Sruti E

Sruti E - Issue   Sruti E - Issue
Contents
Introduction . . . . . 4
Life and Achievements . . . . . 5
Awards and Titles . . . . . 15
GNB & MLV : Parallels and Contrasts . . . . . 18
MLV & Cinema . . . . . 21
Some Personal Glimpses . . . . . 26
Sruti E - Issue  Introduction
1
MLV was a
brilliant vocalist and dedicated
teacher, a pioneer who created
space for woman-musicians on
the concert stage, contributing
significantly to the development
of Carnatic music from the 1940s
to the late 1980s.
She came to
be widely known as MLV. Her
initials can be said to depict three
outstanding features of her music:
Melody, Laya and Vidwat.
The combination of these in her music, in which melody
enveloped the other two, won her the admiration of the cognoscenti but
also appealed to the lay listener.
 Sruti E - Issue
Life and Achievements
2
The child Vasanthakumari wanted to become a doctor.
She was always perhaps regretful about what might have been. “Doctors
save lives,” she was fond of saying wistfully, voicing her admiration for the
medical profession.
Vasanthakumari’s parents—she was born as an only
child on 3 July 1928 in Madras—were both musicians. Father Koothanur
Ayyasami Iyer was well-versed in Carnatic music and had a keen interest
in Hindustani classical music as well. Mother Lalithangi belonged to a
family traditionally devoted to the fine arts. She had learnt music from
Coimbatore Thayi and Flute Subba Rao, and padam-s and javali-s in
particular from Veena Dhanammal. She was an active concert artist. She
and her husband were both justly praised for their efforts to propagate the
devarnama-s of Purandaradasa in the South (See Sruti 14). MLV grew
up amidst sounds of music—listening to the songs of Purandaradasa,
the kriti-s of the Tiruvarur trinity and other Carnatic music composers,
and to khayals, thumri-s and dhun-s rendered by visiting Hindustani
musicians.
But genes more than environment probably accounted
for the ability of Vasanthakumari, even as a two-year-old toddler, to
identify the swara-s embedded in the melodies she heard. She was, in
Sruti E - Issue  other words, a child prodigy, even
though she was not so proclaimed or
publicised by her parents.
Although
they
taught her music at home, her father
and mother were not keen on Vasanthi,
taking up music as a career, thanks to
their disappointment at not receiving
adequate recognition for their own
musical abilities and services. They
admitted her in a convent school.
(Vasanthakumari studied up to the
Senior Cambridge level and developed
a sense of curiosity, a broad bent of
mind and proficiency in English).
Despite her parents’ reluctance to let Vasanthi pursue a
career in music, the gifted girl was allowed to accompany mother Lalithangi
in her recitals. At the age of 11, Vasanthakumari began formally providing
‘pin-paattu’—back-up support or ‘backsong’, to use the catchy term used
by an artist in a letter to AIR and recalled with glee by T. Sankaran—for
her mother. She made stage appearances in this manner, in a concert held
on 27 July 1940 in Simla, and another on 3 August 1940 in New Delhi.
Both were organized by the Karnataka Sangeeta Sabha, a flourishing
organisation in Simla and Delhi.
Chance played a part in Vasanthakumari’s first solo
recital in Bangalore in 1941, when she was 13 or thereabouts. Lalithangi
was to have performed but withdrew because of an attack of asthma.
Rather than cancel the concert, the Sabha officials decided to present
Vasanthakumari in her place. The concert by ‘Madras Lalithangi
Vasanthakumari’ was a success.
MLV scored another first in 1941 when she cut her
first disc, a recording on a 78 rpm ‘plate’ of Swati Tirunal’s Todi raga kriti
Sarasijanabha murare. This opened the way for a contract with the leading
recording company in India and its release of a few more MLV discs.
 Sruti E - Issue
The turning point in Vasanthakumari’s life and
career was not either of these firsts but her enrolment as a disciple of
G.N. Balasubramaniam, then a new star on the Carnatic music horizon.
It came about a little earlier.
GNB had first formed a favourable impression of
Vasanthakumari’s potential as a singer in 1938. He, Lalithangi and
D.K. Pattammal were rehearsing a radio programme based on Jayadeva’s
ashtapadi-s. Vasanthakumari was present on the occasion and she was
singing along in low tones, singing to herself really.
GNB heard her, and asked her parents to let the
girl receive music training under him. They demurred—and so did
Vasanthakumari, who was keen on becoming a doctor.
But GNB renewed his suggestion, now with greater
force, when, in 1940 Lalithangi and Ayyasami Iyer called on him to show
him the book on Purandaradasa’s compositions they had prepared. This
time, the parents gave their agreement to GNB’s proposal and placed
Vasanthakumari under his tutelage. She received regular training from
GNB for about 10 years.
In lrubathaam Nootrandin Sangeeta Medhaigal
(Alliance Co., Madras, 1988), a Tamil book in which Sruti Senior Editor
V.S. Sundara Rajan wrote about the music maestros of the 20th century,
there is a passage recording MLV’s recollection of her apprenticeship
under GNB. She said her guru told her: “Take only the good aspects from
my music. Don’t copy me in every respect, because that would amount to
mimicry. Cultivate your manodharma, your own sense of imagination.” She
added that her guru often asked her to listen to the concerts of musicians
like Ariyakudi, Semmangudi, Madurai Mani, D.K. Pattammal and
M.S. Subbulakshmi. His aim was to encourage her to observe interesting
musical features and aspects of concert presentation and absorb those
which, after analysis and discussion with her guru, seemed relevant to her
own musical outlook and endowments.
