Missing recordings of Thyagaraja kritis: Another appeal -:)

[Prabhakar Chitrapu]

Here is an old list of 53 (52?) compositions of Thyagaraja, whose recordings are not available with me or other sources that I have access to. I would be grateful if any of you have any of these recordings! With thanks in advance...here is the list

aapad-bhaandavuDu hari Saveri
ataDe' dhanyuDuraa, O manasaa Kapi
avataara-menduku, aayaasa-menduku Harikambhoji
bhikshaaTana ve'sham niike'lanayya Surati
brahma Sira@h khanDanamu Kalyani
candra Se'khara, hara Begada
darisinchuTa telisenuraa Mohanam
daya se'yavayya Yadukulakambhoji
dorakunaa-yani surala dora veDalenu Todi
endukii chalamu ne'-nevaritO-delpudu Sankarabharanam
entanuchu varNintune', ii indiraa-ramaNuni Sowrashtra
evaru teliya boyye'ru, nii mahimalu Todi
evaru teliyanu boyyedaru, vivaramu-le'ni puujalu che'se'ru Punnagavarali
ide' bhaagyamu gaaka Kannada
ii me'nu galginanduku Varali
indukaa iitanuvunu saakina Punnagavarali
indukaa puTTinchitivi Bhairavi
inkaa yOchana ayite' Ghanta
innaaLlu nanne'li, yendukii ge'li Ghanta
intakannaa telpataramaa Saveri
ipuDaina nanu dalachinaaraa swaami Arabhi
kaDate'ra raadaa Todi
maargamunu telpave' Kambhoji
mr'tyunjaya kr'paakara miikinta paraake'la Devamanohari
nii che'yu vichitramulu Nilambari
niilakanTha niranjana nigrahaanugraha phaladaayaka Abhogi
nijamuga nii mahimalu Sahana
ninne' nera namminaanu, niirajaaksha Arabhi
nr'paalavaala Nadavarangini
O dhavane'Swara paraatpara Sankara bOdha se'yave', sangiitaananda Natakuranji
paahi paramadayaaLO Kapi
parabrahmamune' patiyani nammitini Kharaharapriya
pushpapuranivaasa bhiishaNa raNadhiira Vasanta
raama kOdanDa raama paahi Kharaharapriya
raama raama raamacandra Srii raama raama guNasaandra Ghanta
raama Srii raama jaya raama gatakaama Varali
sadaa bhajimpave' sadaaSivuni Todi
Sankara guruvarula caraNa pankajamulu Sankarabharanam
SaraNu SaraNanucu Madhyamavati
sarasiiruha nayana, nii kaTaakshame' caalu Bilahari
sarasiiruha nayane', sarasijaanane' Amritavarshini
siitapati kaavavayya Sankarabharanam
Sivaaparaadhamu ce'yaraadu, cintincaka vinave', O manasaa Sama
Srii naarada muni Bhairavi
Srii raama raama Gopikavasantam
Srii raama raghuraama Yadukulakambhoji
Srii raamachandra raaghava sakala lOkaadharathvame'va maavava Saveri
Srii raghuvara daaSarathe' raama Sankarabharanam
svaari veDalina paarthasaarathini ganare' Todi
tanalOne dhyaaninchi tanmayame' gaavaleraa Devagandhari
vaarijanayana nii vaaDanu ne'nu Kedara Gowla
varamaina ne'trOtsavamunu Pharaju
vidhi e'mi ce'yudura, paSupati Pantuvarali

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Best Regards
Prabhakar
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1-215-616-0486
chitra...@gmail.com

[Kiranavali Vidyasankar]

Dear Sri. Prabhakar,

I am trying to get you the recording of Avataramenduku in Harikambhoji, as rendered by the late Sangita Kalanidhi Sri. T. Viswanathan. It is however considered not to be an original of Tyagaraja's. Some of the other kritis in this list also need to be double-checked.

Regards,

Kiranavali

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Kiranavali

www.kiranavali.com

[Vasant]

Dear friends,

Not knowing much about music, or Tyagaraja for that matter, I find it intriguing that some compositions are considered unauthentic, as ms kiranavali mentioned. How do they go about establishing authenticity of the compositions? What are the typical characteristics that are important in such classification?

Thanks in advance.

