RAgam, ThAnam, Pallavi - fascinating facts!


Dear TBS Sir,

Thanks for the links to listen to Smt. Vishaka Hari.

But, I think the more apt thread will be 'Thullatha manamum thullum'! :)
 

Dear Sandhya,

There are different types of compositions like varnam, krithi, keerthanai, jAvaLi, padham etc. But to sing R T P, just one line is

taken, which is the 'pallavi'. This is sung after an elaborate rAgam and thAnam. Speed variations are shown in the pallavi and

then follows the 'kalpanA swaram' part. Only the 'theermAnam' swarams (finishing) are memorized and the rest are on the spot

swarams. Many times, a rAgamAlikai swaram follows and after swaram in each rAgam, the pallavi is sung in the same rAgam.


Pancharathna krithis are the set of five krithis with swara - sAhithya charaNams. Only the lyrics of the pallavi and anupallavi

are sung. For the first pancharathnam, swarams for all the charanams are sung. In the other four, swarams are sung only for

the charaNams except the last one. Only the lyrics are sung for the last charaNam. That is the tradition followed.


The varnam which has sahithyam for mukthAyi swaram and chittai swarams has a special name - padha varNam.

The usual ones are known as 'thAna varnams'.

There is a famous Dharu varnam. I think this variety contains some jathis.

Here is the Dharu varnam: Sudha Ragunathan - Mathe- Varnam (Dharu) - Aadhi - Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar
 
Last edited:
tbs said:
..... another sad news for music lovers....

http://dinamani.com/latest_news/article1405867.ece
Click to expand...
I too saw this sad news, Sir. In our family, everyone loves the MSG style of violin. In fact, my younger sister has Sri. M S G as her

'mAnaseeka Guru' and follows his style to play violin. The only solace is that Smt. Narmadha is there to keep alive M S G school.

I posted his 'SubhapanthuvarALi' song just a few days back in this thread. May his noble soul rest in peace! :pray2:
 

The name 'gana rAgam' is given when the rAgam gives a special beauty while singing / playing thAnam. All the five rAgams in which the

pancha rathna krithis are set are gana rAgams. It is very common for artists to sing / play thAnam in these five rAgams in the thAnam

portion of the R T P.
 
Dear Raji,

I have been meaning to ask you something for quite some time, I have lost in touch with the latest carnatic music and also some new bhajans, even raga based movie songs (newer songs) would you recommend a few at a time for me, so I can enjoy them, I know you post a lot in the two threads, but I want a few selected ones which are truly good.. Thank you so much..
love
Bushu :-)
 

Dear Bushu,

Sure. Just let me know if you would like vocal / instrumental. You tube has lots of uploads. You have to just choose

the artist and search. In the younger generation, Priya sisters, Ranjani - Gayathri (their abangs are excellent), Sudha

Raghunathan, Bombay Jayasree, Unnikrishnan, Abishek Raghuram excel in vocal. Jayanthi Kumaresh excels in Veena;

Ganesh - Kumaresh, Mysore Nagaraj - Manjunath excel in violin; U. Srinivas for outstanding Mandolin; Rajhesh Vaidhya

is too good in fusion music on Veena.

I can send a mail every week to you, if you wish so! :typing:
 
Dear Raji,

thanks for your response, I know I can look them up on You tube, and I know Ranjani Gayathri's abang is fantastic, I know simply because when they came to New Jersey I was quite active in the program and also helped pick up and drop them.. but I need you to choose for me the best and introduce me to them, so just give me four a in a week, I would appreciate it.. you need not give me the link, just the song name and the artist, that will help me greatly.. thank you Raji so much.. :-)
 

ThAnam has rhythmic patterns and some artists request the percussion artists to accompany them while singing / playing thAnam.

I have heard Guruvayur Sri. Durai, accompanying when Sri. Chitti Babu plays the thAnam. :thumb:
 

My mAnaseeka Guru is Sri. Chitti Babu. His style of playing is not very difficult to follow.

Sri. S. Balachander's style is very very tough to practice! Here is an excellent piece from Sri. S. B - appears to be a chamber

music recital. It is amazing to see how he controls nearly one octave of swaras in on fret of the veena. The portion of the string

below the frets is also used in an unbelievable manner. I just sit spell bound, whenever I 'SEE' and hear Sri. S. B. play on Veena!!

The line up of rAgams are Hamir KalyAni, Subha PanthuvarALi, BehAg, DarbAri KAnadA, Ranjani, KEdhAragowLa, NeelAmbari

and KApi. The Thyagaraja krithi, 'intha sowkamaninE' in Kapi follows. WOW rendering!
award_star.png


S Balachander veena
 
Raji Ram said:

ThAnam has rhythmic patterns and some artists request the percussion artists to accompany them while singing / playing thAnam.

I have heard Guruvayur Sri. Durai, accompanying when Sri. Chitti Babu plays the thAnam. :thumb:
Click to expand...

In the Navarathri concerts held at the Kolu Mandapam of Royal Palace, Trivandrum, this practice of mridangam accompaniment for thanam is observed. I understand that it was Semmangudi who started this trend.
 
mskmoorthy said:
....... Balachander's playing is fantastic (my wife when she heard me listening, asked who is the veena player - he plays just like Balachander! - I have to respond He is Balachander)

I think Balachander concludes with the rAgam surutti
Click to expand...
We can say for sure 'The one and only Balachander'! He was a genius.

Yes, Sir. The ending rAgam is surutti. :)
 

The Lalgudi school is the best to learn the fine aspects of rAgams. Each gamakam of the rAgam is clearly shown and for

advanced learning, listening to this style is sure to help! Here is the rAgam BahudhAri rendered for nearly seven minutes:

Lalgudi Performs In Russia
 

In this year's concerts, most of the leading artists had a tendency to follow the racy rendering of phrases for all the rAgams.

A fear came to me! Will all the artists give similar type of concerts, without originality, in the future? :confused:
 

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