|
MKT'S PRESENCE IN THE WORLD OF CARNATIC MUSIC
|
| ALATHUR VENKATESA IYER |
A classically trained musician, MKT had his initial training from Madurai Ponnu Iyyengar, a famous violinist and later on from Alathur Venkatesan, who was well known for his perfection, discipline and strict adherence to tradition in imparting training. Alathur Venkatesan also trained his disciples to sing for 'atma tripthi'(inner satisfaction).
MKT made his presence and talent felt both on the stage and in cinema. He plunged into giving carnatic music concerts with the same authority. In his eventful career as a carnatic mucisian, he created an awareness and interest in classical music even among those who had no knowledge in the rudiments of carnatic music. He has handled many ragas in concert halls with ease and used the best methods to suit the needs of the audience(be they literate or illiterate, rich or poor, laymen or expert in carnatic music), which made them spellbound and listen to the performance from start to finish with rapt attention. The outstanding features of his golden voice are the ability to sing melodiously at a very high pitch, unusual among male singers, and accurate pronunciation.
|
| ALATHUR BROTHERS |
MKT had intense training from Alathur Brothers, Papanasam Sivan and Vilathikulam swamigal. When he became very popular in films, he was unable to go to trichy to take music lessons from Alathur Brothers. He rented a house in Purasawalkam, Madras for the Brothers(who were not actually blood brothers) to stay and teach him.
|
| PAPANASAM SIVAN |
He evinced deep dedication, sincerety and Gurubakthi while he was learning music. He used to practise singing at around 4 a.m. and often in the presense of Sri Papanasam Sivan.
Those who happened to hear his practice sessions have remarked that his voice would come wafting like an invigorating sea breeze to fill the early morning air !!
He received titles such as 'Gandharva Gana Rathna', 'Sapthaswara Visharada', 'Sangeetha Kala Sagara', 'Ezhisai Mannar', 'Isai Nataka Peroli' and many more for his enchanting singing skills !! The titles of 'Gandharva Gana Rathna' and 'Saptaswara Visharada' were given to him at his concert in Kapaleeswarar Temple, Mylapore on 15th May 1949.
A COUPLE OF INCIDENTS
|
| T SANKARAN |
Sri T.Sankaran, retd. station director, AIR Trichy, once said that MKT's dedication towards music was tremondous and clearly vouchsafed his undoubted skills in carnatic music. He narrated a couple of incidents.
Once AIR Trichy organised the broadcast of MKT's concert. On the day of his performance, due to the sudden breakdown of his car, MKT took to bicycling (although he had by then attained an unimaginable fame) to reach the AIR station in time. He never allowed the performance to go below par despite his fatigue. His performance on that day was as superb as ever.
MKT was an 'A' Grade vidwan in the AIR.
|
| CONCERT IN THE AIR |
On another occasion, he wanted Mr. Sankaran to change the thambura artist for his concert in AIR. As soon as the concert was over, he informed Mr.Sankaran that the thambura artist was once his Guru in music and he did not want to hurt his feelings by asking him to play thambura for him. He further asked Mr.Sankaran to give a share of his fees to the thambura artist as a mark of his Gurubakthi.
Another incident narrated by Mr.Sankaran. Sangeetha kalanidi Sri T.L.Venkatarama Iyer was doing research in dikshitar kritis. Sri Iyer came to the AIR, Trichy to record for the first time the Navavarna krithis of Muthuswamy Dikshitar for his research. Suddenly he made a request to meet MKT who was at that time at the height of his glory. Mr.Iyer had just listened to one of MKT's broadcasts and carefully made note of a Dikshitar kriti in Nagagandari raga('Sarasijanabhasodari') with which Iyer was not familiar. Iyer was so immensely pleased with the superb rendering of the piece by MKT that he could not wait to meet him and discuss about the song.