In 1951, Vasanthakumari married R. Krishnamurti, as
proposed and arranged by her parents.
Sruti E - Issue  A native of Madurai belonging to the landed gentry,
Krishnamurti was one of the founders of a sabha that later became the
Sathguru Sangeetha Samajam. Among those whose concerts he helped
arrange for the sabha was G.N. Balasubramaniam. Maharajapuram
Viswanatha Iyer was already one of his heroes and now GNB became
another. Though he was younger than both, he gained their friendship.
On GNB’s recommendation he arranged for Vasanthakumari too to sing
at the Madurai sabha once or twice.
During the nineteen fifties and sixties, Vasanthakumari’s
career as a concert artist flourished. In 1953, she became a mother and the
care and upbringing of daughter Srividya, and later of son Sankararaman,
did require that some of her time and energies be diverted from the
pursuit of her profession, As Srividya grew up and learnt Bharatanatyam,
Vasanthakumari took on one more role as padam-singer at her dance
recitals. But all this diversion did not affect her career as a concert
artist.
Despite carping criticism of her style of singing from
some quarters of the Establishment—she was the target of such criticism
partly because she belonged to the GNB school—Vasanthakumari was
regularly featured as a star performer in virtually every important music
festival conducted in south India and in the various outposts of Carnatic
music in the rest of the country. She was also a regular performer on
radio. Interestingly, AIR denied her the top grade until much later in
her career. The person responsible for this delay was none other than her
guru, who was an AIR producer when her case was reviewed and who
perhaps took a firmer step on the path of rectitude than usual, because
Vasanthakumari was his disciple. He told her: “You are still young; you
can afford to wait.”
Once she reached the top, Vasanthakumari stayed
there. There was some slackening of her concert schedule in the 1970s,
and, during the last three years of her life, she was under considerable
strain because of health problems.
Also, although there were occasional performances
which could not be reckoned as successes and even when she was no
 Sruti E - Issue
longer in her prime—her music was best in the 1950s and sixties—she
never gave reason for anyone to doubt that she was a first-rate artist, a
truly great singer. Her music had many fine attributes, but she excelled
in the exercise of manodharma and revealed a rare sense of adventure.
And she had the competence—a combination of knowledge, skills and
attitudes—to deploy her manodharma and spirit of adventure to great
effect. She enriched tradition, she did not violate it. In this respect she
was a true disciple of her great guru.
Over the years, Vasanthakumari evolved her own bani
of singing, based on the new bani her guru had fashioned for himself. She
did not copy her guru’s style completely. This is what her guru had wished
her to do.
According to R. Shankernarayanan of Hosur, a long
time admirer and friend of MLV, GNB used to say to him: “Vasanthi
typifies real discipleship. She applies her mind to all she absorbs and
presents a glorious edifice of her own creation.”
Vasanthakumari’s attitude towards her accompanists
and disciples also confirmed that she was a true follower of GNB. Her
interest went beyond the ‘loukeekam’ aspects, for she was genuinely
interested in the musical contribution accompanists could make. She
never hesitated to acknowledge their
merit, or encourage them if they
were young and junior to her. The
way she groomed A. Kanyakumari
as a first-rate violin accompanist is a
story in itself.
The role she
played in bringing khanjira vidwan
G. Harishankar and mridanga vidwan
Tiruvarur Bhakthavathsalam was
no less significant. She made them
part of her concert team; she pulled
them into her orbit of adventure;
and she pushed them into excelling
Sruti E - Issue  themselves. Above all, she enveloped them with her genuine concern for
their success and deep personal affection.
Punctuality was an inviolate principle with MLV. It is
a safe bet that if any of her concerts had a delayed start, she was not
responsible for it. This sense of punctuality was but an extension in
everyday life of her unswerving kalapramanam in music.
She usually followed tradition and started a concert
with a varnamand there was never a concert in which, she did not sing
a song in praise of Vighneswara early on, at the least, a stotram invoking
Ganapati’s blessings. Close colleagues disclose that if she was required to
record a programme on disc or tape without a Ganesa kriti, she would
insist on singing such a kriti, at the beginning, at least ‘off the record’.
She revelled in rendering raga alapana and kriti-s in
major raga-s like Kalyani, Shanmukhapriya and Todi. Typically the
alapana was expansive, as she explored the territory of the raga to its very
frontiers. The kriti selected was well-known but hardly well-worn insofar
as her rendering of it was concerned.
She was equally adept at rendering minor raga-s and
elaborately at that. For instance, she sang the rare raga Sivasakti for an
LP record. Reportedly she had never sung the raga earlier, possibly had
not even heard it sung, but the way she sang it for the record, she gave the
impression she must have practised it quite a bit. She herself used to say,
“The first time I sing a raga is invariably my best rendering of that raga.”
Any concert of MLV’s offered object lessons on how
to render raga alapana. It would show that the time to be devoted to
an alapana depended on the nature of the kriti to follow and the time it
would take to render it properly, complete with niraval and swaraprastara
as warranted. The idea was obviously to make the offering in any raga—
the alapana plus kriti—’a thing of beauty’ for the listeners and, if possible,
also ‘a joy’ that would linger in their minds ‘forever’.
She had a rich repertoire of songs—in many languages.
She could sing compositions in Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi
and Marathi with a felicity of expression appropriate to each language.
