S R Janakiraman, Nada Inbam

S R Janakiraman - R K Shriram Kumar - K Arun Prakash

Nada Inbam, Kalpakam Swaminathan Remembrance Concert
14th Aug 2011. 6:45 pm

mahAganapatE - naTanArAyaNi - MD
bhArati maddishAsana - dEvamanOhari - MD (sketch S)
srI sarasvati hitE - mAnji - MD
abhayAmbA - kalyANi - Adi - MD (RS)
krishNAnanda - gauLipantu - MD
inkevarunnAru - sahAnA - Adi - Annaswamy Sastri (RST)
purahara nandana - ham vIru - Adi - MD

Music Appreciation Programmes at Music Club IIT Madras

Music Appreciation Programmes at Music Club IIT Madras

The Lec-Dem by Prof. N Ramanathan was on the topic "the concept of raga". Prof. Ramanathan started explaining the term raga. He went on make comparisons between various compositions to explain the term called 'tune'. He then defined what a 'melody' is and also drew connections between what a ragam is and how it is related to a tune and a melody. He also explained the interpretation of the world 'scale' in the sense of indian music. He then went on to give a glimpse of what ghana, naya and desiya ragams are, citing examples. He went on to mention the impact of the various kinds of classifications have done to the identity of the music and also the way ragams have evolved due to these changes. He went ahead to relate till the changes that are taking place till today.

The second Lec-Dem by Prof. S R Janakiraman was on the topic, "the significance of the classification of ragams". Prof. Janakiraman, explained the various types of classifications that are prevelant in the music literature and traditions. He went on to give the interpretations of these classifications and also added his own ways of redefining things at appropriate places. He cited examples for each type of ragams and sang brief alapanais, neraval and svarams whevever needed along with the compositions in those ragams. He also emphasised that no melody is a waste and can be discarded. He was accompanied by Sri S Varadarajan on the violin, Umayalpuram Sri Mali on the mrudangam and his disciple Smt Mangala Ravi on the support vocals.

The third Lec-Dem in the series was by Dr. Hemalatha on the topic, "Raganga Ragams as handled by Dikshitar". Dr. Hemalatha at the outset said that the Raganga Ragams were nothing but the meLa ragams in the school of classifications which Muthuswami Dikshitar followed. She initially listed the various compositions that are available in the Sangeetha Sampradaya Pradarshini for each of the ragams and also the thyagaraja kritis that are known in these ragams and the melakartha ragams in the school of classifications which thyagaraja followed. After this, she went on to explain the various types of patterns and phrases that Muthuswami Dikshitar has followed in specific combinations of svarams. She took various examples for each of these combinations of two svarams and explained the various patterns and prayogams that Dikshitar has used consistently through the compositions which have these combinations. She highlighted that such patterns were essential to make sure the exact svarasthana is not tampered and the svarupam of the ragam is intact. She was accompanied by Kallidaikurichi Sri Sivakumar on the mrudangam.

This series was sponsored by the Class of 1978

S R Janakiraman, Shyama Sastri kritis, Narada Gana Sabha

S R Janakiraman - Mangala Ravi (vocal support) - Akkarai Subhalakshmi - K R Ganesh

Narada Gana Sabha Golden Jubilee Celebrations. NGS Mini Hall.
18th April 2007. 6:30 pm
Lec-dem/Concert of Shyama Sastri kritis.

prayer - shyAma navAmsham (comprising lines from 9 kritis of Sri Shyama Sastri)
kAmAkshI (swarajati) - bhairavi - misra cApu (short sketch)
syAma sAstrim namOstutE - sAmA - misra cApu - Dr V Raghavan - Tuned by B Krishnamurthy (short sketch)
sangIta trimUrti jyEshTa - sAvEri - kanDa maTyam (2 kaLai) - Vidya Shankar - ciTTaswaram by SRJ (R)
ninnuvinAga mari - pUrvikalyANi - misra cApu (R)
nannu brOvu lalitA - lalitA - misra cApu
dEvi brOva - cintAmaNi - Adi (short sketch)
mAyammA - nATTakurinji - Adi (RS)
tani Avarththanam
pAlincu kAmAkshi - madyamAvati - Adi

i was another fortunate soul to be able to listen to this programme. however, no so fortunate, i reached only as Sri SRJ was wrapping up the bhairavi svarajati, thanks to a one hour wait for MTC buses to reach the place.