Vasant

[chitra...@gmail.com]

Dear Kiranavali

Thank you so much for offering to share the recording! Look forward to it.

PS. I did not know that turning 60 qualifies one to be Sri'ed -😊 However, from a purely humility point of view, you may safely drop it !

Thanks and Regards

Prabhakar

Sent from Surface

[M.M. Subramaniam]

Vasant,

 

Probably Keeranavali is the better person to respond to your question.  However, I’ll take a stab at it, for whatever it is worth. 

 

Among the various criteria used to determine the authenticity of a work are (1) the attributes associated with the creator and (2) the mode(s) of conveyance of the creation.

 

(1) Thyagaraja was a musical genius whose output was tremendous in various ways.  While most of his compositions were heavy/weighty, he did compose many so called Divya nama/Utsava sampradaya keertanas which were supposed to be sung in groups by persons whose musical acumen may not be of a high caliber.  Yet even in these comparatively lighter pieces he did not sacrifice any musical “values”. These include raga swaroopam, quality of lyrics, tala variations.  Thus, when some kritis surface up with dubious musical values but with the Thyagaraja mudra, doubts arise of their authenticity.  The situation here is similar to the controversies surrounding some of the plays attributed to Shakespeare, but whose literary values are not of his standards, or how museum curators/art specialists determine the authenticity of paintings to be those of masters or “fakes”.

 

(2) Western classical music is always written, copied and often published.  Thus it is not difficult to attribute proper credit.  However, Carnatic music, even now, is largely propagated orally.  While Thyagaraja and his disciples may have written down many of the lyrics of his kritis with or without notations, the music themselves have been conveyed orally by generations of shishya parmaparas.  Thus when a kriti with the mudra of Thyagaraja of reasonable quality surfaces years after his death and not in the possession of any of his shishya parampara, doubts arise about their authenticity.  A well known case is that of “Needu charanamule”, a kriti in Simhendramadhyamam which got into circulation in early 20^th century.  Many authors and even AIR attributed this kriti to Thyagaraja.  But there were many doubters and eventually the composer, K.V. Srinivasa Iyengar owned up to it with the following interesting observation”:  “if one comes across this kriti without the Thyagaraja mudra, one is likely to ignore it; however with the mudra it gains acceptance and my creation would live as along as Thyagaraja is remembered!”

regards

mani

[spin1/2]

Thank you, Mani, for your explanations. Considering all the uncertainties involved and alternatives possible, it's quite fascinating how it's all figured out with such certainty. I would have thought Raga swaroopam is inherent to Raga itself, rather than  to kriti.

Is that an incorrect view?

Thanks again.

-Vasant

[Uma Prabhakar]

Dear Mani,

Thanks for that very lucid explanation on determining the authenticity of musical works, especially as it pertains to Thyagaraja’s music.  

That said, in my opinion,  the actual determination of authenticity in such cases still remains subjective/elsuive and can never be really proven unlike paintings which you also refer to. In the latter case, there are ways to trace back the origin of the paper, canvas, paints and embedded cryptic codes and match them to the artists original works (my penchant for watching TV White Collar episodes have helped me understand some small nuances in this area :-)). Similarly, controversies regarding the authenticity of Shakespeare’s plays etc can also be traced back with sufficient effort.  In the case of our carnatic music, as you correctly point out,  poor documentation practices in the past contribute to limited ways to prove authenticity.  It becomes a matter of who says or thinks what.

Best regards

Uma

[M.M. Subramaniam]

Dear Uma,

 

Thanks for your email.  Your points are well taken. Also they bring up a few epistemological issues.

 

- How effective are analogies to make a point? Do analogies weaken or strengthen one’s position on a subject? After all analogies are exactly that – maybe similar but not the same as the issues under discussion.

 

- Can one form an opinion on a subject in the absence of clear documentation/evidence?  Is a theory different from opinion? If a number of experts converge on an opinion, does that constitute a theory or “fact”? How valid would that be?  After all, isn’t that how some criminal proceedings are conducted when there are no physical or other kinds of proof/evidence of the action a person is accused of? How about the current controversy regarding climate change or even the outcry about evolution?  Does a majority of expert opinions count?  How big should that be?