10 Sruti E - Issue
If the compositions of the Trinity were prominent in her concerts, those
of Purandara and other dasa-s had a special place in them. If she sang
bhajan-s or dhun-s, she did so in a classical or semi-classical rather than
devotional mode. She did not normally sing bhajan-s in north Indian
languages anywhere in the North, since she doubted that northern
audiences would like the way a south Indian singer presented them. She
had been heard to say: “We may think we are singing a terrific bhajan but
they may be horrified by our style—by our enunciation and by our use of
gamaka-s.”
She could handle any type of music—from a sombre
swarajati to a shouted Ayyasami, aaoji sami (the title of a film song she
made famous). Whatever she sang, she placed on it her mudra, her
indelible stamp of authority.
She invariably sang a ragam-tanam-pallavi in every
concert that lasted three hours or more. It did not matter if it was a sabha
concert or a temple festival affair. Even in a wedding concert, she included
a pallavi if she felt a few discerning listeners were present.
She handled difficult pallavi-s without diffidence but
also without arrogance. Once Kanyakumari, her violin accompanist and
‘Girl Everyday’, suggested that Vasanthakumari sing a two-raga pallavi in
a concert she was to give the same evening. She proposed the twinning
of Amritavarshini and Andolika for the purpose. MLV welcomed the
proposal, but asked that an alternative combination be kept in mind too.
At three o’ clock in the afternoon, she sat down and prepared a pallavi with
the double-A combination. It was in tisra nadai too. Kanyakumari and
Maharajapuram Santhanam (who was in the audience) both reportedly
said after the concert that it was ‘a magnificent effort’.
Vasanthakumari had to do something new in every
concert and she aimed to be perfect in whatever she sang. When another
musician did something new, something fresh, she wanted to know about it,
learn it and do it herself. Once a disciple of hers told her Balamuralikrishna
had rendered a pallavi in pancha nadai (five gaits) within the selected
tala framework. She had the disciple recapitulate musically what she
had heard. She liked it, set up a comparable pallavi and sang it at the
Sruti E - Issue 11
Music Academy in the year in
which she presided over that
body’s annual conference.
At another time, she heard
Balamuralikrishna
had
rendered a panchamukhi
pallavi and again she responded
to the news by setting up a
pallavi in Misramukhi tala.
She rendered that too at the
Academy.
Thus, in addition to a rich repertoire, she had a whole
range of musical abilities and accomplishments. These enabled her to
adjust the framework and flow of her concert at any stage she wanted and
thus overcome a rebellious voice, poor acoustics or any other handicap she
faced. There were occasions when her throat was affected and her voice
was not at its best, or she was off-mood, or something upset her musical
vibes. On such occasions she would introduce an elaborate alapana, a
powerful song or a swaraprastara that touched dizzy heights and elevated
the musical quality of the concert. According to a source competent
to judge, she simply seemed unable to rise to the occasion at a concert
in Bangalore. Her performance was mediocre until she decided to sing
swara-s for a kriti in Narayani raga. She sang swara-s for some 20 minutes
in this obscure raga and the audience gave her a standing ovation at the
end. All of the swara korvai-s or matrices were single-avarta ones, and in
sarva-laghu. Within that framework she produced myriad combinations
which were striking for their conception and laya intricacies.
She had a phenomenal grip on laya and she could
produce swara matrices of great complexity even while singing vakra
raga-s or raga-s with scalar progressions that go this way and that instead
of straight up and straight down. She offered a dazzling example of her
virtuosity on this account at a concert for Shanmukhananda Sabha in
Bombay when she sang swara-s in Kiranavali raga.
Yet her concerts confirmed time and again that she did
not wish to subordinate melody to mathematics.
12 Sruti E - Issue
Her music had melody. It had laya. And it had vidwat.
M-L-V: these letters not only stood for these aspects of her music, but also
indicated the order of priority of these aspects in the way she displayed
them in her music.
Vasanthakumari did not limit her role as a teacher to
instructing, guiding and inspiring her disciples and her young accompanists.
She taught music at institutions as well. The first and most rewarding
assignment of this kind she took up was at the Rishi Valley School, a
unique institution near Madanapalle, in Andhra Pradesh, which is guided
by the philosophy of learning propounded by the late Jiddu Krishnamurti,
the internationally known and respected thinker. This was in the late
1970s.
It was obvious that, from the viewpoint of the Rishi
Valley School also, the addition of MLV to its faculty would be most
welcome, indeed a privilege, as the addition of Palghat Mani Iyer,
another great musician, had been. Arrangements were quickly made for
her appointment. At the same time, C.V. Narasimhan, a top U.N. official
and a great rasika, offered to make an annual contribution to the Rishi
Valley School to enable it to supplement its own salary to MLV. (He made
a similar provision in regard to Palghat Mani Iyer also).
At the Rishi Valley School, Vasanthakumari brought to
her assignment, which continued till her passing, a spirit of joy as well as
a seriousness of purpose. The latter was particularly evident, according to
K. Jayalakshmi (Rojiamma), an official of the Krishnamurti Foundation
and a close friend of MLV, in the pains Vasanthakumari took while
producing Sakuntalam, a dance-drama enacted by the school’s students
which premiered at the Madras Music Academy during its annual
festival in 1988. She researched various books and consulted various
authorities while putting together the ballet and herself composed the
music, in 55 Carnatic and Hindustani raga-s and folk melodies, for lyrics
by Hanumantha Rao, a great scholar. She also personally shopped for the
materials with which to make the costumes; there was economy as well
as aesthetics involved in this task since the budget available was very
small. When the show was presented, critic Subbudu wrote in the Indian
Sruti E - Issue 13
Express, Madras: “The multi-faceted genius of Dr. M.L. Vasanthakumari,
whom we have known so far only as an outstanding vocalist, came to
the fore... when she presented Sakuntalam at the Music Academy. It
unfailingly traced the gamut of emotions by turns, apart from being quite
splendid by itself. [Specific raga-s] fitted into the appropriate sequences
bordered often by lovely swara passages. There were suitable tempo, tala
and nadai changes.” Vidwan S. Rajam, Sruti Contributing Editor and
music expert, lavished praise on the music composed by MLV.
