D.K. Pattammal also sang playback. But their music was steeped in classicism. Now trained in classical music, the artists sing for films brushing aside orthodoxy. And there are synthesisers to fill any gaps. Carnatic music is in fact presented with all the gloss of celluloid. That makes the purist wonder — has music come full circle? Or what next in the history of evolution and growth? Time will give the answers.
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