The Must Academy It D Ft^ Ra S ' ,/!• 1 ’ &( Fiv * % '■
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Must Academy iT D ft^ ra s ' ,/!• 1 ’ &( fiv * % '■ I <— •' Hi, > A QUARTERLY DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE SCIENCE AND ART OF MUSIC V o l . XVII 1946 P a r t s M V EDITED BY T. V. SUBBA RAO, B.A., B.L., AND V. RAGHAVAN, M.A., PH.D. PUBLISHED BY ? THE MUSIC ACADEMY, MADRAS ‘KESARI KUTEERAM BUILDINGS* ROYAPETTAH, MADRAS Annual Subscription:—Inland Rs. 4; Foreign 8 shs. Post Paid. CONTENTS PAG! The XIX Madras Music Conference, 1945 : Official Report • •• ... ... ... I— 4C Music Phonography by J. Srinivasa Das, Venkatsgiri... 41 — 5C The Intonation of Karnataka Raga Melas by Vidwan Hulugur Krishnacharya ... ••• 51— 57 The Therapeutic Qualities of Music by Rao Bahadur N. M. Adyantayya ... ... 58— 65 Gopala Nayaka by K. V. Ramachandran... ... 66- 73 The Categories of intervals or Sruti-Jatis by Alain Danielou ... ... ••• 74— 79 Survival of the Useful and the Beautiful in the Realm of Music by Prof. P. Sambamoorty 80— 89 Music at the time of King SahaJi of TanJore— A. D. 1710—by K. Vasudeva Sastri ... ... 90— 96 Some leading Music Systems by C. S. Iyer ... 97—103 The Ragas of Saramrita by T. V. Subba Rao ••• 10-1—134 Sri Muthia Bhagavatar by T. V. Subba Rao ... 134—140 The Manner of “Applause” in Ancient Indian Stage by Prof. O. C. Gangooly ... ... ••• 141 —144 A Note on ‘Applause in Ancient India’ by Dr. V. Raghavan ... ... ••• 144 148 The Useni SvaraJati by Dr. V. Raghavan... ... 149 156 The Padas of Sri Svati Tirunal by S. Venkatasubramonia Iyer ... * r'7—169 In Memoriam ... ... ••• 170 Book Reviews ... ... ... ••• 171 173 A Kriti of Sri Muttuswami Dikshitar Ed. by Vidvan Mudikondan Venkatarama Ayyar ... ... 174—176 "HE XIX M ADRAS MUSIC CONFERENCE, 1945 OFFICIAL REPORT THE OPENING DAY 2 2 -1 2 -1 9 4 5 The Nineteenth Session of the Annual Music Conference inducted by the Madras Music Academy was held at the Sri andaresvara Hall and the National Girls’ High School, lylapore, Madras. Sri RaJa Shanmukha RaJeswara Setupati Avl., e RaJah Saheb of Ramnad, opened the Conference, and Vidvan laharaJapuram Visvanatha Ayyar presided over the delibera- ons of the Experts’ Committee. The proceedings commenced with prayer sung by the stu- ents of the Academy’s Teachers’ College of Music. M essages Dr. V. Raghavan read the messages received for the success the Conference. Dr. Rm. Alagappa Chettiar, who had opened the 18th ssion and had announced a donation of Rs. 16,000 to the cademy, said in the course of his message :— ” I was looking forward to this evening’s function with great thusiasm but I am compelled to deny myself the pleasure of taring my friend, the RaJah Saheb of Ramnad. The Sethupathi imsthanam has long and treasured association with music, art id culture of South India and it is indeed a happy augury that e RaJah Saheb should have consented to participate in the pro- edings and give his patronage and blessings to the Academy, un sure the Music Academy will march on from progress to ogress and ever keep the ideals sacred and pure regardless of e attacks by uniformed taste or criticism. I take this opportunity to congratulate you upon your stead- .tand persevering service to Carnatic music.” 2 THE JOURNAL OF THE MUSIC ACADEMY [VOL. XV His Highness the RaJa of Pudukottah wished the Conferem success. Sri V. Swami Iyengar, Mayavaram, wished in the course « his telegram success to the opening function and the Conference. Messages were read also from Vidvans and Experts, S Sarasvati Bai, Marungapuri Gopalakrishna Ayyar and Pro Ranade of Poona. Welcome Address Welcoming the RaJah Saheb of Ramnad, Sangita Kalanidl T. V. Subba Rao said : “ S i r , W e offer you a hearty welcome to this, our Nineteent Annual Music Conference and trust that with your sympathy an co-operation we shall be able to mark yet another stage in th progress of our high endeavour. “ Your inspiring presence amidst us is a source of grer encouragement in the work of promoting Indian Culture. Th illustrious house of Setupatis has patronized the Tamil Sangar with uncommon zeal. UnpreJudiced by narrow considerations c petty parochialism, it always helped to advance the cause c classic Carnatic Music. Maha Vaidyanatha Ayyar, Patna1 Subramanya Ayyar and Ramnad Srinivasa Ayyangar were a fe< of the distinguished Vidvans who were received and honoured k your grandfather Sri Bhaskara Setupati. To the same ancest< belongs in no small measure the credit of discerning the merit < Swami Vivekananda and deputing him to America to represei Hinduism in the Parliament of world religions. “ Young as you are, you have