Vasanthakumari also served for three years as Visiting
Honorary Professor at the Tamil Isai Kalluri of the Tamil Isai Sangam,
Madras. Yet another institutional assignment was arranged but she took
ill before she could assume responsibility effectively. This was as head of
the music faculty at the Sri Padmavathy Mahila University in Tirupati.
It was but natural that many awards and titles came seeking
this great artist. The first one, the title of Sangeeta Vani, was bestowed
on Vasanthakumari by a great artist, the late violin maestro Kumbakonam
Rajamanickam Pillai, when
she was only 26 years of
age; she was already a star
performer if yet only a great
artist in the making. The
title was awarded in 1954
at a function organised
by the Arts Academy of
Purasawakkam in Madras.
Another title she received
when quite young was
Sangeeta Ratnakara. This was awarded by the Purandaradasa mahotsava
committee in Coimbatore in recognition of MLV’s expertise in singing the
songs of Purandaradasa and it was presented to her by the late Chembai
Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar. According to the tradition governing such
occasions, a man does not garland a woman but Chembai insisted on
garlanding Vasanthakumari, presumably because he recognized goddess
Saraswati herself in the young vidushi.
14 Sruti E - Issue
Awards and Titles
3
Various other awards and titles followed:
l
Tiruppavai Mani, presented to her in appreciation of her
recording of Tiruppavai songs;
l
Padma Bhushan, the President of India award in 1967, when she
was only 39 years of age;
l
Sangeet Natak Akademi award, 1970;
l
Doctor of Letters, the honorary degree awarded to her by the
Mysore University;
l
Sangita Kalanidhi, the title which the Music Academy of Madras
Sruti E - Issue 15
awarded her on 1 January 1978 after she presided over the 1977 annual
conference;
l
Isai Perarignar, awarded by the Tamil lsai Sangam, Madras in
December 1978 when she presided over its annual conference;
l
Isai Chelvam, presented by the Muttamizh Peravai, Madras;
l
Saptagiri Sangeeta Vidwan Mani, presented by the Tyagarajaswami
Trust of Tirupati in 1985.
l
Sangeeta Kalasikhamani, presented by the Indian Fine Arts
Society, Madras, in 1989. She presided over the Society’s 55th South
Indian Music Conference & Festival held in December that year.
She was also honoured by the Tirupati-Tirumala
Devasthanams which appointed her as an asthana vidushi.
Vasanthakumari’s music took her abroad many times,
even though the Government of India never chose her to represent the
country at any time.
Her early overseas visits were to Sri Lanka. In 1951
she sang at a Tamil festival in Jaffna. In 1954, she gave several benefit
concerts to raise funds for the building fund of a college. In 1960, she
gave concerts to raise funds for another college as well as for a Murugan
temple. Then, after a gap of many years, she visited the island again in
1983, when she and her party were lucky to escape being victimized by
ethnic riots.
Vasanthakumari visited Malaysia and Singapore too.
The first time she did so was in 1960, when she gave many benefit concerts
to raise funds for various institutions.
She went to Nepal in 1973 at the invitation of the King
and Queen and gave several performances.
She went to North America for the first time in 1976
and gave a series of concerts from coast to coast. The people of Indian
and Sri Lankan origin in the US and Canada were thrilled to be able to
16 Sruti E - Issue
attend her live performances. She undertook a similar tour in 1980. In
the same year, she gave a benefit concert in London.
Vasanthakumari went abroad again in the 1980s—to
Malaysia and Singapore in 1982 to give benefit performances; to New York
in 1984 for a concert in commemoration of the 500th birth anniversary
of Purandaradasa; and to Australia in 1988. A report on the latter visit
remarked on the unifying impact her visit had on the Indian community
in Sydney. It said that organisations active in promoting Indian music and
other organisations focusing on Indians and Indian culture joined together
for the first time in making a visiting artist’s programmes a success.
Vasanthakumari gave free performances for fund-raising
purposes not only abroad but in India also. It was her way of rendering
community service and, generally speaking, she did not care to receive
wide publicity for these efforts.
Vasanthakumari helped raise tons of money for various
charities and institutions. But, particularly since the 1960s, she managed
to spend more money than she earned.
Vasanthakumari was one of the very few musicians to
be straightaway accepted as a class artist. She did not have to climb to the
top laboriously, step by hard step.
Sruti E - Issue 17
4
GNB & MLV : Parallels and
Contrasts
It is astonishing how
much there was in common between
GNB and MLV in regard to their
achievements, disappointments and
behavioural characteristics.
There was, of course,
much in common in their music and styles
of singing, though there were differences
too. Both were creative artists, with an
intellectual bent of mind, and endowed
with a great sense of imagination. Both
were modem in their musical outlook,
but rooted firmly in tradition.
