THE JOURNAL OF THE MUSIC ACADEMY DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE SCIENCE AND ART OF MUSIC VOL. LXIX 1998 jus swift I f^ h Itftif $1 v ii i "I dwell not in Vaikuntha, nor in the hearts o f Yogins nor in the Sun; (but) where my bhaktas sing, there be I, Narada!" Edited by T.S. PARTHASARATHY The Music Academy, Madras 306, T.T.K. Road, Madras - 600 014. Annual Subscription - Inland Rs. 50/- Foreign $ 3-00 ....................... .............. .... OURSELVES This journal is published as an Annual. All correspondence relating to the journal should be ad­ dressed and all books etc., intended for it should be sent to the Editor, The Journal of the Music Academy, 306, T.T.K. Road, Chennai - 600 014. Articles on music and dance are accepted for publication on the understanding that they are contributed solely to the Journal of the Music Academy. Manuscripts should be legibly written or, preferably, type­ written (double-spaced and on one side of the paper only) and should be signed by the writer (giving.his or her address in full) The Editor of the Journal is not responsible for the views expressed by contributors in their articles. i —. -.— — CONTENTS No. Page 1. The 71 st Madras Music Conference........................... » Official Report 2. Advisory Committee Meetings.......................................... 13 3. The Sadas........................................................................... 47 4. Problems in editing the Krti-s of Muddusvami Dikshita........................................................ 57 N. Ramanathan......................................................... 5. Kamalamba Navavarana Kritis of Muthusvami Dikshita.........................................................97 T.S. Parthasarathy 5. Abhinavagupta on Cha. ia Vritta and Dhruva.............. 10^ Subhadra Chaudhary 6. The Contribution of the Travancore royal family to performing arts............................................................... 149 V.S. Sharma 7. Padams and Short Lyrics in Dance ...................................157 T.S.P. 8. The Lyrics of Annamacharya............................................ 166 William J. Jackson 9. Book-Reviews ................................................................. 195 Statement about ownership and other particulars regarding THE JOURNAL OF THE MUSIC ACADEMY CHENNAI FORM IV (See Rule 8) Place of Publication The Music Academy, Chennai -14 Periodicity of its publication Once a year. Printer's Name S. Mani Nationality Indian Address 91, Triplicane High Road, Chennai - 600 005. Publisher's Name T.S. Parthasarathy Nationality Indian Address : 306, T.T.K. Road, Chennai - 600 014. Name and address of The Music Academy individuals who own the 306, T.T.K. Road newspaper and partners or Chennai - 600 014. shareholders holding more than one percent of the total capital. I, T.S. Parthasarathy, hereby declare that the particulars given are true to the best o f my knowledge and belief. Sd/- D ated: April, 1998 (T.S. PARTHASARATHY) (Signature of the publisher) THE 71st MADRAS MUSIC CONFERENCE OFFICIAL REPORT The Opening Day 14th December, 1997 The 71 st Annual Conference of the Music Academy, Chennai, was held at the T.T.K. Auditorium in the premises of the Academy from 14th December 1997 to 1st January 1998. The Conference was inaugurated by Her Excellency Justice M. Fathima Beevi, Governor of Tamil Nadu, at 6 P.M. on Sunday December 14, 1997. The inaugural function began with an invocation song rendered by students of the Teachers' College of Music of the Academy The President of the Academy, Sri T.T. Vasu, welcomed the gathering and garlanded the chief guest Justice M. Fathima Beevi. Sri. Vasu, in his welcome address said : Your Excellency Justice Fathima Beevi, Governor of Tamil Nadu, Vidwari M S. Gopalakrishnan, Members of the Academy's Advisory Committee, Vidwans and Vidushis, distinguished invitees, ladies and gentlemen : It is with great pleasure that I extend to all of you a hearty welcome to the inauguration of the 71st Annual Conference of this Academy The fact that this institution has successfully completed 70 years of devoted service to the advancement of the art and science of music and 2 THE JOURNAL OF THE MADRAS MUSIC ACADEMY, VOL. LXIX allied performing arts, bears testimony to the vision of the founding fathers of this Academy and the dedicated service of a succession of office-bearers for the past seven decades. We remember them with gratitude on this occasion. One colourful personality who will be missed today is revered T. Sadasivam who had participated in every Academy function for so many decades. The Music Academy is one among the many institutions benefited by the concerts of Sangita Kalanidhi M.S. Subbulakshmi. We pray to Kanchi Paramacharya to bless her to brave this great loss. I extend a warm welcome to Her Excellency Justice Fathima Beevi who so readily agreed to inaugurate this Conference despite heavy demands on her