Sri.Lalgudi G.Jayaraman for 5

• Underwent training with

Sri.Vairamangalam

Lakshminarayanan for a period of 1 year.

• Currently under the nuancive

training and able guidance of of Smt. Suguna Varadachari.

Prizes from Music Academy, Narada Gana Sabha, Indian Fine Arts and Mylapore Fine Arts

• Performed Concerts at Ragasudha Hall, Chennai, Karthik Fine Arts, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Nada Inbam, Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Nungambakkam Cultural Trust, AIR Chennai and YACM

• Recipient of central Govt. scholarship Department of Culture, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India (1999-2001).

SYAMA academy has recruited the following new teachers:

1. Mrs Vidhya

Rajasubramaniam (Violin and Vocal):

• Was initiated into the world

of Carnatic Music (Violin) under Sri Lakshminarayanan

• Learned Vocal music from

Nanganallur Ramanathan

• MA (Music) From Madras

University

• MA (Economics) from Madras

university

• Taught in Ranjani Sabha and

Geethanivedhana trust

• Over 20 years of teaching

experience

• Award from the Narada Gana

Sabha

• Performed Concerts at

Ragasudha Hall, Mylapore fine arts, Karthik Fine Arts, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Nada

Inbam, Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Nungambakkam Cultural Trust, Thyaga brahma gana sabha and Narada Gana Sabha

2. Mrs Kanchana Rajesh -Vocal,

Keyboard tutor (daughter-in-law of Violin K Sivaraman):

• Was initiated into the world of

Carnatic Music (Vocal) at the tender age of 6 and received basic training under Smt. Manjula Ramesh of Bangalore

for 10 years

• Had her fundamentals

strengthened under the able

guidance of Smt.Lalgudi Rajalakshmi for 3 years, in Bangalore

• Has been undergoing rigorous

training and grooming with

Academy—New Teachers

INS IDE TH IS

I S SUE :

New

Teachers

1

The Other

Festival 2008

2

Kids Corner 2

Raga lakshana—

Kalyani

2

Please update us

with your new

contact numbers

Newsletter 1 O C T 2 0 0 8 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 6

U PCOM ING

E V ENT S :

30th September

—SYAMA students

perform at the

V a i r a v i m a d a

Kaliamman temple,

for the Navarathri

festival at 8PM

9th October

V i j a y a d a s a m i

c e l e b r a t i o n s a t

SYAMA premises

from 10AM to 12

noon, and 4PM to 8PM

Editor: Ramkumar

Vasudevan

SYAMA 42B Race

Course Road,

Singapore 218557

http://www.syama.org

Email:

info@syama.org

harmonica jew's harp zither

lute mouth organ

4. Another name for the tambourine is

jalra uDukkai manjira

kanjira none

5. At which temple are there musical pillars

which sound when struck?

Shreerangam Madurai Meenaakshi

Tanumalayam (Kanyakumari) Ramappa all of these

Kids Corner 1. What is the legendary origin of the mridangam?

the drum of Shiva slaying of a demon a battle victory as a vehicle

none of the above 2. The original name for the gOTu vaadyam is

Ektar yaazh citraveeNa naagaveeNa

saarangi 3. Which of these is the English name for the

moorsing?

Raga lakshana—

Kalyani

Kalyani is the 65th Melakarta raga, equivalent to the raganga raga Kalyan. In the older

Venkatamakhi scheme, it was called Santha Kalyani. In the more modern scheme of Govinda, it is called Mecha Kalyani. It is a sampoorna raga and has a symmetrical

arohana and avarohana using the chatusruti rishabham (r2), antara gandharam (g3), prati madhyamam (m2), chatusruti dhaivatam (d2) and kakali nishadam (n3). As Prof.

Sambamoorthy notes, the raga "can be sung at all times, but the effect is decidedly better when sung in the evening...On account of the presence of tivra svaras in this raga, it is very

useful for being sung at the commencement of concerts. The requisite musical atmosphere is

The Other Festival 2008, was celebrated at the Lee Foundation theatre on Sunday, 7th September 2008. 58

students received their certificates from Dr. Balaji Sadasivan, Minister of state, Foreign Affairs, who also

inaugurated the event and presided the function. Complete photos are available at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shivanuja/TOF08

Back Page Story Headline

soon created." (In Tamil, one would say kaLai kattum.)