MKT AND TAMIL MUSIC
|
| WITH M M DANDAPANI DESIKAR |
MKT's contribution to the growth of tamil music is immeasurable. In the year 1941, the great tamil writer, Sri Kalki, Rajah Sir Annamalai chettiar and Sir R.K.Shanmugam chettiar founded the Tamil Isai sangam to promote tamil songs. When approached for support, MKT and M.M.Dandapani Desikar readily accepted and contributed much to the growth of the Sangam. They participated in the Pannisai research organised by the Sangam.
| IN TAMIL ISAI MANADU AT DIFFERENT TOWNS IN 1941 |
|
| WITH RAJAH SIR ANNAMALAI CHETTIAR AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS IN TRICHY |
|
| IN KARAIKUDI |
|
| IN DEVAKOTTAI |
|
| PARTICIPATING IN THE THEVARA PANN RESEARCH IN 1949-50 |
|
| PERFORMANCE ON 25-12-1943 AT THE ANNUAL TAMIL ISAI VIZHA |
From 1943 to 1954 MKT was a regular singer in the Tamil Isai Vizha which also featured renowned musicians such as
Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar,
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer,
G.N.Balasubramaniam,
Madurai Mani Iyer,
M.M.Dandapani desikar,
Alathur Brothers,
Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar,
M.S.Subbalakshmi,
N.C.Vasanthakokilam,
D.K.Pattammal,
K.B.Sundarambal and
T.N.Rajarathnam pillai.
|
| ADDRESSING THE GATHERING AFTER INAUGURATING ONE OF THE TAMIL ISAI MAHANADU |
In Madras, on September 15, 1941, a largely attended public gathering presided by Rao Bahadur P.Sambanda mudaliar was held at the Victoria Public Hall to support the resolution passed at Annamalainagar to foster tamil songs. The hall was packed to capacity and loud speaker arrangements enabled the vast gathering inside and hundreds of people standing outside to follow the proceedings. This was reported in The Hindu on the next day under the head 'Foster Tamil Songs, Appeal at city meeting, Movement not against telugu or sanskrit'. The write-up stated, 'Mr. M.K.Thyagaraja Bhagavathar said that as one who had attended the conference at Annamalainagar, he would like to point out that the conference expressed the view that in performances, tamil songs set to carnatic tunes should be sung. Not a word was said against songs in other languages. At present tamil songs were relegated to a position known as 'Miscellaneous Items'. He wanted that tamil songs should be given prominence in all performances. He then sang the song of Bharati entitled 'Sollu Pappa'.'
|
| HARIKESANALLUR MUTHIAH BHAGAVATHAR |
Even in the Tamil Isai concerts he used to include kritis composed by:
Saint Thyagaraja,
Muthuswamy Dikshitar,
Sama Sastri,
Subbaraya Sastri,
Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar and
Swarnam Venkatesa dikshitar.
He used to sing a lot of tamil songs, especially in concerts at the Tamil Isai Vizha, composed by:
|
| CONCERT AT THE ANNUAL TAMIL ISAI VIZHA IN DECEMBER, 1944 |
Papanasam sivan,
Kavi Kunjara bharathi,
Muthuthandavar,
Saravanabhavananda,
Sudhananda Bharati,
Vedanayakam pillai,
Udumalai Narayanakavi,
Bharatidasan,
Tiruchi Thyagarajan,
N.S.Chidambaram,
P.T.Krishnamurthy, Velayudaswamy and Periasamy Thooran.
