As I read the news of the passing of the great Lalgudi Jayaraman, I started thinking about the place of the violin in carnatic music. The adaptation of this instrument into carnatic music is so complete that one does not even think of its western origins. It is the the melodic accompaniment of choice in a vocal concert. I don't know if any other instrument is even considered for this purpose anymore.
The violin made its entry into carnatic music more than a hundred and fifty years ago. Though it has an exalted position in carnatic music, I feel that there is still scope to enhance the role of the violin. Specifically, I find that the way it is used as an accompaniment has a couple of issues.
Firstly, when the singer is presenting the raga alapana, I would humbly suggest that the violinist lay down the bow and just enjoy the exposition. After all, the violinist gets to present a solo version later and, may I say, without interruption from the vocalist. As the singer weaves the raga together, I do not want the violin intruding in the gap between successive phrases. I find this rather jarring. This gap with just the drone of the shruti, serves to enhance the meditative mood and builds expectation.
The other issue I have is with the niraval/swaram phase. Often, the violinist simply plays the same notes that the vocalist sings making the whole thing sound like a class. I wish they would instead engage in a sort of a friendly duel where each would feed off the other's energy and also challenge each other. This usually happens in a dual violin concert or a concert involving two instruments. The format then changes from one of leader-accompanist to collaborators. Why not adopt this in a vocal concert?
One of the most memorable concerts that I have ever listened to is a collaboration between Lalgudi Jayaraman and the flute maestro N. Ramani from 1971. The synergy and understanding between the two in that concert is simply fantastic. I keep going back to this every now and then. Some of the songs from that concert ('vatapi gananptim' and 'cakkani raja' to name two) have become benchmarks in my appreciation of other artistes performing them. I am yet to hear better versions of these, I must add.
I see no reason why the vocalist and the violinist cannot perform in a similar fashion. The raga exposition can be a collaborative venture with the voice and the violin complementing each other. The violin can extend the range into higher and lower octaves. Instead of being two separate solos, the alapana can be a duet, where the voice and the violin work in tandem building the raga so to speak.The niraval and swaram phase can be a true jugal bandhi.
Would the artistes consider this format? I am sure this will provide more freedom of expression to the violinist and enhance the listening experience for the audience. And judging by this article from The Hindu, it appears that this is an idea whose time may be at hand. I, for one, would love to see such a concert.
The purists may say this goes against pakkavadhya dharma, but Carnatic music has been very progressive. While it has remained true to its traditional roots, there have been many innovations. Apart from the violin, other instruments have made their way into the system - the clarinet, the mandolin and the saxophone for example. New concert formats are being tried. There are also attempts at fusion between carnatic music and western music (though these are still somewhat sketchy in my opinion). The carnatic tradition is thus a living tradition capable of absorbing many new elements. I hope the format suggested here will find a place in it.
The violin made its entry into carnatic music more than a hundred and fifty years ago. Though it has an exalted position in carnatic music, I feel that there is still scope to enhance the role of the violin. Specifically, I find that the way it is used as an accompaniment has a couple of issues.
Firstly, when the singer is presenting the raga alapana, I would humbly suggest that the violinist lay down the bow and just enjoy the exposition. After all, the violinist gets to present a solo version later and, may I say, without interruption from the vocalist. As the singer weaves the raga together, I do not want the violin intruding in the gap between successive phrases. I find this rather jarring. This gap with just the drone of the shruti, serves to enhance the meditative mood and builds expectation.
The other issue I have is with the niraval/swaram phase. Often, the violinist simply plays the same notes that the vocalist sings making the whole thing sound like a class. I wish they would instead engage in a sort of a friendly duel where each would feed off the other's energy and also challenge each other. This usually happens in a dual violin concert or a concert involving two instruments. The format then changes from one of leader-accompanist to collaborators. Why not adopt this in a vocal concert?
One of the most memorable concerts that I have ever listened to is a collaboration between Lalgudi Jayaraman and the flute maestro N. Ramani from 1971. The synergy and understanding between the two in that concert is simply fantastic. I keep going back to this every now and then. Some of the songs from that concert ('vatapi gananptim' and 'cakkani raja' to name two) have become benchmarks in my appreciation of other artistes performing them. I am yet to hear better versions of these, I must add.