already given proof of outshii ing your forefathers in maintaining the noble traditions of yot house for fostering Art and Learning alike. The Madura ColleJ is indebted to you for the munificent donation for the constru tion of the Science Block of buildings. Lovers of music fe assured that Sangita will receive consideration no less generoi from the distinguished scion of the house renowned for the me liberal patronage of music, \RTS I— IV] THE XIX MADRAS MUSIC CONFERENCE, 1945 3 “ With sincere regard for your taste, culture and enlighten- ent, we request you to open this, our Nineteenth Annual Music Conference.” Sangita Kalanidhi T. V. Subba Rao then requested the RaJah Saheb of Ramnad to open the Conference. OPENING ADDRESS Declaring the Conference open, The RaJah Sahib of Ramnad said : “ L a d i e s a n d G e n t l e m e n , I thank the members of the Madras Music Academy for having honoured me with the task of opening the 19th Session of the Conference and for the warm welcome they have accorded me, When I said "the task of opening the Conference,” believe me, I did mean it. Taking into consideration the high and distin guished personalities who had this privilege in the past, I tremble and wonder how I came to stand before this august assembly, conscious as I am of my own limitation and of the enormity of the responsibility that has been thrust upon me 1 Well, I can only lay the blame on my ancestry. Neither my attainments in the field of music, nor my record of public service could have attracted your able and shrewd President, Rao Bahadur Sri K. V. Krishnaswami Iyer, to have lured me to this position. However, I am comforted by the feeling that the responsibility is his; he too seems to anti cipate that the Law of Heredity will prove true in my case. I must at the outset say that the practice of having laymen to Open the Conference, and the specialists to preside over the pro ceedings, is a very useful convention, for it represents the two essential factors found in society, i.e., the producers and creators on the one hand and the consumers and appreciators on the other. It is always good to have the layman’s point of view placed before an assembly of connoisseurs who alone are capable of catering to their needs without transgressing the accepted canons of techni que, law, or "Shastra,” as you may call it, belonging to that art. By associating with experts, even laymen will have something to rn and feel elevated. It is an undeniable fact that Art, when s pure and genuine, is able to pierce the innermost recesses and 4 THE JOURNAL OF THE MUSIC ACADEMY [VOL. XV reach the consciousness of the spectators and listeners, eve though they may not have the necessary technical perception ar training. So it is a welcome idea to have a place, however small that may be, for a layman in a Conference of this kind. 1 am an admirer of Art, in general, and Music, in particular; and I may be termed an ardent votary of the latter, though I am not qualified to claim any scientific knowledge. However, 1 want to place before you certain aspects which strike my mind. All Art in general purports to represent the search for Truth through Beauty, but, for our purpose let us take only Music which is the greatest of the Fine Arts. Music has in itself a blending of Art, Culture, Religion and Philosophy. One who has made a com parative study of all arts cannot but be struck by the grand and unique place Music occupies among the galaxy of arts. An illustrious predecessor of mine has aptly contrasted the art of music and the arts of sculpture and painting. The statuary finish es a statue or the painter a picture, and we do admire the work of art; but then there is no scope beyond, whereas in Music every time, a musician has to recreate in multiple forms, and its scope is also illimitable. Therefore, 1 do not think 1 am wrong when 1 say that, while all arts are fairly static, the art of Music alone is dynamic. From this we can understand why our ancestors have called the Ultimate as “ Nadabrahma.” No doubt, many devotees have reached that Ultimate and have become realised beings, through the vehicle of Music. What can be nobler than the instance of the great Saint TyagaraJa who lived in our midst in the 19th century and before whom, it is claimed, Sri Rama actually appeared ? Our Music has a tradition and an import, and it is our duty to preserve it, cherish it, and treasure it. We cannot afford to dally with it and allow it to degenerate. We must all confess that we have been westernised in our outlook; but still I ask you honest ly, “Can you take to Western Music ?” Do not think that 1 am deriding Western Music.