He used to sing the following non-tamil kritis in his concerts:
'Sri Saraswathi' and 'Saadinchane' in Arabi,
'Karunanidhe' and 'Sarasiruhasanapriye' in Nattai,
'Sukhi yevaro' in Kaanadaa,
'Yevariki' in Darbar,
'Panchashatpeeta' in Devagandari,
'Nagumo' in Aberi,
'Etha Unara' in Kalyani,
'Siva siva siva ena' in Panthuvarali,
'Thelisi rama' in Poornachandrika,
'Nadathanumanisam' in Chittaranjani,
'Paraku neekelara' in Keernavali, 'Appa ramabakthi' in Kaamavardini,
'Raju vedala' and 'Meenalochani' in Todi,
'Samajavaragamana' in Hindolam,
'Rara rajiva lochana' in Mohanam, 'Orajupu' in Kannada gowla,
'Maamava pattabi rama' in Manirangu,
'Sarasijanabha sodari' in Nagagandari,
'Sri valli devasenapathe' in Natabairavi,
'Sri Mathrubutheswaram' in Kannada,
'Sri Mahalingeswaram' in Paras,
'Athma paripurnam' in Rathnangi,
'Balagopala' and 'Upacharamu' in Bhairavi,
'Chalamelaraa' in Margahindolam,
'Pakkala nilapadi' and 'Ramanee eda' in Kharaharapriya,
'Chethasri' in Dwijavanthi, 'Sri Varalakshmi' in Sri,
'Nenendu vethaguthura' in Harikambodi,
'Chalamela' varnam in Natakurinji,
'Sundareswaraya' in Sankarabaranam, 'Nithyarupa' in Kaapi,
'Hiranmayim' in Lalithaa, 'Nathopasana' in Bekada,
'Janani ninnu vina' in Reethi gowla and
'Veerahanumathe' in Hindustani kapi(Kaanada) besides singing pallavi in Shanmugapriya and Sankarabaranam and ragam thaanam pallavi in Kalyani.
Some of the tamil songs which were a regular feature in his concerts include:
|
| PERFORMANCE IN SARASWATI GANA NILAYAM IN THE MID-1950'S |
'Aasai mugam' in Jonpuri,
'Thalai vaari poochoodi' in Sindu bhairavi,
'Annamalaikkarase' in asaveri,
'Sri Ganesa' in thilang,
'Po po Jegan maayaye' in Jegan mohini,
'Thaamathamen swami' in Thodi,
'Parvati nayakane' in Shanmukapriya,
'Parasakthi janani' in hamsadhvani,
'Sivakama sundari' in mukhari,
'Siva chidambaram' in kalyani,
'Natanam aadinar' in vasantha,
'Nee irangayenil' in atana,
Pallavi in Shanmukapriya and Shankarabharanam and
Ragam Thanam Pallavi in Shankarabharanam, Shanmukapriya and Kalyani. He has also sung a lot of uncommon tamil songs composed by the composers mentioned above.
|
| CONCERT IN SRI RAMA SEVA MANDALI, BANGALORE |
Bhagavathar used to give concerts in Sri Rama Seva Mandali, Bangalore every year. He was a very popular singer in temple concerts, exhibitions and other places. Except in exhibitions and marriage receptions he never used to sing film songs in concerts though they were set in unalloyed classical music. Film songs such as 'Umayorpagane' , 'Ambaa manam kanindu', 'Ellam sivan seyal', 'Unnaiyallal oru', 'Chidambara naada', 'Oru naal oru pozhudu', 'Maname nee easan', 'Maanida jenmam', 'Gnana sabayil', 'Sivaperuman krupai', 'Arputha leelaigalai', and 'Krishna mukunda' are worthy of inclusion in the carnatic music concerts.
ACCOMPANIMENTS
|
| ALANGUDI RAMACHANDRAN (ALSO SEEN IN THE SARASWATI GANA NILAYAM CONCERT PHOTO ABOVE) |
Violin vidwans such as Sri Sethuramaiah, Mysore Gururajappa, Govindasamy Naicker, Trichy Balasubbarayulu and Madras Balakrishnan, mridangam vidwans such as Madras A.Kannan, Kuthalam Sivavadivelu pillai and Nagur Ambi Iyer, gatam vidwans such as Alangudi Ramachandran, T.H.Vinayakaram, Vilvadri Iyer and Murugesh, ganjeera vidwan T.V.Diraviyam and muharsing vidwan Mannargudi Natesa pillai used to accompany him in concerts. MKT had deep respect towards these artists.