I see no reason why the vocalist and the violinist cannot perform in a similar fashion. The raga exposition can be a collaborative venture with the voice and the violin complementing each other. The violin can extend the range into higher and lower octaves. Instead of being two separate solos, the alapana can be a duet, where the voice and the violin work in tandem building the raga so to speak.The niraval and swaram phase can be a true jugal bandhi.
Would the artistes consider this format? I am sure this will provide more freedom of expression to the violinist and enhance the listening experience for the audience. And judging by this article from The Hindu, it appears that this is an idea whose time may be at hand. I, for one, would love to see such a concert.
The purists may say this goes against pakkavadhya dharma, but Carnatic music has been very progressive. While it has remained true to its traditional roots, there have been many innovations. Apart from the violin, other instruments have made their way into the system - the clarinet, the mandolin and the saxophone for example. New concert formats are being tried. There are also attempts at fusion between carnatic music and western music (though these are still somewhat sketchy in my opinion). The carnatic tradition is thus a living tradition capable of absorbing many new elements. I hope the format suggested here will find a place in it.
6 comments:
Good observation and link. I do personaly prefer accompaniment during the alaapana (slow tempo, of course) even mridanga, like in some hindustani concerts.
May be, violinists, in their concerts (where violinist is primary)could have vocal accompaniment.
Just as the violin was introduced into Carnatic music, innovation in format and playing will happen over time. Whether the listeners are willing to be part of the experiment is the issue. I quite like TM Krishna trying out new things... even if at times it could be trying on us audience!
Hi Neelu,
Good observations. Here are my thoughts.
1. The human voice can not maintain continuity and therefore we need fillers. That is the main reason for having any accompaniment. So even during the aalap, violin or sarangee or harmonium or some such instrument is required for better effects. In addition, particularly in Hindustani, 2 to 4 taanapuraas are continuously feeding the "Sa" and one of "Pa", "Ma" or "Ni". In this format, the accompanist has a secondary role be design.
2. For the accompanist to have his own performance along with the vocalist, the accompanist has to be of the same caliber. A Lalgudi can do that with Bala Murali. But normally the accompanists are junior in caliber. Also a "duet" performance of 2 great artists will double the cost of the concert, not to mention the potential ego issues between the artists themselves.
3. A good example of violin accompaniment is Kala Ramanathan with Pt. Jasaraj. Kala has been learning from Pt. Jasaraj for many years. She appears to be following the philosophy that the human voice is supreme. Therefore most of the Indian instrumentalists believe that their ultimate success will be measured by how close they get to reproducing the human voice on their instruments. In that process, they miss out on what all the instrument can do if the human voice restriction was not imposed.
Vivek
I agree that violin accompaniment can become quite intrusive and jarring to the ears. This has become quite frequent of late, due to a number of factors not least of them being the calibre of the accompanist, as the more accomplished ones prefer to play solo. There are also other factors of unbalanced amplification and one-upmanship between the artistes. I do not quite agree to the need for having a filler, as short quiet interludes do not detract from one's enjoyment of the music, in fact they are quite welcome. However, it does provide some kind of a prompt or cue to the main artiste when the violinist plays the last note or phrase that the vocalist stopped at, to pick up the thread again.
I agree that when the vocalist and violinist complement each other in elaborating the raga, it is more innovative and adds to the enjoyment of the audience.
What I find with the older musicians, the vocalist wants to dominate and selects a violinist who is good but stays within the confines. With the younger artistes however, this is changing where the vocalists have equally talented violinists who add to the nuances of the raga being elaborated. Such concerts are indeed very inspiring and enjoyable!
Agree with you on the violinist playing along during the alaapanai. It does seem to be intruding esp when nothing of value is added by doing that.
Not sure if the Jugal bandhi style will work between voice and a string instrument. Maybe worth a try....maybe someone like TM Krishna will dare to experiment.
I am a non-technical listener. So cannot really comment on the rest of the article :)
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