 

Won’t it be interesting/useful to have a good discussion on these topics?

best regards

mani

[Kiranavali Vidyasankar]

Just to add my two cents:

What looks like poor documentation to us today actually wasn't. Quite unconsciously and through systematic indoctrination, we now tend to look at our own culture through the western lens. The oral traditions were the most fool-proof system for a complex aural art form like our music, filled with details and subtleties that can never be captured even to a reasonable detail on paper. Learning from a master musician with attention and minute observation was truly the only way. Even in our Vedic traditions, pronunciation, intonations and the minor pitch variations were extremely important, and by putting the fear of God in students, they were enforced and brought down hundreds of generations intact. You can therefore imagine how much more detailed our music would be! I would like to believe that gurus of music did not put the fear of God in students of music to such a degree! :)

A very important point to remember is that most of the Carnatic compositions we sing today have only been composed recently (last 300 years), except in cases like Purandaradasa, Annamayya or Kshetrayya. A very strong shishya parampara has worked very hard to bring them out not only by singing them in their own performances, but also teaching them to their shishyas. Many of them have contributed immensely in musically exploiting the basic scope afforded by the compositions by adding sangatis and such, possibly making them more attractive than what the originals may have been. These kinds of artistic contributions are necessary in any art form, and especially make our music system what it is today. Our music also values individual artistry, so you can imagine how many different artists would have added their own personal touches to a composition. A student can choose to take whichever he likes and can execute, and perhaps add a touch of his own here and there. So while the framework of most of these compositions have been preserved, they have inevitably moved forward musically in many ways. Composers have fortunately provided a lot of food for thought, without which our ragas would not have gotten this well-defined. But by the same token, it was only the beginning of a new era!

Written documentation of these compositions have also happened to a large extent, but now you can imagine how much harder it would be to notate them! Owing to the complex nature of our music, notations are basically quite superfluous. If you add individual interpretation of gamakas, anuswaras the the personal style of our musician to the mix, you can imagine how many more variables you are throwing into it! We are not simply dealing with straight notes from a piano or such other instruments, which can only be hit one way. If you think about it, except the Jalatarangam, South India has pretty much no melodic instruments that played notes in a plain/straight manner. They necessarily have to accommodate the melodic variations in the music. 

Another huge factor is that many of our composers like Tyagaraja, Purandaradasa or Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi were often not deliberate composers. Their compositions were actually their outpourings. If someone chanced to be around and caught what they were singing, we were lucky. Now, this could be just an 'impression' of what the shishya heard/understood! That said, it is also very possible that some of them actually took the time to teach their shishyas what they composed, but over time, their ideas for their compositions could have evolved and they may have ended up teaching varying versions of their own compositions. From personal experience, and as a shishya of a living composer like Ravikiran, I can tell you that we students constantly have to update ourselves on his compositions as he keeps fine-tuning them over time!

It is a huge subject and I don't want to digress much more! Coming to how the authenticity of compositions are determined. A shishya parampara is typically a good source through which it can be determined. If a 'new' composition of an established composer suddenly surfaces with no known/authentic source, it often raises doubts. Linguistic scholars can identify the style of a composer's language. Musicians with experience can tell by the musical and compositional style.

I can tell you that as recently as my own childhood, only 60 compositions of Shyama Shastri were known to have been composed. Renowned musicians and musicologists have spoken about how the quality of his compositions far outweighed their quantity, and was enough to put him on par with a prolific composer like Tyagaraja. Sometime in my late teens, I heard that a new controversy had sprung up, which was that Shyama Shastri was now being attributed 400 compositions. Authentic music paramparas like Brinda-Mukta's (who were btw regarded by Shyama Shastri's own family as being true representatives of those works) would not have known or heard any of these 'new' Shyama Shastri compositions. I am still open for more information on them. Similarly, it is well known that Dikshitar composed the Vara kritis (for each day of the week) to help cure one of his students of some illness. This has morphed into the Navagraha kriti set today. As a musician, I find a huge gulf in the quality of the original set and the kritis on Rahu and Ketu. The choice of raga, tala, the size and triviality of the compositions are indeed huge giveaways!

Before I wind up here, some food for thought: Have you wondered why Hindustani musicians never fall into the trap of a notation system? They are pretty dogged (and in my opinion, rightly so) in their argument that their music can only be learnt by listening and observation.