APOLOGY to nadaswaram players and barbers - vasp
VasP
profession that had come to my attention - curiosly enough of nadaswaram
players being barbers. I was amused at the gross misunderstanding of my
simple question. I am a big fan of most of the great vidwans of this
instrument.
It was not my intent to draw any parallels between divinity and mediocrity. It
was not my intent to start a flaming let's-take-another-look-at-SPIC-MACAY's
constitution. I respect the nadaswaram as much as any musical instrument.
My attitude towards the nadaswaram is not supercilious. But due to the lack of
an answer to my question, I will now venture to answer my own question.
Nadaswaram and Tavil are instruments that can produce a lot of sound. These are
then instruments of choice at such functions as marriages and other religious
ceremonies. Music can be had over the tumultuos babble of a thousand voices! No
P.A. system, no Hi-Fi amplifying gizmos! Whereas any other instrument would
only be a squeak. Now, these functions occur by the dozen (so to speak) in the
second most populated country in the world. When music has to be generated at
such high decibles and in such great frequency, the shortages of vidwan-power
(man power) is overcome by a class of people who take to noise-generation as an
avocation. Barbers lay down their shears and dabble in the fine art of blowing
tunes. They sometimes are chamileonic in there repertoir of ragas and filmi
tunes (like the one who played at my wedding)
This non-technical dessertation should then close the subject about atleast
some nadaswaram players and there day jobs which they intend on keeping.
- Peter Raju Vas
Va...@aol.com
Srini Pichumani
>I had previously posted an article on this net about the validity of a dual
>profession that had come to my attention - curiosly enough of nadaswaram
>players being barbers. I was amused at the gross misunderstanding of my
>simple question.
Thanks for your clarification. While your question may have been
straightforward, it came across as offensive to many people.
As far as I know, this situation is not true in Tamil Nadu at least.
nAdasvara players have always been hailed as "icai vELALar" -
i.e people who "till" the field of of music much like the regular
vELALar who are engaged in agriculture.
This term, icai vELAlar, has also been used to refer to the entire
community of people who have traditionally engaged in playing the
nAdasvaram/tavil, in naTTuvAngam (choreography and conduction of
dance programme) and in other forms of music. Kottamangalam Subbu
in his novel "tillAnA mohanAmbAL" has written extensively about them,
their ways, the changing patterns in nAdasvaram around the turn of
the century etc.
I just happened to read rmic after a while and saw your original post,
and the followups. As expected there were the expressions of outrage
(maybe my reaction would have been the same if I had read your post last
week) and the knee-jerk reactions suggestive of conspiracy theories,
class/elite biases etc etc.
The plain facts are:
1. Like many other things traditional, the nAdasvaram has been
overtaken by other exotic instruments such as clarinet, saxophone,
mandolin, electric guitar, which have captured the interests of the
audience. These instruments are definitely "cooler" in the audience's
perception and hence have very easily become more popular. There is
little point in concocting conspiracy theories involving caste/class/
urban elitism etc. given such a situation.
Classical music itself has had the same treatment at the hands of
mellisai, pOpisai, and cinema music. High literature/poetry etc
has suffered the same fate at the hands of the standard weeklies/
periodicals. VilluppATTu, upanyAsam has been done in in the same
manner by the endless "comedy" dramas. There seems to be little
option but to piss/moan/groan!
Once again, as a general trend, even in situations where nAdasvaram
music is presented these days (not in all, but on most occasions)
what remains is a mere shell of what was around as a solid tradition.
The audience is no longer interested in detailed rAga AlApanas or
palla uDaikkira pallavis (i.e complex pallavis); most of the artistes
are forced to sell or on their own sell the art short by playing cheap
film tunes and stuff. Recently, I had 2 occasions to bemoan this fate
when I saw a CD of Gayatri playing Ghulam Ali's ghazals on the veena
(WHY!!!) and a CD of someone playing some of the modern film tunes
on the nAdasvaram - felt like pulling my hair off!
Even a relatively well done CD of Namagiripettai or Sheikh Chinna
Maulana has endless no of compositions which is abominable. There is
little to be gained by hearing a nAdasvaram played in this manner.
(There is little to be gained by hearing most instrumentalists play
compositions anyway!) None of the expansiveness, the leisureliness,
the "magnanimity" of the instrument comes across in such an exercise.
Mind you, this is a tradition which till recent times in its history
frowned on even the Tiruveezhimalai brothers, when they started to
play kritis on the instrument. Until then, apprarently there was only
mallAri, rAgam, rakti, and pallavi. The brothers were the first to
play a lot of kritis; inspite of the great style and strong pADAntaram
with which they played the kritis, there were comments that they were
opting an easy way out than compete on the same level as TNRajarathnam
Pillai and others.
2. Along similar lines, many people would rather listen to crooners
and smooth/silken voiced folks these days than listen to the ringing
tone of Seerkazhi/TMS's young voice or the earlier people like
Kittappa, Chinnappa, TRMahalingam, MKT etc.