SRJ's explanation for each kriti, the way he rendered them were all mesmerising. The way he rendered the sAvEri kriti, was good. Ram seems to have missed out that 's r g m g r' prayOgam he sang in sAvEri and said it was Tiger who would use this phrase in sAvEri.

The pUrvikalyANi piece was rendered while SRJ was explaining the cApu, vilOma cApu stuff and said, in the same kriti, Shyama Sastri has used all kinds of naDais. The lalitA kriti was also rendered very soulfully.

Sri SRJ called the cintAmaNi dhaivatam as the tiruTTu dhaivatham (stolen dhaivatam) because it needs to be used only in alpa prayOgams. He said it is not advisable to sing AlApanai for the rAgam. however, one could sing a few Avarthanams of svarams.

The main nATTakuranji was inspiring. The AlApanai was just filled with all the enjoyable sancarams weaved together. The kriti and the svarams which followed were amazing.

S R Janakiraman, Samajam

SR Janakiraman - Sriram Kannan (vocal support) - S Varadarajan - Tanjore Ramadas

Sri Thiagaraja Sangeetha Vidwath Samajam, Thiagarajapuram, Chennai
03 May 2007. 6 pm
Sri Annamayya Jayanthi

srImadhvanIya caritAmruta (guru stuti) - rEvagupti
hari avatAramE - saurAshTram - Adi - pedda tirumalai ayyA &/or chinna tirumalai ayyA - tuned by rAyapaLLi ananthakrishna sarmA
cAladA brahmamidi - gambhIranATTai - kanDa cApu (Short sketch, S) - tuned by SRJ
lEdu bhayamu - vasantA - Adi - tuned by SRJ
sahaja vaishnavAcAravartanula - sAmantA - Adi (A) - tuned to Annamayya's rAgam
telisitE mOkshamu - kIravANi - kanDa cApu (RNS) - tuned by SRJ
I pAdamEkadA - varada (today's hamsanAdam) - kanDa cApu (A) - tuned by SRJ
nIcittamu nAbhAgyamu - shankarAbharaNam - rUpakam (RNS) - tuned to Annamayya's rAgam
AkaTi vELala - subhALi - Adi (O) - tuned by SRJ
srImadhvanIya caritAmruta (guru stuti) - rEvagupti

It was a nice concert. Sri Janakiraman was crisp in his presentation. True to his style, he gave some relavant info about each piece he presented. The rAga AlApanais were crystal clear and identities established from phrase 1. The neraval and svarams exercises were kept rather short, but yet, quite inspiring.

Sri Sriram Kannan, a disciple of SRJ, who sang some snatches of kIravANi AlApanai and neraval and svarams was good. A youngster to keep an eye on.

Sri Varadarajan was good all thro' the concert. his support was much useful in appreciating the music. Sri Ramadas was good in parts.

S R Janakiraman, Saraswathi Vaggeyakkara Trust

Prof S R Janakiraman - R K Shriramkumar - K R Ganesh

Saraswathi Vaggeyakkara Trust, NGS Mini hall. 19th Feb 2006

Concert of rare mElakartA and varga rAga kritis of tyAgarAja

bhUlOka nAradamuni - vandanadAriNi varNam - kaNDa tripuTa - SRJ (R)
muddu mOmu - suryakAntam - Adi(2) (R)
Ananda sAgara - garuDadvani - Adi (S)
kaLala nErcina - dIpakam - Adi (RS)
E rAmuni - vakuLAbaraNam - cApu (RS)
vAcAma gOcaramE - kaikavasi - Adi (RS)
manasA srI rAmuni - mAraranjani - Adi (R)
nI cittamu - vijaya vasantam - Adi (R)
Emi nEramu - sankarAbaraNam - Adi(2) (RNS)
TaniyAvardanam
'vyAsO naikama carcayA' - guru sthuthi slOkam by Walajapet Venkataramana bhagavatar on tyAgarAja sang in madhyamAvati.

Prof SRJ gave small explanations for each kriti. He also sang some part of the AlApanais as svaras so that people could understand the rAga svarUpam completely.

