Newsletter UPCOMING E V E N T S : VOLUME 1, ISSUE 6 1 OCT 2008 30th September —SYAMA students perform at the Academy—New Teachers Vairavimada Kaliamman temple, for the Navarathri SYAMA academy has recruited the Ragasudha Hall, Mylapore fine Sri.Lalgudi G.Jayaraman for 5 festival at 8PM following new teachers: arts, Karthik Fine Arts, • Underwent training with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Nada 1. Mrs Vidhya 9th October Inbam, Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Sri.Vairamangalam Rajasubramaniam (Violin Nungambakkam Cultural Lakshminarayanan for a and Vocal): Vijayadasami Trust, Thyaga brahma gana period of 1 year. celebrations at • Was initiated into the world sabha and Narada Gana Sabha • Currently under the nuancive SYAMA premises of Carnatic Music (Violin) training and able guidance of from 10AM to 12 under Sri Lakshminarayanan 2. Mrs Kanchana Rajesh -Vocal, of Smt. Suguna Varadachari. noon, and 4PM to 8PM Keyboard tutor (daughter-in- • Learned Vocal music from Prizes from Music Academy, law of Violin K Sivaraman): Narada Gana Sabha, Indian Editor: Ramkumar Nanganallur Ramanathan • Was initiated into the world of Fine Arts and Mylapore Fine Vasudevan • MA (Music) From Madras Arts Carnatic Music (Vocal) at the • University tender age of 6 and received Performed Concerts at SYAMA 42B Race Ragasudha Hall, Chennai, • basic training under Smt. Course Road, MA (Economics) from Madras Karthik Fine Arts, Bharatiya Manjula Ramesh of Bangalore Singapore 218557 university Vidya Bhavan, Nada Inbam, for 10 years Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, • Taught in Ranjani Sabha and http://www.syama.org • Had her fundamentals Nungambakkam Cultural Geethanivedhana trust strengthened under the able Trust, AIR Chennai and YACM Email: • Over 20 years of teaching guidance of Smt.Lalgudi • [email protected] experience Rajalakshmi for 3 years, in Recipient of central Govt. Bangalore scholarship Department of • Award from the Narada Gana Culture, Ministry of Human Sabha • Has been undergoing rigorous Resources Development, INSIDE THIS training and grooming with Govt. of India (1999-2001). I S S U E : • Performed Concerts at New 1 Teachers The Other 2 Festival 2008 Kids Corner 2 Raga lakshana— 2 Kalyani Please update us with your new contact numbers The Other Festival 2008, was celebrated at the Lee Foundation theatre on Sunday, 7th September 2008. 58 students received their certificates from Dr. Balaji Sadasivan, Minister of state, Foreign Affairs, who also inaugurated the event and presided the function. Complete photos are available at: http://picasaweb.google.com/shivanuja/TOF08 Back Page Story Headline harmonica jew's harp Kids Corner zither Raga lakshana— lute 1. What is the legendary origin of the mouth organ mridangam? Kalyani 4. Another name for the tambourine is the drum of Shiva slaying of a demon jalra Kalyani is the 65th Melakarta raga, equivalent to the raganga raga Kalyan. In the older a battle victory uDukkai as a vehicle manjira Venkatamakhi scheme, it was called Santha Kalyani. In the more modern scheme of none of the above kanjira Govinda, it is called Mecha Kalyani. It is a none sampoorna raga and has a symmetrical 2. The original name for the gOTu vaadyam is 5. At which temple are there musical pillars arohana and avarohana using the chatusruti rishabham (r2), antara gandharam (g3), prati Ektar which sound when struck? madhyamam (m2), chatusruti dhaivatam (d2) yaazh and kakali nishadam (n3). As Prof. citraveeNa Shreerangam naagaveeNa Madurai Meenaakshi Sambamoorthy notes, the raga "can be sung at all times, but the effect is decidedly better saarangi Tanumalayam (Kanyakumari) when sung in the evening...On account of the Ramappa presence of tivra svaras in this raga, it is very 3. Which of these is the English name for the all of these moorsing? useful for being sung at the commencement of concerts. The requisite musical atmosphere is soon created." (In Tamil, one would say kaLai kattum .) All the swaras in the raga are raga chhaya swaras (important notes), and each of them can be adorned with gamakas. Alapanas typically start with the panchama or gandhara and commence with phrases like p m g r s r or g m p m g r s r. One also hears alapanas that commence with