New life breathed into legend

New life breathed into legend

September 07, 2016 12:49 IST

Updated: September 22, 2016 17:55 IST

The article was originally published on April 12, 1989. We're republishing it as a part of M.S. Subbulakshmi Centenary Celebrations.

The Governor, Dr. P. C. Alexander greeting Smt. M. S. Subbulakshmi after releasing the mela raga malika cassette. Also seen in the picture are from left: Mr. T. T. Vasu, President, Music Academy, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Mrs. Ackamma Alexander and Mr. T. Sadasivam.

The small studio is packed with intent listeners as the newly recorded mela raga malika sung by M. S. Subbulakshmi is played before sound engineers and scholars for final approval before its release. M.S. waits anxiously for guru Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer's verdict. Had he not taught her this rare and long piece years ago? As the spool winds to a close a beaming Semmangudi bursts into applause thus setting his seal of approval on the achievement. With the release of this cassette, compact disc and LP record by HMV, a new life has been breathed into a legend that had awed and mystified most vidwans and connoisseurs by the sheer complexity and magnificence of its design.

Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan, the composer of the mela raga malika, lived at a time (1844-1893) when the scientific and the theoretical approach of Venkatamakhi (17th century) and subsequent scholars had accomplished the schematisation of the 72 ragas — the melakartas — on the basis of the 12 universally recognised notes of the musical gamut. The "karta ragas were visualised as the roots of various and innumerable clusters of their offspring. Paradoxically, of course, many of the janya (derived) ragas existed prior to the conceptualisation of the mela scheme while the parent ragas fell into the three slots of those already in existence (kalpita), the immediate possibilities (kalpyamana) and remote possibilities (kalpayishyamana). The Kanakangi-Ratnangi nomenclatures, and the katapayadhi prefixes as aids to their classification came later, all testifying to the highly evolved sophistication of the precision-oriented musical system of the South.

Obscure

However, neither during the time of Venkatamakhi nor in that of Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan did all the mela ragas gain recognition. Most of them still remain obscure, heard only in demonstrations or in the occasionally rendered rare compositions of some vaggeyakaras of the past and present Sivan's mela raga malika still remains unmatched as the longest of its kind, using all the 72 ragas in a single composition, on a single theme.

It became a hymn addressed to his ishtadevata Siva, as Pranatartihara, the presiding deity of Tiruvaiyaru. Sivan was most suitably equipped for the last of creating a composition whose extraordinary musical worth is balanced by its monumental theoretical value. Born into a musical family at Vaiyacheri in Thanjavur district, Sivan was trained by such stalwarts as Anai and Ayya, and later by a direct disciple of Tyagaraja — Manambucnavadi Venkata Subbayyar. At the age of seven he could handle intricate pallavis; by nine he had studied lakshana texts like Sangita Ratnakara and Sangraha Chudamani.

At 12 he acquired the title "Maha" when he proved his superiority over vidwans such as Periya and Chinna Vaithi. On that occasion he sang an expansive ragam-tanam-pallavi in the Mela raga Chakravakam — that could not be identified by anyone present. After this he reigned supreme with a voice ranging over 3 octaves. His artistic attainments, profound scholarship, exemplary conduct and Sivabhakti excited reverent admiration. Both he and his brother Ramaswami Iyer developed into fine vaggeyakaras in Tamil and Sanskrit. Till recently Sivan's mela raga malika was kalpana swaras in the uncommon ragas to gain vocal and mental control over the vivadi notes. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer taught the whole to M.S. and encouraged her to stage it in six parts of two chakras each, at the Music Academy between 1968-75. He judged her to be the most fitted for the task as "she is blessed with a like uniqueness of voice and range as the composer himself, capable of intelligently bringing off the subtle nuances with which the malika abounds."

Thunderous ovation expressed the excitement of the rasikas when M.S. introduced them to the fascination of the mela chakras. And in this her season of mellow fruitfulness M.S. has recorded a well-researched, definitive and authoritative version for the benefit of students and lovers of Carnatic music. The royalty from cassette and record goes to the Music Academy which has commemorated the event with a publication of the ragamalika known only to a few senior vidwans.

Musiri Subramania Iyer and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer had acquired it from their gurus Sabesa Iyer and Umayalpuram Swaminatha Iyer, both of whom were disciples of Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan. Musiri had sung parts of the malika occasionally while Semmangudi remained content with learning and polishing its form. He viewed it as a theoretical exercise and practised the notation and a Tamil commentary by the scholar V. S. V. Guruswamy Sastrigal. With an introduction by T. S. Parthasarathy and the original Marathi version of Venkata Rao, the book is a valuable aid to students and music lovers.

The mela raga malika set to Adi tala is divided into six parts of 12 ragas each. The first half features suddha madhyama ragas and the second their at times repetitive pratimadhyama counterparts. Each successive raga is varied by just a single note. The high-seriousness of its theoretical intent offers intellectual stimulation of a high order in both the music and the meaning. But this in no way lessens the aesthetic value of the raga and artha bhava.

Starting with its lovely Sriraga prelude, the 72 verses address Lord Siva directly, (and therefore more impactively), describing his glories through allusive imagery and metaphoric expressiveness. Their range of reference is vast, including scriptures, sacred texts, epics, devotional verses and the lore of saints. The mandatory weaving-in of the raga's name in each verse is an astonishing poetic feat in itself. The two avartanas of sahitya in each raga, is followed by a short swara passage that clearly charts the contour and texture of the raga with a piercing sharpness.

Apparently simple, they contain an unsuspected variety. To each of the 72 ragas the composer has imparted an identifiable quality right from the initial phrase. He presents them, not as a complex of swaras alone, but as possessing an individual character of their own. More, he has evoked a different ambience in each to suit the meaning. In such a treatment bhakti reveals itself as possessing as many shades of feeling as any major rasa.

Thing of beauty

It is easy for such a composition to attract the scholar's attention. But as M.S. has sung it, it becomes relishable for the ordinary rasika as well. Her sensitive and intelligent modulations emphasising the nuances of both sahitya and swara (where every visarga and anuswara gets its due), her accuracy and restraint in oscillating only the required notes to the required degree, and above all, the meticulous diction that shapes word and phrase to perfection, all these have combined to create a thing of beauty preserving valuable aspects of our musical tradition for future generations.

Grateful Acknowledgement to TheHindu