time. Her Excellency has many Firsts' to her credit. She is the first woman to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India in 1989 and the first Muslim woman to hold that position in the Apex Court of any country in the world. She is the first woman Governor of the State of Tamil Nadu. In the meanwhile, she had held the posts of Chairperson of the Kerala Commission for Backward Classes and member of the National Human Rights Commission. She is a champion of women's rights in society and brings to bear upon her appointment long association with social work and betterment of women's welfare. We are indeed fortunate in having such a personality to inaugurate our Conference today. I welcome Vidwan M.S. Gopalakrishnan who will shortly be elected as President of the Conference. Vidwan Gopalakrishnan's choice this year was widely welcomed by the music world for two reasons. Firstly, he deserved the honour in his own right as a doyen among our THE 71 ST MADRAS MUSIC CONFERENCE 3 conten^orary violinists and secondly, it is 17 years since a violinist presided over this Conference and it was time that the instrument was again given the recognition it deserves. Popularly known as MSG, Gopalakrishnan was groomed by no less a person than the reowned Parur Sundaram Iyer, the patriarch of the Parur style in both Carnatic and Hindustani music. Intensive practice under the watchful eye of his father had its own reward and MSG was able to accompany, even in his eighth year, his distinguished mentor. For over 50 years, MSG has been enthralling audiences in India and abroad with the Parur Bani' which he has polished further after considerable research and study. The nada emanating from his violin is unmistakable and one can instantly identify it. MSG is the recipient of numerous titles and awards, but the ' Sapthagiri Sangita Vidwan Mani' conferred by the Tyagaraja Trust at Tirupati recently was perhaps the precursor to the honour we are conferring on him today. I am sure that with his deep knowledge of music and rich experi­ ence, MSG will conduct the proceedings of the Conference on sound lines and make it a success. In addition to Vidwan Gopalakrishnan, we have decided to honour four eminent persons in the field of performing arts who include a musicologist, two musicians and a Bharata Natyam Gum. Prof. S.R. Janakiraman is a well known vocalist, teacher and musicologist who was, till recently, head of our research wing. He is the author of a number of books which were published by this Academy. He will be receiving the title of Sangita Kala Acharya' on the Sadas day on January 1, 1998 4 THE JOURNAL OF THE MADRAS MUSIC ACADEMY, VOL LXIX The name of Vidwan T.H. Vinayakram, who will also be receiving the same title, has become synonymous with the Ghatam. He has made the humble claypot cross the seven seas and secure international recognition as a versatile musical instrument. He received die Grammy award in 1992 and is presently an Asthana Vidwan of the Kanchi Kamakoti Math. Vidushi Dwaram Mangathayaru and Guru Kalanidhi Narayanan have been chosen to receive the T.T.K. Memorial Award. The former is the daughter of the violin maestro Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu and the inheritor of his unique style. She made a mark as a staff artiste in the All India Radio. Bharata Natyam Guru Kalanidhi Narayanan was trained in Bharata Natyam and Carnatic music by eminent teachers. She is now known as an extremely capable teacher of abhinaya in which field she has specialised. In addition to teaching many students in her school Abhinaya Sudha' Kalanidhi conducts workshops in India and abroad and numerous students are grateful to her for polishing their knowledge of Abhinaya. There was a spurt in the activities of this Academy during 1997 as compared to previous years. The usual 10 great composers' days were celebrated which attracted a larger number of rasikas. A special series of Harikathas by five veterans in the field was held in March-April in memory of the late Harikatha Kesari V.S. Venkataramana Rao, under an endowment created by the Marathi Bhakta Samajam Trust and it gave a fresh impetus to the art itself. Thanks to the Trust for this generous endowment, the series will be held every year in the future also. THE 71 ST MADRAS MUSIC CONFERENCE 5 The late E. Krishna Iyer, who was one of the Founder Secretaries of this Academy, was a dancer, critic, freedom fighter and reviver of Bharata Natyam. On the occasion of his birth centenary year in August, we arranged a dance festival of 14 recitals by doyens in Bharata Natyam and this was greatly appreciated by lovers of dance. Skycell Cellular Services were kind enough to sponsor this festival. With sponsorship by Mr. Suresh Krishna of Sundram Fasteners, our Spirit of Youth' Festival was held in October in memory of Ambujam Krishna. Ten young and talented dancers and 30 musicians participated and the festival was an unqualified success.