Neither master nor disciple was ever given the honour
of officially representing India abroad. In GNB’s days, there were no
festivals of India conducted abroad, Remarkably, master and disciple
shared some character traits. Thus:
l
Both were sincere to a fault.
l
Both, aware of their own faults, were their own critics.
18 Sruti E - Issue
They were also sensitive to—though not resentful of—criticism of their
music made by others.
l
Neither did harm to any musician or had the habit of
running down the capabilities of musicians.
lBoth encouraged their disciples and accompanists without
any reservation.
l Both were childlike in experiencing delight at receiving
gifts, even small gifts.
l
(Both were really ‘innocents abroad’, not really adept at
coping with the harsh realities and problems of life.)
l
Both were easily exploited.
l
Neither cared to amass material wealth; nor knew how to
do it. Both made money in great quantities, and let most of it slip through
their fingers.
l
GNB and MLV were both connected with educational
institutions. He was Principal of the Swati Tirunal College of Music in
Tiruvanantapuram; she taught music for many years in a school at Rishi
Valley near Madanapalle and for a short while at a college in Tirupati.
Interestingly there were some contrasts too.
l
MLV never displayed any stage-fright or nervousness
before beginning a concert. But her guru had a fear complex. He was
usually jittery before his musical engagements. Moreover, if he saw sitting
in the audience any worthy who was known to be hostile to his music, he
became upset.
l
GNB was a serious composer of classical music, a
vaggeyakara; MLV was not, even though she achieved success in scoring
the music for a dance-drama and setting to tune a few compositions.
l
GNB served All India Radio as a producer for some years.
MLV held no official positions with AIR.
Sruti E - Issue 19
l GNB wrote extensively on music. MLV did not, but she
had the honour of delivering addresses in at least a couple of university
convocations. She received an honorary doctoral degree; GNB did not.
lGNB and MLV were both associated with the cinema,
but there was a difference. He acted and sang in films but never had
an assignment as a playback singer. She was a playback singer. She was
signed to act in one film only—and she withdrew from it before it was
completed.
lGNB fathered a large family but none of his sons or
daughters became performing artists in any field, let alone music. MLV
was like a mother or sister to many and produced a son and a daughter
only. Daughter Srividya achieved a measure of success as a Bharatanatyam
dancer trained by the late K.N. Dandayudhapani Pillai, but was more
prominent as an actress in cinema and telefilms.
l Both GNB and MLV died relatively young. And about
both it can be said that their contribution to Carnatic music will survive
even the most hostile criticism.
20 Sruti E - Issue
MLV & Cinema
5
M.L. Vasanthakumari offered classy music in cinema.
She was signed up to act in Royal Talkie’s ‘Sudarsan’,
a film based on the life of the potter-saint Gorakhumba. Sundarrao
Nadkarni was the director of this film in which she was given the role of
the second wife of the hero portrayed by P.U. Chinnappa. But she chucked
the assignment after only 2000 feet of film had been shot—an act which
led to an unsuccessful damage suit against her. She told chronicler Randor
Guy that the reason for her withdrawing from the film—and giving up the
thought of ever again acting in films—was that she did not like what she
saw going on around and she felt there were expectations held which she
could not even think of meeting.
But MLV did have a successful association with films as
a playback singer, recording numerous songs. According to V.A.K. Ranga
Rao, almost every film music composer used her when a song required
her expertise.
The film for which she was first contracted to be
playback singer was ‘Rajamukti’ (1948). It was made by one-time singing
star M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavatar when, after he had undergone severe
trials.
Sruti E - Issue 21
Bhagavatar
himself played the lead role in
it. C.R. Subbaraman, the film’s
music director, in a conversation
with Alathur Venkatesa Iyer, said
MLV, who was already establishing
herself as a leading classical singer,
might sing the film’s songs since
it was Papanasam Sivan who had
composed them. The idea was well
received and, in the event, MLV
recorded some four songs—two
in tandem with Bhagavatar—at
the Prabhat Studios in Pune. The
actress for whom she lent her voice
was V.N. Janaki, who later became
the wife of actor-turned-politician
M.G. Ramachandran. The film flopped.
Over the next several years, MLV served as playback
singer for several more films. Among them: ‘Vazhkai’, ‘Manithan’,
‘Saudamini’, ‘Kannin Manigal’, ‘Parthiban Kanavu’, ‘Magane Kel’,
‘Inspector’, ‘Manamagal’ and ‘Meenda Sorgam’. She also sang for
Kannada language films like ‘Jatakaphala’, ‘Sree Purandaradasaru’ and
‘Hamsageethe’. A Malayalam film benefitting from her playback singing
was ‘Krishna Kuchela’, while some Hindi films too did so.
Some film songs she sang had the classical touch. An
example was Ellam inba mayam, a duet she sang with P. Leela. In this, the
twosome sang swara-s in ragamalika in typical kutcheri manner, as well as
in Simhendramadhyamam, the song’s raga. Another example: Aadaada
manamum undo, sung in Latangi.
Somewhat comparable was Adum arul jyoti which she
sang as a duet with Seerkazhi Govindarajan in ‘Meenda Sorgam’. The
makings of niraval could be discerned in its charanam line: ‘Ragam,
talam, bhavam, serndu Bharatakalai’.
22 Sruti E - Issue
According to one chronicler, what made MLV’s
voice first familiar to thousands of fans of film music was her singing of
Gopalanodu (Tamil) and its Telugu version Gopalaneeto for ‘Vazhkai’.
On the screen, it was Vyjayantimala who lipped the lyrics.
