Rajam100 – 18 of 365

The picture obviously needs nno explanation. It is from Muthuswami Dikshitar’s life, when he sang Anandamruthakarshini and brought rains.

#Rajam100

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Rajam100 – Song 18 of 365

Except for a couple of compositions, it is rare to find compositions of Tirupathi Narayanaswami rendered in a concert. Here is a rare song in Shakunthalam – a rare raga and a janya of Harikambhodhi.

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Rajam100 – 17 of 365

Rajam’s depiction of the carnatic music trinity is extremely popular. Here is a different take on them!

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Rajam100 – Song 17 of 365

Another underappreciated facet of Rajam were his tuning for compositions. Raam had been a part of several programs at the AIR and that provided him an opportunity to tune several songs. He had meticulously maintained two notebooks archiving the programs that were conducted by him. They contained over 600 songs. Most of them were tunes by him and in rare ragas. The most popular song tuned by him is in raga madhuvanti – Sarvam Brahma Mayam.

Here is a composition from the same series in raga Yagapriya

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Rajam100 – 16 of 365

This was an advertisement for 1956 Deepavali Special Issue. At first glance, a simple line drawing, actually has several layers of details on the lifestyle and the festival.

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A rare composition of Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan in Vachaspati.

Rajam had himself said that GNB and Madurai Mani influenced him a lot. One would think that the GNB influence would be in raga alapana and the MMI influence would be in swara singing. Interestingly, in Rajam’s case, the exploration through shoprt phrases, focusing onthe swara sudhdha and the kaarvais are elements that are found in MMI’s alapana, where as the vocalisation, crisp sangatis and sarvalaghu swaras of Rajam are more reminiscent of GNB style.

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Rajam100 – 15 of 365

Although the print quality and the scan resolution are not great, I post this as this is one of my favorites.

I love the blank canvas and the multiple images running through the mind of the painter during conceptualization in the background.

Published in late fifties in Kalaimagal.

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This was part of a lecture concert on Dikshitar kritis. An effortless rendition interspersed with crisp insights makes it a valuable recording especially for students. Even in his last days, Rajam sir would talk about Naina Pillai’s rendition of this raga.

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Rajam100 – 14 of 365

In his formative years, Rajam visited the frescoes in temples such as Kailasanatha Temple, Panaimalai, Sigiriya etc. In some places, he even tried to copy and recreate a portion of it.

Today we present one such attempt of Rajam from 1944. This is part of the Sundarar Panel in Thajavur Brahadeeshwara Temple.

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Rajam100 – Song 14 of 365

Another Kotiswara Iyer classic that was brought into the concert circle by S.Rajam. His raga development through short yet beatifully connected phrases, clean sangatis and crisp neraval/swaram makes it a delightful listen despite recording glitches.

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Rajam100 – 13 of 365

Although Rajam was known for his works based on literature, mythology and classical music, one can find several works based on contemporary themes as well.

Even in such themes, he is true to his style. Here is one such from 1955.

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Rajam100 – Song 13 of 365

S.Rajam’s most known contribution is his efforts in popularizing the 72 melakartha kritis of Kotiswara Iyer. However, he has sung several other kritis of the composer. Here is a rare one rendered in a AIR concert in Raga Khamboji.

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Rajam100 – 12 of 365

As promised yesterday, I’m posting the remaining portion of the similie sketches published in the early 1940s.

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The song Manasuloni is often mishandled. Especially the word “marmamulu” is split wrongly as “mar” and “mamulu” to incorporate sangatis. This is a private recording of a teaching session to Smt. Gomathi where Rajam shows the right way to render the song despite the cascading sangatis.

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பரிவாதினி – எஸ்.ராஜம் நூற்றாண்டு கச்சேரிகள்

இந்த வருடம் முழுவதும் பரிவாதினியில் மாதம் ஒரு கச்சேரி எஸ்.ராஜம் நூற்றாண்டை முன்னிட்டு நடைபெரும்.

முதல் கச்சேரி எஸ்.ராஜம் அவர்களின் சீடர் அக்‌க்ஷய் பத்மநாபன் பாடுகிறார்.

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Rajam100 – 11 of 365

This picture needs no explanation. This was one of the early publications of Rajam i the early 1940s (I think in Kalaimagal). There are few more in this series. I’ll publish them tomorrow.

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A Fairly detailed exposition of this rare ragam with an alapana and some lilting swaras. This was part of an AIR concert during the later days of Rajam. He was accompanied by Vidwan VL Kumar on the violin and Vidwan K.V.Prasad on the mridangam.