3. Considering the Madras music scene - all the academies and sabhas
have one or two "mandatory" nAdasvara programs, typically at the
beginning of their music festivals. This includes the Madras Music
Academy, Tamil Isai Sangam, etc... The Madras Music Academy has
honored relatively few instrumentalists with the Sangita Kalanidhi
award - a scan shows 5 violinists, 4 vainikas, 3 flutists,
2 nadasvara vidvans, 1 mrdangists, 1 gottuvadyam artiste ...
Many of these like Flutist Tiruppamburam Svaminatha Pillai or
even his disciple Flutist Prof.T.Viswanathan (Dhanammal's grandson),
or someone like Budalur Krishnamurti Sastrigal (gottuvadhyam) were
given the SK award more for their overall musicianship than their
instrumental wizardry.
The Academy's bias has been again instruments as a whole rather than
just the nAdasvaram (this was one of the reasons that Lalgudi refused
to accept the SK award, and a reason why Balachander carried on a
continuous tirade against the academy). But as Srini Gopalaswamy
pointed out, they have had special sessions on nAdasvaram music
and technique alone; and recently I even read about a programme
concentrating on nAdasvara forms like the mallArI conducted either
by the Music Academy or a popular sabha.
In 1975, during the 200th birth centenary celebrations of Muttusvami
Dikshitar, the Music Academy had arranged a special programme of
nAdasvaram music by the vidvAns attached to the Tiruvarur temple -
in consideration of the special role and connection the Dikshitar
family had with the musical community attached to the temple.
(This is the only temple where the bAri nAdasvaram was allowed to
be played - a lower pitched, much larger reach, and difficult to
play instrument).
4. Some posters seem to be confusing nAdasvaram music with "folk
music". This reflects a total confusion of genre and is far from
fact. nAdasvaram music cultivated over 800 years is right royal
classical music and represents along with the vainika, and the
vocal tradition, the 3 great founts of Carnatic music.
(By vocal music, I am referring to the OduvAr tradition, the kriti
traditions, and rAgam/tAnam/pallavi traditions)
5. Most occasions where nAdasvara vidvAns were needed, and where
they were expected to give off their best - either on their own
or in a competitive spirit - are fast disappearing. What remains
is sometimes so pathetic that it is an embarrassment.
6. In all earnest, there are some groups trying to give nAdasvaram
a chance. But it does not work well when constrained by factors
like indoor locations (I speak from personal experience) or the
attention span and preferences of a modern marriage audience.
-Srini.
ps: This is somewhat in defense of SPICMACAY; there were some
chapters that sponsored a concert of Mambalam Siva (nAdasvaram)
when he was on tour a year or two ago.
pps: nAdasvara vidvAns who were given the Sangita kAlAnidhi were
Tiruveezhimalai Subramania Pillai and
Veeraswamy Pillai.
Flutists were Palladam Sanjiva Rao, Tiruppamburam Svaminatha Pillai,
Prof.T.Viswanathan .
Vainikas were Karaikkudi Sambasiva Iyer, K.S.Narayanasvami,
Mysore Doreswami Iyengar, and Thanjavur K.P.Sivanandam.
Violinists - Dvaram Venkataswami Naidu, Marungapuri Gopalkrishna
Iyer, T.Chowdiah, TKJayarama Iyer, TNKrishnan
ppps: Interestingly, the great omissions by the Music Academy also
seem to include one or two of each category:
Veena: Dhanammal, S.Balachander
Flute: Mali
Nadasvaram: TNR, maybe Karaikuricci (some may contest this)
Vocal: MDR
Violin: Lalgudi (of course, he rejected them due to various
reasons)
Todd Michel McComb
>1. Like many other things traditional, the nAdasvaram has been
>audience.
I can't help but think that these sorts of things -- happening everywhere,
though more recently in Indian than in many places -- are a direct result
of democracy and the concomitant economic structure. I'd wager that
audiences in general would have always preferred the things you describe, but
weren't given the choice. It is the shifting generational (young vs. old)
dichotomy (driven by the shift in resource allocation due to wage potential)
which is the major trend & culprit (depending on one's views, of course), but
I digress.
Anyway, a real question....
>4. Some posters seem to be confusing nAdasvaram music with "folk
>music". This reflects a total confusion of genre and is far from
>fact. nAdasvaram music cultivated over 800 years is right royal
>classical music and represents along with the vainika, and the
>vocal tradition, the 3 great founts of Carnatic music.
Where does flute fit into this?
T. M. McComb
Srini Pichumani
>
>Anyway, a real question....
>
>>4. Some posters seem to be confusing nAdasvaram music with "folk
>>music". This reflects a total confusion of genre and is far from
>>fact. nAdasvaram music cultivated over 800 years is right royal
>>classical music and represents along with the vainika, and the
>>vocal tradition, the 3 great founts of Carnatic music.
>
>Where does flute fit into this?