But Konjum purave (O, cooing dove), a copycat
version of Thandi havayen, sung originally in Hindi by Lata Mangeshkar
in a mixture of Behag and Yaman cannot be given any less credit. MLV
recorded it for V. Nagiah’s ‘Thai Ullam’. With the lilt of its melody and
rhythm, it has remained a perennial favourite.
Perhaps the last playback assignment she accepted was
to sing for a dance sequence in ‘Hamsageethe’, for which the music was
scored by M. Balamuralikrishna. She sang a string of ashtapadi-s—as
did B.K. Sumitra and Balamuralikrishna himself. The raga-s used were
Hamsadhvani, Athana and Reetigoula. For the same film she also sang a
two-line bit in Hindolam.
Many of the songs MLV sang for dance sequences
in films have entered the repertoire of Bharatanatyam artists. Among
them: Chinnanchiru kiliye, a Bharati song tuned in five raga-s by
C.R. Subbaraman for ‘Manamagal’, and the Dasavataram song, Parkadal
alai mele, composed in as many raga-s by G. Ramanathan for ‘Raja
Desingu’.
The musical and literary content of songs MLV
rendered for dance sequences can measure up to any song currently in
the Bharatanatyam repertoire.
If Vasanthakumari wanted to learn and present in her
own concerts a new item—a rare composition, for example—she had
heard or been told about, she would first obtain a tape recording of the
same or the notation for it. Then, even while she learned it, she would get
the violinist and the disciples accompanying her in her concerts to learn
it. Sometimes she and the others would all learn it together, because of
MLV’s wish to present the item in an upcoming programme. This happened
when MLV wanted to learn and sing Muthuswami Dikshitar’s chaturdasa
ragamalika. She wished to sing it in a concert at Madurai. She obtained
Sruti E - Issue 23
the notation for the composition from Charumathi Ramachandran before
entraining for Madurai. She and her associates learnt the composition in
the morning and presented it in the evening concert. The ‘making ready’
of the difficult composition was completed in one stretch of three and a
half hours.
Vasanthakumari did not hesitate to discuss with her coartists the musical features of her concerts. There was no sleep for any of
them after a concert was concluded, until MLV reviewed the concert,
welcomed criticisms of it and discussed the thoughts arising tangentially
from it. On such occasions, her colleagues felt grateful to be exposed to
the wealth of her knowledge, which she refused to parade publicly.
Vasanthakumari understood, perhaps like few other
musicians did, the need for the principal singer and her accompanists
in a Carnatic music concert to work together for its success. She felt
that the singer should be concerned, not about his or her own personal
achievement, but about the music being produced by all of them together.
She did not want any competition between the co-performers, nor any
challenges. She abhorred any unseemly show of temper or of negative
feelings on the stage. Frowning or even gritting the teeth was a no-no.
MLV strictly followed a policy she devised for herself,
which was never to record an item already meritoriously recorded by
another artist. A
number of companies
requested
her
to
record Venkateswara
Suprabhatam, and they
were willing to pay her
handsomely but she did
not oblige. Her answer
was: “Venkateswara
Suprabhatam
is
linked so closely with
M.S. Subbulakshmi’s
recording of it that it
24 Sruti E - Issue
is hers now. No matter how well anyone else may sing it, MS’s recording
cannot be excelled.” Similarly she didn’t wish to record Rangapura vihara
and Bhaja Govindam, songs on which MS had put her stamp. Even in
concerts she did not sing Rangapura vihara except in response to a specific
request, but even then, she obliged only in wedding concerts where she
felt a refusal would not be appropriate.
Vasanthakumari was a great artist and a dedicated
teacher. More, she was a great human being. The adjectives that seem apt
to describe her qualities as a human being include: affectionate, outgoing,
and warm-hearted.
Remarkably for an artist, she was free of ego and devoid
of bitterness. Tragically, she died at the age of only 62—on 31 October
1990.
Her music will, however, live.
Sruti E - Issue 25
Some Personal Glimpses
6
What set Vasanthakumari the musician apart was her
sense of imagination, her spirit of adventure. She galloped through the
music scene like a Joan of Arc, putting the philistines to the sword.
Sulochana Pattabhiraman:
“Vasanthakumari was and truly a Joan of Arc of Carnatic
music, for she daringly entered areas which most others feared to tread.
Her mastery was of course abundantly evident in her
presentation of the major raga-s. If Todi is the king of raga-s, she was the
Queen that brought its regal splendour to the fore. Her presentation,
kaleidoscopic , revealed the raga’s majestic grace and its splendour in all
its brilliant hues.
She showed rare talent and courage, however, in presenting
full-blown alapana-s of raga-s like Andolika, Mohana Kalyani, Saramati
and Sivasakti. While a rasika would listen wondering how she could sing
complicated janya raga-s like these so effectively, without any repetition of
musical phrases, she would romp along as if it were mere child’s play.
The spirit of adventure and the daring were evident
also in her choice of raga-s for ragam-tanam-pallavi. In addition to the
26 Sruti E - Issue
generally preferred ones, she selected such raga-s like Amritavarshini,
Chandrakauns, Gamanasramam and Kalyanavasantam.”
M S Subbulakshmi:
created
a
big
“The
void
demise
in the
of
M.L.
Vasanthakumari
world of music. There was
mellifluousness in her singing,
refinement in her bani and the
pleasantness of spring in her
taste. All praiseworthy aspects
were present in her music.
