 "How long have you been singing?" he asked. I was reminded of the famous Darumi in the film "TiruvilayAdal". "yEnakku kELvigaL kETkattAn tEriyum" (I know only to ask questions!)
This was better. At least I had answers to give.
"17 years," I said.
"When is your next concert?"
"Next week."
"Where?"
"Mysore."
"Mysore was a good place for music. The king was a great patron. He was also a composer and I know a couple of his songs. Where are you singing?"
Some information was finally flowing from him. He was a musician who knew a couple of the compositions of the Mysore Maharaja. Who could he be?
Mysore Vasudevachar? No, Vasudevachar probably knew more than a couple. He was a court musician at
Mysore.
"At a sabha, run by a local musician."
He just turned around and started walking without saying another word. I followed him. We must have walked a few miles. I could hear some music in the air. It sounded like the nagaswaram. He suddenly stopped.
"Have you heard the music of the great nagaswaram maestros," he asked.
"Only tape recordings."
"The music of the nagaswaram is the purest form of Carnatic music. Any aspiring singer must be exposed to this music if he wants to do well."
I silently nodded. How many times my grandfather had talked to me about the great nagaswaram vidwans of Tanjavur district.
Rajarathnam, Veeruswamy, Tiruvengadu Subramaniya Pillai, Semponnarkovil Brothers, Keeranur Brothers, Injikkudi Brothers, Kuzhikkarai
Pichayappa.....
“Nagaswaram music was raga music. Pattabhiraman, who ran the Sruti magazine, wanted 'raga music' to dominate the Carnatic music scene. And what better example of raga music can you get than the best of the nagaswaram. You listen to a lot of nagaswaram and you will improve your raga skills. That's what I did in my younger days."
Part
- 1
To be continued...
Powered by
Sangeetham.com
|
A short story - 2