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பரிவாதினி/நாத இன்பம் – ஃபெப்ரவரி நாகஸ்வர கச்சேரி

சென்ற வருடத்தில் தொடங்கிய இரு மாதங்களுக்கு ஒருமுறை நடை பெரும் நாகஸ்வர நிகழ்ச்சியில், இந்த முறை மிகவும் அனுபவம் வாய்ந்த திருபாம்புரம் சகோதரர்கள் வாசிக்கிறார்கள். அவர்களுடன் புகழின் உச்சியில் இருக்கும் மன்னார்குடி திரு. வாசுதேவனும், திருக்கடையூர் திரு. பாபுவும் வாசிக்கின்றனர். விவரங்கள் கீழே.

சில மாதங்களுக்கு முன் ஒரு நாகஸ்வர நாட்காட்டியை பரிவாதினி உருவாக்கி அதில் 12 கலைஞர்களைப் பற்றிய குறிப்பையும், படங்களையும் இடம்பெறச் செய்தது.இந்த ஆண்டு நடைபெறவுள்ல நாகஸ்வர நிகழ்ச்சிகளை அந்த கலைஞர்களுக்கு சமர்ப்பணம் செய்ய உள்ளோம். அந்த வகையில், முதல் நிகழ்ச்சி வண்டிகாரத்தெரு மணி/மான்பூண்டியா பிள்ளை அவர்களுக்கும், கீழ்வேளூர் சிங்காரவேலு பிள்ளை அவர்களுக்கும் சமர்ப்பணம் செய்கிறோம்.

இந்தக் கலைஞர்களைப் பற்றி காலெண்டரில் பதிவான குறிப்பு:

Vanidakaratheru Mani/Manpoondiah Pillai

Musicians usually attach their hometown to their names. Hailing from Mayiladuthurai that boasted of several nagaswaram greats, Subramania Pillai and Manpoondia Pillai chose to attach the street they lived – Vandikkaara Theru – to their names. The older of the brothers, Subramania Pillai, learnt from his father Ramiah Pillai. The younger brother Manpoondiah Pillai learnt from his father as well as his brother.  The brothers were known for their unique elaborate raga exploration. To them the raga that they took up never constrained them. An apparently small raga with limited scope would be explored for several hours. One such instance when they played Dwijavanthi raga alapana all night during a temple festival is still recalled by many.

Kivalur Sinagaravelu Pillai 

There were many great practitioners of this art. Not all of them can be called as great teachers. Kizhvelur “Kunju” Singaravelu Pillai is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest teachers of thavil ever. Stretching beyond the regular teaching hours of the college that worked in, he would take special interest in each and every student.  His ability to instill the basics in a student was unparalleled. Even when more than thirty students played together, his discerning ears would pick up the slightest of the mistakes. In a teaching tradition that was largely oral, he was a pioneer in teaching through accurate notations. Many of his students have gone on to become maestros. Some of his students include Mannargudi Vasudevan, Thirukarugavur Gurunathan, Kovilur Kalyanasundaram, Idumbavanam Kannan and Thirukadaiyur Babu.

இதோடு, பொருளாதாரத்தில் பின்தங்கியுள்ள மாணவர்கள் இருவருக்கு வாத்தியங்கள் (1 தவில், 1 நாகஸ்வரம்) வழங்கப்படும்.

வித்வான் வியாசர்பாடி கோதண்டராமனின் பரிந்துரையில், வேலூரைச் சேர்ந்த அஜித்துக்கு தவில் வழங்கப்படுகிறது.

வித்வான் இஞ்சிக்குடி மாரியப்பனின் பரிந்துரையில் காட்டூரைச் சேர்ந்த அபினேஷுக்கு நாகஸ்வரம் வழங்கப்படுகிறது.

முன்பே குறிப்பிட்டது போல, தவில் வித்வான் குயப்பேட்டை தட்சிணாமூர்த்தி அவர்களின் நலனுக்காக உதவித் தொகையும் அன்று வழங்கப்படும்.

இதற்காக பரிவாதினியின் இருப்பிலிருந்து ரூபாய் ஐம்பதாயிரம் வழங்கப்படும். இதைத் தவிர, இந்த முயற்சிக்கின்று வந்துள்ள நன்கொடையும் சேர்த்து அன்று வழங்கப்படும். இதுவரையில் இதற்கென்று ரூபாய் பதினெட்டாயிரம் திரண்டுள்ளது.

 

 

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