It is no
exaggeration to say that she
was responsible for bringing
to light the devarnama-s of
Purandaradasa and other
dasa-s of Karnataka.
Her personal qualities were as good as her music. She
had the innate capacity to be nice and friendly to everyone.”
D K Pattammal:
“I knew Vasanthakumari from the time she was a small
girl. She was fond of me and called me Patta.
I remember an incident relating to the time she
received the award of Sangita Kalanidhi from the Music Academy. As
usual, a citation was to be presented and Vasanthi insisted that I should
do it. But on the day of the sadas or convocation, I was down with flu.
My husband had gone to the morning session on that day and Vasanthi
told him: “I’m looking forward to Patta reading the citation today at the
sadas. I’ll cherish her blessings.” He replied: “I’m afraid it’s not going to
be possible. Patta is suffering from fever.” Vasanthi expressed her desire
that I should come at least for a few minutes, just present the birudu to
her and go back home.
Sruti E - Issue 27
I had been having high temperature up to that morning
but by the afternoon the reading was down to 100 degrees. Yet my husband
couldn’t see how I could attend the convocation. Vasanthi called the
Academy at 2 pm and she was told that it would be difficult for me to
attend and was asked if someone else could be fixed up. She demurred.
Then she rode down to my
house immediately and
said to me: “Patta, I know
I’m disturbing you. You’re
running temperature but
I need your asirvadam
today more than at any
other time. You must come
and read the citation.” I
couldn’t refuse—it was
such an affectionate call. I
went to read the citation,
saw her receive the award
and returned home.
Vasanthi had high regard for me as the premier lady
artist who set the trend for many ladies to follow. In our youth a lady
singer was supposed to sing plain songs, concentrate on sruti suddham
and avoid ‘technical’ aspects like the pallavi. Vasanthi frequently said:
“Patta was the first person to break the barrier and sing pallavi-s. We are
only following in her foot-steps.” She was fond of my music and I was told
she even learnt some songs from music I had recorded.
Vasanthi belonged to the GNB school, but she created
a ‘Vasanthakumari bani’. She was a very intelligent musician. I’ve heard
her concerts and I like her music. She has taught scores of disciples and
has created an impressive band of sishya-s.”
Mani Krishnaswami:
“It was on a gramophone record, many years ago, that
I heard MLV Akka sing the Todi kriti, Sarasijanabhamurare, and I was
28 Sruti E - Issue
absolutely thrilled—a thrill I felt each time I attended one of her recitals
since then. At that time I could not handle the sangati-s of that song
but, through assiduous practice, I mastered them and sang the kriti to my
parents who were highly pleased.
Her concerts always started with a bang, and even if there
were some initial difficulties she overcame them by her almost magical
prowess, and rose to superlative heights. She had an uncanny knowledge
of the interests of her audiences, and would provide appropriate fare for
all cross-sections in the audience, thus revealing her versatility and the
variety of her repertoire. She was an expert in never letting a concert flag.
She had absolute pitch, and she gave one the desire to try to emulate
her singing. Her flights of fancy, her masterly ability to make the listener
totally engrossed in her singing, … one did not know which to admire
more, one just admired the totality of her music. The effect of her musicmaking was such that one listened to it totally absorbed, in a trance-like
state.”
S Krishnan:
“M.L. Vasanthakumari taught only kriti-s and other
types of compositions explicitly to disciples, not raga-s and swara-s. She
believed in manodharma sangeeta and expected the disciples to absorb
raga-s singing and swaraprastara knowledge by listening to her singing, by
concentrating on how she developed these aspects in her concerts while
sharing the platform with her. She used to tell her disciples: “You aren’t
sitting there on the platform to look at the public. You should observe
carefully and absorb anything good that is sung and presented. You should
not dwell upon any mistake I might commit—just note it and ensure that
you don’t make the same mistake. Thus she taught raga-s by example and
demonstration. Only for teaching compositions did she conduct lesson
sessions.”
A Kanyakumari:
“My first exposure to MLV’s music was in Vizianagaram
when the music college invited her to sing at its golden jubilee celebrations.
Sruti E - Issue 29
This was in 1963 or 64. She sang the Andolika raga and I was so profoundly
impressed that—since I was already in training to become a violinist—I
started dreaming: “How great would it be if I could play for this artist!”
It was a ridiculous dream considering both the physical distance between
Vizianagaram and Madras and the musical distance between me, with an
‘L’ board hanging around my neck, and the acknowledged maestro that
MLV was.
In Madras, I started to receive advanced instruction in
violin-playing from vidwan M. Chandrashekaran.
Trivellore Subramaniam was the stock violinist for
MLV then. Thanks to Charu’s mother, I got a chance to play with MLV
at a wedding concert for which Subramaniam was not available. After the
concert ended, MLV merely said: “Ah, it [your accompaniment] was all
right.” My Tamil was not very good then and I didn’t say anything I think,
except “thanks”.
In those days—in the early seventies—All India Radio’s
National Programme of Music used to be conducted before an invited
audience in New Delhi. This programme was to take place only a couple
of months after I’d started playing for Akka. She had suggested that I
provide the violin accompaniment but the authorities had replied that I
was yet in B grade and asked if Akka could suggest someone else. Akka
said the accompaniment could not be changed, and she would rather not
have the programme if AIR insisted on a change. The authorities must
have been nonplussed getting a response like that from a major artist.
They finally agreed to include me. It was this kind of encouragement that
Akka gave me that has made me what I am today.”