All the swaras in the raga are raga chhaya swaras (important notes), and each of them can be adorned with gamakas. Alapanas typically start with the panchama or gandhara and commence with phrases like p m g r s r or g m p m g r s r. One also hears alapanas that commence with the upper shadja. According to Subbarama Dikshitar, the rishabha and the gandhara are jiva swaras. However, judging by most compositions (including varnams) and other improvisational renditions, the nishada is a very prominent note too, and is often used as a nyasa swara. Thus, in practice, uttaranga sancharas dominate

alapana/neraval.

Singing the raga, by omitting the shadja and/or panchama, gives Kalyani a special flavor. This can be heard in almost every recording featured. Janta (pair) swara combinations like r r g g m m d d n n and datu swara prayogas (phrases wherein intermediate notes are skipped deliberately) like n g" r" n d n r" n d

m and g n d m g r are prominent. For example, the charanam of the varnam vanajakshi in ata talam (recording below) features janta swara patterns. The third chittai swara features datu swara patterns. Phrases like n d m g r and g" r" n d m g r which involve orikkai, a variety of gamaka wherein there is a momentary flick to a higher or lower tone at the end of the principal note (e.g., the former phrase is really (s")n (n)d (p)m (m)g (g)r ), also add a special flavor to the raga. Some characteristic phrases of Kalyani are:

r g r n_, d_ n_ d_ g r s n_ d_ n_ r g r s, g m p (m)g- r s

r n_ g r, p m g r s r

Typically, the rishaba is used as a nyasa swara in avarohi sancharas, as seen above. This should be contrasted with the treatement of the gandhara as a nyasa swara.

r g, s r g, n r g, g m pm g, g m p (m)g

p m g m p, p m n(d) p, p n d p, g n d p, g n d m g r g m p, s" n d n p

At times the dhaivata is stressed as in p s" (n) d - p m g, g n d - p.

p (n)d n, p (n)d (s")n, p (n)d (r")n, n g" r" n.

The approach to the tara stayi shadja is usually through phrases such as p d n s", m p d n s", (s")n d s", g m d n s", n s" g" r" s", s" n r" s, s" n g" r" s". The gandhara is often oscillated to g(r) or (m)g. The common phrase (pm)g - (m)(g)r illustrates the different tonal variations of the gandhara. The same is true of the nishada which assumes different shades depending on its proximity to the dhaivat (e.g., p (d) n, p (n)d n) or to the tara stayi shadja (e.g., (s")n, (r")n). These can be discerned in the recordings featured below.

The remainder of this article can be divided roughly into four sections. In the first section, we present the lakshana aspects of the raga as illustrated by padams and varnams. In the following two sections, lakshya aspects as seen in neraval/swara and alapana/tanam are presented. In the final section, we provide a brief description of the raga Yamuna Kalyani.

Kalyani is a major raga and is capable of being used in practically any kind of composition. From the common gitam taught to beginners of Carnatic music - kamalajatala, to complicated kritis, ragam-tanam-pallavis, padams and javalis, Kalyani occupies a special place in modern Carnatic music. In a recent exhaustive compilation, Lakshman Ragde estimates at least 700 compositions (including various musical forms) set to the raga Kalyani. This status of

Kalyani is proof of the tremendous evolution of Carnatic music during the 18th and 19th centuries. Venkatamakhi in his Caturdandi Prakasika (ca. 1620 CE) dismissed it as "Turuska" (Turkish) and considered it unsuitable for three of four musical forms that he described in his treatise - gita, thaya and prabandha. He did not specify if it was suitable for alapa. Another scale similarly described as turuska corresponds to the raga Todi. In his doctoral dissertation, Prof. Viswanathan notes that "neither raga seems to have particularly well known in South India before the seventeenth century, which fact

seems to support the likelihood of Middle-Eastern origins."

From the above, it appears that the Kalyani scale has its origins in the North. The contours of the raga Kalyani were shaped by composers like Kshetragna (1600-1680), who composed over 20 padas in this raga. Remarkably, these were composed within half a century of Venkatamakhi's description, and these compositions show how borrowed scales can be adapted into an evolving musical system. In the first clip, we present Charumati Ramachandran singing one of the most popular of these padas, iddari sanduna

Above article– courtesy of: http://www.sawf.org

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