COVER STORY

LALGUDI G. JAYARAMAN (1930 - 2013) A 21st century violinist

he world of Carnatic music Lalgudi played the logical follow- has plunged into grief up phrase rggrs in a manner that Tover the loss of Lalgudi would fit only that raga and none G. Jayaraman, an outstanding of its allies. Ironically, the vocalist musician. Rasikas of the 1940s went into Nayaki thereafter, and 50s are likely to have seen but Jayaraman, in that narrow a young violin accompanist, interval, showed his class to attired in the traditional tuft the discerning members of the and kadukkans or ear-studs, audience. responding to the briga speed of GNB and to the complex kanakku Pre-conceived patterns of swaras, calculations of the Alathur brothers prepared with arithmetical with alacrity. With his ability to calculations by the vocalists would match the wares of every musician be assimilated on the spot and he accompanied, he must have played back with felicity. This given a new definition to the role happened on countless occasions. of violin accompaniment. He was Young Lalgudi acknowledged in the music world as one The soloist in Jayaraman emerged in the endowed with karpoora buddhi – intellectual reflexes akin 1960s. A landmark in this aspect was the night concert at the to the instant combustibility of camphor. Music Academy, early in the decade. Srimathi, his sister, was the second violinist, while Palakkad Mani Iyer and his The way he wielded the bow often made him sound son, Rajamani, provided double mridanga accompaniment. close to the human voice. I recall a morning concert of The concert heralded the arrival of a soloist who went Madurai Srirangam Iyengar at the Music Academy, in on to enthral audiences for the next couple of decades. which, for a folk song at the end of the concert, he filled a gap, sounding identical to the human voice, by cleverly Violin assistance changed hands from sister to son and shifting to the lower octave. The impact was tremendous daughter as the years rolled by, but the unique Lalgudi and drew spontaneous appreciation from the audience. style remained for posterity.

There was one occasion when a scholarly musician opened Creativity had to arise in due course in such a musician. an alapana ostensibly in Suddha Bangala. In a soft tone, His tillana in Tilang was, perhaps, his first, while Behag

With his sister Srimathi Brahmanandam and Vellore Ramabhadran (mridangam) in the 1960s

 l SRUTI June 2013 Lalgudi, Ramani and Pichumani (violin-venu-veena) playing in the presence of the Paramacharya at Suruttappalli appeared to be the second of many brilliant tillanas that double mridanga accompaniment by Umayalpuram K. followed, mostly in desya ragas. He also composed in Sivaraman and T.K. Murthy and featured Mohana Rama another genre, varnams. His varnam in Valaji raga was the (Mohanam, Tyagaraja) as the main item. The second had first I heard; I’m not sure if it was also his first varnam. Sivaraman on the mridangam and T.H. Vinayakram on The ragas in which he chose to compose varnams were a the ghatam; the main item was Rama nee samanamevaru different set, including such traditional ragas as Asaveri (Kharaharapriya, Tyagaraja). The disc also includes a and Neelambari. It has turned out that his tillanas have fabulous rendition of Ganamoortey, in which he brings out become far more popular than his varnams and are heard the best effects of each instrument in the interludes during in several contemporary concerts. the song. I do not know if AIR has preserved the archive of their programme that had a Kanada (Sree Narada) by He was a teacher par excellence of several accomplished Venkataraman, Shanmukhapriya (Marivere dikku) by violinists and vocalists, as well. Apart from his children, Ramani and Mohanam by Jayaraman. G.J.R. Krishnan and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi, he taught many others like Vittal Ramamurthy and Padma Shankar. Lalgudi was part of an illustrious triumvirate who, on Bombay Jayashri leads the list of his vocal sishyas which many occasions, were the clinching pull-factor that also includes S.P. Ramh and Saketharaman. His own drew the hesitant rasika in two minds about attending siblings, Padmavathi (veena), Rajalakshmi (violin) and the advertised concert of a vocalist. If, by chance, the Srimathi (violin) seemed to have learnt from him, too. vocalist withdrew at the last moment for any unavoidable reason, it was not uncommon for a sabha to quickly A noticeable feature in the disciples of Lalgudi is their convert it into a violin-solo concert, perhaps, to the all-round competence. He was a complete musician and secret delight of some of their fanatical rasikas. Their taught his students accordingly, without compromising contributions to uplifting even a sagging concert and on any of the recitative or improvising aspects of the to the overall success of several concerts must be ‘heard’ music. There have been numerous Ekalavya sishyas, to be believed. too. He so revolutionised the world of violin in Carnatic music that many violinists, who emerged from the late A genius with the kind of musical intelligence and creativity 1960s onwards, showed a distinct Lalgudi touch in their he possessed was unlikely to be a strict conformist to handling of the instrument. They had learnt from other tradition all the way. His music tended to cause smirks gurus but, with or without their permission, they emulated among lovers of orthodoxy in music. Indeed, he was one his style of playing. Such was the influence he wielded, of the architects of the genre of Carnatic music that can be st purely by the power of his music! described as the “21 century version” of the art. Every genius in this field has had some characteristics that did not jell Another notable innovation from him was the formation well with all sections of the audience. The creative artist of the violin-venu-veena trio, teaming up with N. Ramani seeks to explore, to experiment and to innovate, but does (flute) and Trivandrum R. Venkataraman (veena). Not one not come up with an aesthetic output all the time. It takes known to offer under-prepared, shoddy shows, he ensured nothing away from the artist but simply confirms the that these came through as well-coordinated recitals belief that a genius cannot take the lay rasika with him with every member of the ensemble sure of his role. or her all the way. The trio recorded two long-playing discs. The first had T.T. NARENDRAN

10 l SRUTI June 2013