The opening varNam was just rendered in a fast tempo. muddu mOmu was rendered in a leisurely fashion with no hurry. The vilamba kAla rendition was more moving compared to the fast pace rendition one gets to hear otherwise. garuDadvani was good also.

dIpakam, a janya of kAmavardini, was elaborated in line with the opening line of the kriti and the kriti was well rendered with nice svarams. vakuLAbaraNam was elaborated distinctly showing the kaisiki nishada which differentiates it from the mighty mAyAmALavagauLA. Kaikavasi was rendered well with just one really long svaram in mEl kAlam

On similar lines as vakuLAbaraNam, mAraranjani was elaborated clearly differentiating it from cArukEsi and sarasAngi, the closely allied rAgams. vijaya vasantam, a janya of visvAmbari, was elaborated as well. Sri SRJ said, the popular visvambari version of this kriti is not correct.

sankarAbaraNam was elaborated with quite a few vintage sancarams and there were even some unheard off sancarams in the AlApanai. The flat usage of rishabam was quite amazing. Sri SRJ said that he picked the sancarams from the kriti 'Emi nEramu' itself and explained the usage of plain rishaba from the opening line of the kriti. He also recollected that the first time he heard this was by Semmangudi Narayanaswamy Iyer.

All the kritis were very well rendered and so were the manOdarma parts.

Sri Sriram who provided vocal support was very supportive through out the concert. The occasional AlApanais he did and the svarams he sang were quite promising. A guy to be watched in the future.

Sri Shriramkumar was just amazingly good in following the main artist. His playing in tune with what is presented was very good.

Sri Ganesh provided very sensible support to the concert and played a nice tani.

S R Janakiraman, Musiri Chambers

Musiri Chambers - 9th April 2005 - 6.01 pm

S R Janakiraman - S Varadarajan - Mannargudi Esvaran

slOkam - hamsadvani
tAna varNam - ninnu kOri - gamakakriyA - aTa tALam - soNTi venkaTasubbaiah
svEta gaNapatim vandE - rAgacUDAmaNi - tisra tripuTa - dIkshitar (AlApanai)
rAga sasivadanA - takkA - Adi -tyAgarAja
evarUrA - mOhanam - misra cApu - tyAgarAja (AlApanai, svarams)
paNi pati sAyI - jhankAradvani - Adi - tyAgarAja (AlApanai, svarams)
kanchadaLAyadAkshi - manOharI - Adi - dIkshitar (AlApanai, neraval, svarams)
nIrajAkshi - hindOLam - rUpakam - dIkshitar
tiruvaDi caraNam - kAmbhOji - Adi - gOpAlakRSNa bhArati (neraval,svarams)
taniyAvardanam
praNatAtihara - 72 mELa rAgamAlikA - Adi - mahAvaidhyanAta sivan (only second cakaram - sEnapati, hanuma tOdi, dhEnukA, nATakapriyA, kOkilapriyA, rUpavati)
viruttam - viritha senjaDaiyADa - Anandabhairavi, bilahari, shaNmukhapriyA
tillAnA
slOkam - madhyamAvati

Prof SRJ started off with a superb slokam in hamsadvani dedicated to tyAgarAjA, it ended as tyAgarAjam bhajE

He annouced the varNam and it was just thrilling to listen to the grand varNam, with almost no pUrvikalyANi. Quite refreshing and different from the standard varNams one gets to hear in concerts. SRJ sung the pallavi line after the caraNam and said thats the sampradAyam to finish off a varNam.

rAgacUDAmaNi AlApanai and kriti were very well rendered, which also was announced and so was rAga sasivadanA which followed. mOhanam AlApanai was good and nicely sung and so was the kriti.

jhankAradvani AlApanai was the mark of the concert. the kriti phaNIpati sAyI was also rendered with a lot of bhava and the svarams were very good. manOhari AlApanai, kriti, the neraval and svarams were all really good.

nIrajAkshI was rendered well with rUpakam expanded as a dhrutam and laghu and not the regular way. When SRJ started tiruvaDi caraNam, it did not seem to be the main piece as there was no AlApanai. I am not sure if one should call a kriti, if it is sans either AlApanai, neraval, svarams or tani. Well whats there in the classification, the kriti was sang very very well and the neraval at 'eDuta jananam kaNakku yezhuda tholaiyAdu' and the svarams were just great.

the post tani part had the mELarAgamAlikA's 2nd cakram alone to be followed by the viruttam and tillAnA all of which were superb.

Varadarajan on the violin was good and provided good support. Esvaran on the mrudangam was very good all thro' and his tani was good also.

one memorable concert...