The Musical Journey of Kumar Gandharva by Raghava Menon is one man’s attempt to grapple with the musical genius of Shivaputra Komakali, known to the world as Kumar Gandharva (KG). That KG was a genius, very few dispute. He assimilated music traditions and genres in a way never dreamt of before to come up with …
No Panta please. This is a Carnatic music concert.
Panta is a pretty untranslatable word in tamil having many hues of meaning stemming from the root sense of “way, manner or form”. It is used in the sense of fuss and formality in certain contexts such as this. We often find people lamenting lack of concert manners among Carnatic music audiences. Oh, they sing along, put the …
MARGAZHI VIGNETTES
MARGAZHI VIGNETTES (Jottings about events in the 2007 December season in Chennai. Published in Sruti with the byline ‘Sarvalaghu’) Margazhi was celebrated in the city with full gusto – music concerts, dance concerts, lecdems, tiruppavai pravachanam, other kathakalakshepams, awards, canteens… and this despite horrendous roads in many parts of the city and intermittent heavy rains. …
The great one-way lane
While Hindustani music is more than tolerated down South, the warmth is not reciprocated towards Carnatic music.
Beyond the melakarta
The jeeva swara is the life swara or life giving swara of a raga
The nyasa swara can be a resting point in a raga