Alangudi Ramachandran once said that as a mark of his respect to MKT he never used the gatam that he used in MKT's concerts to any other artist. He also spoke very highly about MKT's ability in handling the raga panthuvarali.
|
| ONE OF HIS CONCERTS AT TRICHY |
When NSK performed the Grihapravesam of his house at Nagarcoil, he organised MKT's concert. T.N.Rajarathnam Pillai was also present at the function. The mrithanga vidwan who was supposed to come did not turn up. NSK immediately sent for a young boy who was local to that town to play the mrithangam. In the concert, T.N.Rajarathnam pillai sent a chit to MKT and asked him to sing 'Rathey Unakku'. MKT obliged his request. As soon as the concert was over NSK praised MKT's music and presented a diamond ring. MKT immediately gave the ring to the young mridanga vidwan stating that but for his timely support the concert would not have been possible.
RESPECT TO THE COMPOSER'S STATE OF MIND
|
| RESPECT TO THE COMPOSER'S STATE OF MIND |
MKT gave due importance to the state of mind of the composer of a song. MKT's voice modulations were suited to the scenes, situations and feelings the composer sought to portray. He never used to elaborate on alapana or swaraprayogam while singing songs such as 'Nenendu vethaguthura', a thyagaraja kriti in Harikambodi. His argument was that Thyagaraja could not have composed this song with elaborate alapana and swaraproyogam because he was very dejected due to the sudden disappearance of the Rama idol from his house. This attitude of MKT may not have convinced the critics. But he was firm in his conviction.
|
| WITH HIS NADASWARAM |
It may be a surprising news to many of his fans themselves that MKT knew to play the nadaswaram. Old timers say that he was good at playing the nadaswaram and has also given a couple of concerts.
MKT liked the paani(style) of Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, G.N.B., Madurai Mani Iyer, Musiri Subramaniya Iyer, M.M.Dandapani desikar, T.N.Rajarathnam Pillai, M.S.Subbalakshmi and M.L.Vasanthakumari very much.
The famous critic Subbudu has written very commendably about MKT's command over the nuances of carnatic music in his series of articles titled 'Isai Medaigal'.
|
| CONCERT IN PAPANASAM SIVAN'S 60TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION, PAPANASAM SIVAN LOOKS ON(EXTREME RIGHT) |
In 1951 Sri Papanasam Sivan's Sashtiabdhapoorthy(60th birthday) celebration was held at the National Higher Secondary School for Girls at Triplicane, Madras. The then Chief Minister, Sri P.S.Kumaraswami Raja, presided over the function and
Smt. Rukmani Arundel spoke about the contribution made by
Papanasam Sivan to the field of carnatic music. Sri
Sivan was given the title "Siva punya Gaanaamani" by
the Acharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. MKT was asked
to give a classical carnatic music concert. Many renowned musicians were present at the celebration. This was a rare honour to MKT.
Vidwans such as Musiri Subramanya Iyer, G.N.Balasubramaniam, M.M.Dandapani desikar, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer and T.N.Rajarathnam pillai and critics such as Kalki and T.L.Venkatarama Iyer had very high opinion about MKT's expertise in music. The opinions of these great men are the best expressions of appreciation.
Thiruvengadu Jayaraman who was closely associated with Madurai Mani Iyer from 1949 till the demise of the latter in 1968, recalls that Mani Iyer would listen to a lot of radio concerts and has listened to MKT's concerts on radio. He remarks that Mani Iyer would lavishly praise MKT for his adaptability to any style of music and his Gurubhakti. He also recollects that MKT would visit Mani Iyer's concerts and both of them would have discussions at the end of the concert. Once at the end of a radio broadcast, somebody criticised MKT's and T R Mahalingam's music in the presence of Mani Iyer. Mani Iyer, who would not lose his temper too often, quipped 'Are the thousands of people who come to listen to Thyagaraja Bhagavathar mad ?'. Mani Iyer, in a different occasion, remarked ' Thyagaraja Bhagavathar paattula oru gouravam irukku, mariyaatha irukku'. 'Gouravam' and 'Mariyatha' are, his fans say, the laudatory words which Mani iyer would use very often.
