Introduction:
On Dec 19, 2007, Kanniks Kannikeswaran presented a
lecture-demonstration on ‘Nottusvara Sahityas of Muthuswami
Dikshitar’ at the academic session of the 81st Annual Conference of
the Music Academy - Chennai. He won two awards from The Music
Academy for his effort: * Best Paper Presented at the Academic
Session * Best Demonstration at the Academic Session.
The following is a brief write-up on this topic.
Background:
 There
is a unique genre of music, known as nottuswara sahitya, that is
relatively unknown. The body of 39 compositions in this genre by
none other than Muthuswami Dikshitar represents a unique dimension
of creativity and is also a pointer to the relatively unknown aspect
of the cultural interaction between the East and the West during the
time of the East India Company’s rule in Madras. Simply said, the
nottuswara sahityas are a body of compositions based on western
original melodies and Sanskrit text. The melodies that feature in
this genre, that are largely of Irish, Scottish origin, are entirely
Western in terms of melodic content and approach. The nottuswara
sahityas based on these melodies are totally Indian from the
standpoint of the stotra literature-based lyrics that constitute
their body.
The beauty of these svarasahityas lies in the fact that the
introduction of Sanskrit lyrics into Western melodic themes has not
resulted in something jarring or incongruous; on the other hand,
these compositions are totally uniquely Indian, although devoid of
the characteristic gamakas that decorate Indian melodic passages.
A study of the nottuswaras reveals the contrast between the
light-natured tunes and the classical sahityas that adorn them.
Kritis and nottuswara sahityas addressed to the same deities show
interesting parallels in lyrics. It is also of great significance to
note that the nature of the meticulousness that characterises the
lyrical component of Dikshitar’s work also pervades the nottuswara
sahityas.
Historical context:
Muthusvami Dikshitar (1775-1835) was born in Tiruvarur and a
part of his early life was spent in Manali, near Chennai, where his
family lived a fulfilled musical life. It was during this phase that
he came in contact with tunes played by British bands, during a
political period marked by the rising star of the East India Company
in India. A significant result of this exposure was the introduction
of the violin into the stream of Indian classical music by Baluswami
Dikshitar, the brother of the composer.
Muthusvami Dikshitar wrote lyrics in Sanskrit to many of the
Western melodies that he came in contact with during his lifetime.
There is a total of 39 compositions that fall under this category.
This constitutes a fraction of what is regarded as the total corpus
of his work.
Content of the swarasahityas:
As mentioned before, the svarasahityas are songs that consist of
ancient Western melodies set to Sanskrit text. Many of these are
based on the folk music tradition of the British Isles and are not
from the Western classical music traditions. Three sources of
documentation are available for the nottuswara sahityas. The first
is a manuscript dating back to the year 1833, that records the
writing of Sanskrit lyrics by Dikshitar for 12 of these melodies, in
response to a request by the then collector Carl Philip Brown. The
second is a notated version of 33 of the nottusvaras without
reference to the original tunes, in a supplement to the colossal
work Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini authored by Subbarama Dikshitar
in 1905 and the third is a work by Manali Chinnasami Mudaliar in
1893 that notates some of these svarasahityas. Prior work in this
area has identified 11 of the svarasahityas with the corresponding
Western tunes in a generalised context.
The current work has discovered the original melodic sources for
four other tunes. Of particular interest is the piece' Kamalasana
Vandita' whose original tune ‘Galopede’ accompanies a marathon folk
dance where the rhythmic construct adds an additional degree of
gaiety to the already playful tune. Dikshitar has dedicated this to
the Goddess of Kamalanagar (Tiruvarur - Kamalamba), in an
interesting presentation of lyrics in sync with the contour of the
original tune. What is interesting is the levity of the composition
(the tune) in contrast to the weighty kritis on Kamalamba written by
Muthuswami Dikshitar.
Also of interest is 'Syamale Minakshi' whose construct is based
on the harmonic structure of the popular tune ‘Twinkle Twinkle
Little Star’ that was based on the tune of Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman,
published first in French in 1760 – variations to which were written
by Mozart in the late 1700s.
All of the music of the svarasahityas is based largely on the
Major Scale, which is the melodic scale of the raga Sankarabharanam.
All of the original tunes are from the folk music repertory of the
British Isles from the late 18th and the early 19th centuries. While
there is no rigorous grammar behind the folk melodies, the rhythmic
structures can be classified broadly into waltzes, jigs, reels,
marches and other miscellaneous tunes in common time and swings.
Somaskandam, Muchukunda Varada, Jagadisa Guruguha, Santatam, Syamale,
Sadasiva Jaye constitute an example of each kind.
In some cases, the composition resulting from the superposition
of Sanskrit lyrics has caused no variation to the original tune,
while in some cases, the changes are apparent. It is to be noted
that it is quite common for folk melodies in the Irish tradition to
undergo mutation in rhythm and in tempo. By and large, the 'airs'
sustain by themselves with or without accompanying lyrics. It is not
unusual for a melody to occur in two different occasions with vastly
different lyrics both in content and in context.
In the context of Dikshitar, the svarasahityas constitute a
microcosm of the entire body of work of the composer given the
volume, melodic, lyrical and contextual sophistication of his kritis.
Dikshitar is known as the eternal pilgrim in the sense that he
visited several shrines and composed masterpiece kritis in praise of
the enshrined deities. His kritis represent his pluralistic approach
to religion and his grounding in non-dualistic monoism. It is
interesting to note that such complex concepts are couched playfully
in a reel such as 'Jagadisa Guruguha'. The nottusvara sahityas are
dedicated to the various manifestations of the oneness of creation
(Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Skanda, Ganesha, Bhairava, Anjaneya, Rama,
Krishna) and as with his kritis, many are related to shrines visited
by the composer.
Significance of the nottuswara sahityas:
In conclusion, the nottusvara sahityas reveal a glimpse into the
world of Dikshitar’s sahityas, that are rich in lyrical content. The
sahityas also reflect the universalistic outlook of the composer,
who was open to using alien melodies in his creative expression, in
addition to the large body of highly sophisticated (beyond compare)
melodies of his own creation. Above all, it reveals the pluralistic
approach of Indian culture and the unique ability of the culture to
transform an alien concept into something that is totally uniquely
Indian. From a practical standpoint, they constitute a series of
exercises that introduce the beginner to the fascinating world of
Dikshitar’s classical music.
About the author:
Kanniks
Kannikeswaran is a musician and composer and music educator with
several productions and recordings to his credit. He is an adjunct
faculty of music at the College Conservatory of Music, University of
Cincinnati. His recent choral/orchestral work ‘The Sound of Seasons’
was performed by the prestigious Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. He is
also the author and publisher of www.templenet.com, a leading source
of information on the temple heritage of India, on the Internet.
Kanniks is known for his path-breaking work ‘Shanti – A Journey
of Peace’ wherein he composed a unique score exploring choral
harmony around ragas such as Vagadisvari, Yaman, etc., in a moving
portrayal of 5,000 years of Indian cultural history. He was also
instrumental in forming the Greater Cincinnati Indian Community
Choir (of about 90 singers) who sang with two other local choruses
in this larger-than-life celebration of peace in front of an
audience of 2,500.
Kanniks has done extensive research on the nottuswara sahityas of
Dikshitar. A recording of these compositions, produced by him is to
be published shortly.
Kanniks is also the director of the American School of Indian Art
– founded with the vision of bringing the best of the West and the
East to the Indian diaspora in the United States. He has lectured
extensively and has offered workshops and presentations at several
locations in the United States. Kanniks is a graduate of the Indian
Institute of Technology, Chennai.
H Ramakrishnan
|