Todd, the flute, also known as kuzhal, vamshi ... has been around from
ancient times and is always mentioned as the key sushira(?) or blown
instrument. However, it seems to have played mostly a restricted role;
this is of course conjecture but it is supported by the fact that
even in the legends and other stuff that pass for history, very
little is mentioned of flutists or their music.
Contrary to this, we have lots of mention of the other 3 traditions;
nAdasvaram music of course has always had a sacral connection and hence
there is a lot of material available about its traditions - an example
is the Tiruvarur temple tradition and their associations with the
Dikshitar family.
In the case of veena, we have continuous music traditions stretching
back a few centuries - a clear example is the Karaikkudi tradition -
and we have a lot of information about musicological traditions
associated with the veena from way back.
Vocal music of course needs no explanation.
Of course, we have the mythical Krishna playing the flute and all
that or the shepherd blowing the flute. But in real terms, only
Sarabha Sastri (~ 1872-1904) seems to have been good enough to
command the respect and admiration of all his contemporaries like
Veena Dhanammal, Seshanna, Vasudevachar, TirukkOdikAval Krishna
Iyer etc... His prime disciple was Palladam Sanjeeva Rao who ruled
the roost until Mali came on the scene and eclipsed everyone else.
-Srini.
Titbit: In one of his drunken or irate moods, Mali is supposed to
have ticked off Palladam Sanjeeva Rao after summoning him up from
the audience by wagging his finger at him, and telling him that if
Sarabha Sastri played the flute like him (Sanjeeva Rao), it was not
even worthy of mention.
However, even Mali seems to have been respectful of Tiruppamburam
Svaminatha Pillai's (~ 1899-1960s) style and attempts to play
Carnatic music on the flute in all its gamaka richness.
Therein, lies the basic "contempt" for the flute among the
cognoscenti in those days - i.e what they saw as a lack of the
classic gamaka style in the music of most flutists. My own "uncle"
used to parody Sanjeeva Rao's style by demonstrating it on his
flute and dismiss it as a "tap-tap-tap" style.
Krishna Pant
between folk musicians and nadaswaram players with respect to their
limited market, not with respect to their music.
In reply to your analysis, Art, I couldn't agree more in general terms, although
to the nadaswaram in particular this argument may not apply, since it _is_
popular in events that have a lot of social and cultural significance to young
and old people. Of course, it is arguable whether the popular importance of the
instrument has more to do with the significance of tradition in general with these
events (eg. marriages and other socioreligious ceremonies) than with its
specific musical appeal.
Certainly, the evolution of all forms of music has fundamentally been altered by
the fact that it is at least partially driven by consumers who are not
well-versed in the niceties of classicism. As you mention, this might be viewed
either neutrally (as an inevitability) or with chagrin, depending on one's
perspective. What seems to be happening globally is an incoherent attempt at
making difficult art accessible - while in many cases undermining the essence of
the art, leaving a shell that allows only a memory of the real meaning and
centuries of knowledge embodied in the art, and affording a shallow thrill at
encountering the incomprehensible made easy. This is important in Indian music,
but thankfully there is still today in place a large body of very discerning
listeners, who may prove inadequate to stem this flow entirely, but will
nevertheless keep the fire alive. We can differentiate between changes that are
coherent and natural (new ragas, new instruments, new concert formats, new
styles) with ones that lead to an erosion of the ill-defined "essence"
(gimmickry, form over substance, intellectual compromise).
The danger seems greater (in my ignorance) to several other African and Asian
traditional popular forms of music, in which some of the foremost practitioners
are increasingly targeting a market far removed from the basis of their culture,
and in making themselves more accessible to their new and expanded market,
necessarily erode the coherence of their music, reducing it to a novelty, soon to
be reduced to structural elements that will be absorbed in other forms. Perhaps,
for several of these musical forms, this century will be the last (or the last
but one) in which the tradition survives to the extent that it is recognizable.
Which is undoubtedly a momentous occurence, even if inevitable.
Apologies for digressing in responding to a digression :).
Please respond via email to the nonmusical parts of this!
Krishna
--
Larry
do...@mycenae.cchem.berkeley.edu
Krishna Pant
I must have been half-asleep or something during that previous posting. I referred
there to Todd as Art, and to myself as "Larry". Too much Chimurenga, too little
dhrupad.
--
apologies for the noise,
Krishna
pa...@mycenae.cchem.berkeley.edu
P.N. Venkataraman
information (don't recollect the source). This year the top prize for
classical carnatic music among youth, in Madras ( again don't remember
the event) was captured by two brothers playing the nadaswaram.
While I like the nadaswaram much, and I have seen referenced several players
like Chinna Moulana, MPN brothers, Rajaratnan Pillai , there is /was only one refernce to Thiruvizha Jayashankar. While I have heard all of them,
I don't believe I have enjoyed anybody so much as Jayashankar. I have several renderings of "Bhaje re remanasa", but his takes the cake.
Venkat, pnv...@rit.edu