Another close associate of Mani Iyer, Late Sri Ananthanarayana Iyer of Golden Rock would often recollect that Mani Iyer did hesitate for a long time to sing Eppo Varuvaaro after the release of Sathvaguna bothan. Mani Iyer said 'Thyagaraja Bhagavathar ennamaa paadi irukkaar paathela, enakku paadave thona maattengarathu'. This is not only a tribute to MKT's genius but also to the venerable Mani Iyer's natural humility.
|
| ONE OF HIS CONCERTS IN A TEMPLE |
When T.N.Rajarathnam pillai celeberated his son Sivaji's marriage he organised the concerts of Ariyakudi Ramanuja iyengar, Madurai Mani Iyer, GNB, MKT and KBS and in the marriage invitation he printed 'Sangeetha Vidwan' against the names of all of them. He recognised MKT as a vidwan and at par with the other vidwans.The marriage was celebrated for three days.
Tiruengimalai near Kulithalai is famous for a hill temple to Lord Siva. Once during the temple festival, the temple authorities organised the concerts of T.N.Rajarathnam Pillai, Vidwan Sundararajan and MKT to be performed on the same day. The concert of T.N.Rajarathnam pillai started at 6 p.m. and was over by 9 p.m. Then came Sri Sundararajan and gave his concert till 1 p.m. Finally MKT started his concert and it went on till 5 a.m. MKT made a request to Sri Sundararajan, who hailed from Thuraiyur, to stay and listen to his concert and offer his views. He also promised to drop Sunderarajan at his residence in his car while returning to Trichy. Sundararajan listened to the concert from start to finish and says even today that MKT's performance on that day was astounding. He still remembers the way in which MKT handled the Dikshithar krithi "Sri veera hanumathe " in the raga hindustan kapi or kaanada. He is all praise for MKT's knowledge in carnatic music and generosity.
|
| CONCERT IN THE CONGRESS GROUNDS AT TEYNAMPET, MADRAS |
MKT had immense stamina to sing which probably he gained through the long duration of stageplays in those days. During Sri Rama Navami festival at Bangalore he used to start his concert by 6 p.m. and it would go upto 12.30 a.m. Next day morning at 9 a.m. he would give another concert and it would go upto 1 p.m. His music never got strained out of fatigue.
Once, MKT gave a concert in Thiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja Aradhana which he did purely for his inner satisfaction. But he soon learnt that he was not a welcome visitor to the Aradhana. To avoid misunderstandings with the organisers he quietly avoided attending the aradhana in later years.
It is misleading and gross injustice to only talk about him as a cine musician without due regard to the fact that he was primarily a sangeetha vidwan.
It is unfortunate that his great services to the growth of Tamil Isai is not recognised by the authorities of the Sangam today. He richly deserves the 'Isai Peraringar' title which has to be certainly conferred posthumously on him.
AN APPEAL
|
| CONCERT IN SRI RAMA SEVA MANDALI, BANGALORE IN 1952 |
We are really unfortunate that inspite of having given many concerts, MKT has not rendered classical kritis on gramaphone record. But in many places, spool tape recordings of his concerts have been made. For instance, you can see the concert being recorded in a spool tape in the Saraswati Gana Nilayam photo above. So far none of MKT's concert recordings have been unearthed and released for the general public. Who knows how many of such spool tapes have decayed in the efflux of time. I request every fan of MKT to take possible steps to search for his carnatic music concert recordings which will be priceless treasures and a treat to music lovers. LET US BRING THE GREAT SINGER BACK TO LIFE !
|
