An interview with "Sangeetha Kalanidhi" Thanjavur M. Thiagarajan

In an age when great Carnatic Vidwans and critics say that there is a lack of depth amongst contemporary Carnatic singers, here is a great vidwan who says that there are very many talented contemporary singers with depth and talent. We conducted an interview with " Sangeetha Kalanidhi" Sri Thanjavur Thiagarajan to suit the occasion.

To begin with, has there been any change in the pattern in which the Music Season has been celebrated over the years?

The key difference is that, there were only a few vidwans who used to perform during the Music Season. But now a lot of talented youngsters are in the fray.

Who is your favourite among the contemporary performers?

Every one is my favourite artiste. Now there is an improvement with regards to choice. There is abundant talent available today. During my days, people were recognised only after many years of performing. There were only four or five top performers like Sembai Vaidyanatha Bagavathar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Ramanuja Iyengar, Musri Subramania Iyer and Viswanathan Iyer. You can practically count them. But now the whole scenario has changed with 40-50 sabhas encouraging talented performers. It has really grown very big.

There is a common belief that there is a sea change in the Guru – Sishya relationship. What is your opinion?

During my days, we used to stay with the Guru and look after his comforts. We used to stay at the Guru’s residence for even 10-15 years. The Guru used to provide food and shelter for a Sishya. In most cases, the Guru’s residence used to be in a small town. Now in reality, there is no time either for the Guru to teach for so many years or for the Sishya to stay along. In my younger days, the Guru usually found it difficult to sit down in one place and teach his sishyas, so we used to listen to his performance in order to learn and if time permits clarify doubts. But now, in a fast paced world, a sishya cannot hang around a Guru for a long period. Time has changed a lot of things and music is one of them.

But, there is also this perception that the depth in contemporary performers is not as good as it was in those days.

I definitely do not subscribe to this view. Many of today’s singers are as talented as the past masters.

Tell us something about your learning process.

When I went to learn Carnatic music under Sri Srinivasa Iyer, I had already learnt the basics. The situation then was that Maha vidwans like Semangudi were in no position to teach from scratch to a sishya. This was because of their prior commitments to perform. In Semmungudi’s case, he was always busy performing in many parts of India. He and some of his contemporaries used to take only pupils who had already learnt the basics. I studied under Sri Semangudi Srinivasa Iyer for three years and then started performing alone. But overall, it takes a student at least 10 years to learn and thereby reach a certain height in Carnatic Music.

What was the status of the sabhas in your younger days?

There were only a few of them. There was RR Sabha, Parthasarathy Sabha, Music Academy and another one in town (Parrys) which I cannot remember now. Altogether, there were only 3-4 sabhas in the then Madras.

What is your opinion on the sabhas of the present day?

This is a very welcome process, as it clearly indicates a growth among both the Carnatic listeners and performers. This is good for our music as so many of the young talented artistes get a chance to perform and thereby get recognised by one and all.

What is your opinion on the present day admiration for Carnatic Music?

There is a lot of influence from cinema. But I don’t think it is wrong. A performer has to perform what a rasika wants. If you ask an old aged Rasika, he would say that Carnatic music is decaying as he had heard great performances then. But, I don’t subscribe to this view. We have to adjust ourselves to the times. Only thing that is to be taken care of is to ensure that we don’t cross the limit. I believe everything happens for the good and good only. To quote an example, this generation loves the comedy performance by the duo Senthil and Gowndamani. But in my days, it was the class comedy by Sarangapani that was well received. I cannot compare the two and say that people have to only appreciate Sarangapani’s class of comedy. Nobody can shift the clock backwards.

What do you think of the influence of Carnatic music on present day Tamil cinema?

Music Directors like Illaya Raja have been using Carnatic music in their songs quite efficiently and some of the songs are well received. But I sometimes wonder why they don’t do this on a continuous basis. Once, when I had the opportunity to speak to Illayaraja, I said that I liked the music composed by him for the movie Sindhu Bhairavi in which he had altered some Carnatic based songs into film songs. They sounded good. I then asked him why he could not continue doing so. He promptly replied stating that a movie song should be a mixture of Country music, Western and Indian music. It should reach a wide audience, including those at the lower level. I think this explanation answers the basic question.

Tell us something about your present day occupation.

I still continue reading and learning more about music. I spend my hours reading and singing the compositions by Great Masters. I cannot live without music. I have stopped performing for the past 10 years as I thought my music was not what it used to be. But after a long gap, the Nanganallur based Anjenya Bhakta Sabha is presenting an award. It has also requested me to sing in January next year. Hopefully, I should be doing so soon.

Thank you very much, Sir. We wait eagerly to hear you sing once again.

R.Prabhuram   &  Anandh