MS
was probably the first South Indian musician to have bowled over Western
audiences. A window opened when, thanks to C V Narasimhan, MS got an opportunity
to perform before the United Nations.
There were some who were
worried over how the international audience would receive her music. Truth to
tell, Narasimhan himself was said to be anxious over the outcome. They need not
have worried. Narasimhan was thrilled when the next day, the international press
came up with rave reviews.
The New York Times said: "Subbulakshmi's
vocal communication trancends words. The cliche of 'the voice used as an
instrument` never seemed more appropriate. It could fly flutteringly or carry on
a lively dialogue with the accompanists. Subbulakshmi and her ensemble are a
revelation to Western ears. Their return can be awaited with only
eagerness."
Dr. W. Adriaansz, Professor of
Music, University of Washington, commented: "For many, the concert by Mrs.
Subbulakshmi meant their first encounter with the music of South India and it
was extremely gratifying that in her the necessary factors for the basis of a
successful contact between her music and a new audience - highly developed
artistry as well as stage presence - were so convincingly present...without any
doubt (she) belongs to the best representants of this music."
For the doubting Pundits, the
Pandit, Jawaharlal Nehru himself came up with a repartee. Once, Sadasivam, in a
chat with Nehru, said that the West might prefer instrumental to vocal music.
"Yes," said Panditji, but then looking at MS, smiled and said,
"But not in YOUR case!" MS was later to say, "By God's grace,
what he said came true when I sang at the Edinburgh Festival, at the United
Nations and at Carnegie Hall."
US and in some parts of Europe
before all-white audiences, most of whom were strangers to any music from India.
In Moscow, midway through an MS
performance in 1988 before a select group of Russian musicians and
musicologists, a woman came up with flowers, touched her eyes and then her heart
to express her feelings. When MS ended her performance, there was not just
coontinuous applause -- the audience continued to walk behind her till she
reached her car and drove away, says an eye-witness.
That MS could attract the
Westerners despite lack of knowledge of the music from these parts could perhaps
be traced to the concept of Bhakti which got through to the singer though they
did not know the meaning of the compositions, and also were not aware of the
intricacies of the music that was performed for them.
As one writer remarks,
"Precisely these aspects mark Subbulakshmi's singing. This is true of those
portions without verbal elements, like the raga alapana. Just as the devotee
individuates the deity through incantation and description - detailing every
limb, look and ornamentation - the singer shapes the raga, always starting with
clear strokes to pedestal its identity and going on to breathe it to form and
life. The enunciation of the antara gandhara (Sankarabharanam, Khambhoji,
Pantuvarali, Kedaragowla) in the upper register - as a long-held note, as the
end-point of embellishments, or the pivot of note clusters, mounts to fever
pitch. Hands sculpt the air, face turns upwards, eyes gaze at the beyond, and
suddenly there comes the madhyama/panchama climax and the rounded process of
conclusion, all accomplished with seemingly effortless grace. After plumbing the
depths and soaring to the heights, the listener emerges into quietude. That is
how the Meera archtype gets superimposed in this Tamil daughter of the 20th
century."
As a first-time Western
listener summed up their response, "MS just does not sing; she makes
divinity manifest itself."
MS and Westerners