the upper shadja. According to Subbarama Dikshitar, the rishabha and the gandhara are jiva swaras . However, judging by most compositions (including varnams) and other improvisational renditions, the nishada is a very prominent note too, and is often used as a nyasa swara. Thus, in practice, uttaranga sancharas dominate alapana/neraval. Singing the raga, by omitting the shadja and/or panchama, gives Kalyani a special flavor. This can be heard in almost every recording featured. Janta (pair) swara combinations like r r g g m m d d n n and datu swara prayogas (phrases wherein intermediate notes are skipped deliberately) like n g" r" n d n r" n d m and g n d m g r are prominent. For example, the charanam of the varnam vanajakshi in ata talam (recording below) features janta swara patterns. The third chittai swara features datu swara patterns. Phrases like n d m g r and g" r" n d m g r which involve orikkai , a variety of gamaka wherein there is a momentary flick to a higher or lower tone at the end of the principal note ( e.g ., the former phrase is really (s")n (n)d (p)m (m)g (g)r ), also add a special flavor to the raga. Some characteristic phrases of Kalyani are: r g r n_, d_ n_ d_ g r s n_ d_ n_ r g r s, g m p (m)g- r s r n_ g r, p m g r s r Typically, the rishaba is used as a nyasa swara in avarohi sancharas, as seen above. This should be contrasted with the treatement of the gandhara as a nyasa swara. r g, s r g, n r g, g m pm g, g m p (m)g p m g m p, p m n(d) p, p n d p, g n d p, g n d m g r g m p, s" n d n p At times the dhaivata is stressed as in p s" (n) d - p m g, g n d - p. p (n)d n, p (n)d (s")n, p (n)d (r")n, n g" r" n. The approach to the tara stayi shadja is usually through phrases such as p d n s", m p d n s", (s")n d s", g m d n s", n s" g" r" s", s" n r" s, s" n g" r" s". The gandhara is often oscillated to g(r) or (m)g. The common phrase (pm)g - (m)(g)r illustrates the different tonal variations of the gandhara. The same is true of the nishada which assumes different shades depending on its proximity to the dhaivat (e.g., p (d) n, p (n)d n) or to the tara stayi shadja (e.g., (s")n, (r")n). These can be discerned in the recordings featured below. The remainder of this article can be divided roughly into four sections. In the first section, we present the lakshana aspects of the raga as illustrated by padams and varnams. In the following two sections, lakshya aspects as seen in neraval/swara and alapana/tanam are presented. In the final section, we provide a brief description of the raga Yamuna Kalyani. Kalyani is a major raga and is capable of being used in practically any kind of composition. From the common gitam taught to beginners of Carnatic music - kamalajatala , to complicated kritis, ragam-tanam-pallavis, padams and javalis, Kalyani occupies a special place in modern Carnatic music. In a recent exhaustive compilation, Lakshman Ragde estimates at least 700 compositions (including various musical forms) set to the raga Kalyani. This status of Kalyani is proof of the tremendous evolution of Carnatic music during the 18th and 19th centuries. Venkatamakhi in his Caturdandi Prakasika (ca. 1620 CE) dismissed it as "Turuska" (Turkish) and considered it unsuitable for three of four musical forms that he described in his treatise - gita, thaya and prabandha. He did not specify if it was suitable for alapa. Another scale similarly described as turuska corresponds to the raga Todi. In his doctoral dissertation, Prof. Viswanathan notes that "neither raga seems to have particularly well known in South India before the seventeenth century, which fact seems to support the likelihood of Middle-Eastern origins." From the above, it appears that the Kalyani scale has its origins in the North. The contours of the raga Kalyani were shaped by composers like Kshetragna (1600-1680), who composed over 20 padas in this raga. Remarkably, these were composed within half a century of Venkatamakhi's description, and these compositions show how borrowed scales can be adapted into an evolving musical system. In the first clip, we present Charumati Ramachandran singing one of the most popular of these padas, iddari sanduna Above article– courtesy of: http://www.sawf.org ERROR: stackunderflow OFFENDING COMMAND: ~ STACK:.