Our concert at Brahma Gana Sabha had a joyful feel to it; a very strong positive energy was certainly in the air! Sometimes it is difficult to pick one piece from a concert as a highlight, when every note in the concert has a special bloom! While we enjoyed singing Bahudari and Madhyamavati (Rama Katha Sudha- the main composition of the day), the Ragam Tanam Pallavi suite in Raga Kantamani, (the 61st melakarta raga) was certainly a high point in the concert. Kantamani is not the easiest of ragas to handle, with the suddha dhaivata and the suddha nishadha juxtaposed closely. The Pallavi line was “mani ramani suramani bhoosuramani / brovave bhuvanathraya kanthaa”. The purvaanga (first part before the arudhi or median”) was set in a gradually increasing pattern which is called “srotovaha yati".
While the pallavi seemed great at the concept level, we were not too sure if it would score on the melody and “enjoyment” quotient! But as the Ragam, Tanam and Pallavi unfolded, the charm of Kantamani impacted us, and it was so exciting to navigate the pallavi through the various rhythmic complexities. The pallavi was set in Chatusra jaati Triputa Tala, Khanda nadai which is a cycle of 40 aksharas. Midway through the swara session, we transposed the pallavi line onto Misra Jaati Jampa tala, Chatusra Nadai, which also has a total count of 40 aksharas. This device of changing the tala but keeping the pallavi line exactly the same is an old technique which can be applied to a Pallavi rendition with great effect.The thunderous response from the audience was as sweet as it was unexpected, especially for such a long and serious piece.
It has been a tradition now for us to present a new abhang at our concert at Brahma Gana Sabha for Margazhi for the past five years! So this time it was Janmo Janmi in Raga Deshkaar with an interesting raga change in the middle.
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3 comments:
Mrs. Ranjani & Mrs. Gayatri,
Thanks for the detailed information about the RTP. It was certainly out of the world. What I liked most is the melody quotient added beyond all the tala variations. Wow....Great Going and looking forward for more such pallavis this Season from both of you.
And what a Madyamavathi it turned out to be.......Poignant,. Rama Katha Sudha was sung with great involvement and neraval at Bamamani Janaki was splendid. Bahudari too was sung so well with a very rare Krithi of Sri GNB'.
Another high point was the Abhang Janmo Janmi .....Superb! All in all a cracker of a Concert.
A big Thank You to both of you Mrs. Ranjani & Mrs. Gayatri.
hi.sorry i missed this concert.but i write in to applaud the both of you for presenting a vivadi mela kantamani. keep this up and showcase many more of these neglected gems.i am sometimes appaled at the argument that these ragas may not appeal to the rasikas.this is far from the truth.we yearn t listen to these.pls keep them coming!
gautham.s
hi.sad i missed this concert .but i write in to applaud the both of you for presenting a vivadi mela kantamani.pls do keep this up and showcase more of these neglected gems.i am sometimes appaled at the argument that rasikas may not appreciate these ragas.this is far fro the truth.we yearn to listen to these.keep them coming!
gautham.s
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