AEOLUS (S V Seshadri)
“M.L. Vasanthakumar’s voice at its clearest has the
heady tang of the cold morning breeze or of fresh spring water. MLV is
intelligent enough to put her voice to the fullest use. She can be as brash
as a sunflower, as firm as a tulip and as delicate as a rose. Alone among
the women singers, she has a male cast of mind, and wears armour of her
scholarship with the ease and nonchalance of the Maid of Orleans. She is
30 Sruti E - Issue
an adventurer, accepting the accidents and opportunities of the highway
with a laughing unconcern that would have stood her in good stead in
a picaresque novel. In ancient Greece, she might have been a votary of
Artemis, springing to follow the Greek goddess in her nocturnal chase
through the woods. The comparison may not be mere conceit; for in the
swaraprastara, MLV displays the practised aim of a dexterous archer. Swift
and unerring, the swara-s fly with a feathered grace and hit the bull’s eye
ten times out of ten. Pundits are never tired of equating her unconcern
with flippancy, her laughter with scoffing and her freedom with apostacy.
To them, MLV has only one answer. It is the joy she derives from the
exercise of her swift and penetrating mind.
It was in Sruti that it was first stated that M.S.
Subbulakshmi, D.K. Pattammal and M.L. Vasanthakumar constituted
“the female trinity” of Carnatic classical music. The article (Sruti 41)
went on: “…in a sense, each represents a certain aspect of Carnatic music,
though none is wanting in any of the aspects. Subbulakshmi, of course,
symbolizes bhakti. It would be most appropriate to say that Pattammal
is an embodiment of aacharam; though she blazed a trail as a woman
singer with so-called manly virtues, she has been a constant custodian
of what is best in tradition. And none would deny that the outstanding
characteristic of MLV’s music has been buddhi or intellect. The three
sisters of song have indeed most successfully projected, each in a unique
way, the three significant faces of our musical heritage.
Sangita Kalanidhi M.L. Vasanthakumari, bridging the
past and the present, offers in her singing, especially of ragam-tanampallavi, music which is truly a phenomenon of the mind. As in the case
of G.N. Balasubramaniam, her master, intellect dominates but it does so
without elbowing out emotion.
“Interestingly, although Vasanthakumari is not widely
regarded as a pallavi specialist, it is in the rendering of ragam-tanampallavi she shines most. This is the case perhaps because she finds greater
scope for intellect-led imagination in raga elaboration and swaraprastara
than in the rendering of kriti-s. In regard to the latter, with exceptions, she
is generally ‘acceptable to good’—the usual exceptions being the lighter
Sruti E - Issue 31
compositions of Purandaradasa and some modem composers in singing
which she succeeds admirably in bringing out their lyrical beauty—but in
the elaboration of raga-s and in kalpana swara, she has few equals.
Vasanthakumari’s raga delineation is marked by the
same step-by-step development that was patented by her guru. There is in
it not only technical mastery but also an orderliness, a cool sophistication
that eschews sentimentality, an adventuresome probing of the deeper
aspects and an innovativeness rooted in tradition. Her capacity for niraval,
which she executes with felicitous ease, is outstanding. Her technical
mastery is further revealed in the srutibhedam where, in the course of the
alapana, she transposes the notes of the scale of the raga to a different set
of positions, thus creating a complementary melodic image. Srutibhedam
is somewhat puzzling and disconcerting to the uninitiated and may give
rise to the impression that the musician is drifting off the chosen raga, but
Vasanthakumari takes the risk and executes srutibhedam nonchalantly if
excessively. She is nothing if she is not bold.”
Excerpts from an analysis published in Sruti in 1984:
“At one time, Vasanthakumari’s raga alapana was
dominated by speed and an exuberant use of briga-s, but she makes
more restrained use of these elements these days, perhaps a reflection
of greater maturity as well as a diminished dexterity of the vocal chords.
This latter fact perhaps underlies another—but not so welcome—aspect
of her raga alapana today. She strains as she reaches the upper register
and the progression to the panchama is often marked by a certain
repetitiveness. On such occasions, she recalls to our mind the circling
of an aircraft, in a holding pattern, while waiting to land. While she is
in this holding pattern, the short, staccato phrases which characterize
her alapana and which suit her method of raga development, suddenly
acquire the tedious quality of a dissertation on the difference between
tweedledum and tweedledee. However, when she is not over-tired from
giving too many recitals in a row—this happens because, teaching as she
does at the Rishi Valley School, there’s a crowding of engagements during
the holidays—when she is at her best, she offers alapana-s which compel
our admiration and covet our hearts as well as our minds. Usually, each
recital of Vasanthakumari’s contains at least one such offering. We recall,
32 Sruti E - Issue
for example, a superb Saveri at a recital presented by the Music Circle in
Madras; an outstanding Devamanohari, a speciality of hers, at a club date
at the Madras Indian Institute of Technology; and a Todi, a Bhairavi, a
Subhapantuvarali and a couple of versions of Mohana Kalyani at other
recitals.
In these days of tanam in a trice, Vasanthakumari’s
rendering of this item is like water to parched lips. Not only does she
offer more than a token tanam, she does full justice to it in a spirited
fashion. And while not many women musicians sing tanam well, she does.
Particularly noteworthy is her tanam for the ghana raga panchakam—
Nata, Goula, Arabhi, Varali and Sree—which she sings literally forwards
and backwards.
Vasanthakumari is impressive in singing pallavi-s in
complicated rhythmic patterns (e.g. sankeerna nadai, pancha nadai, 6 and
4-kalai-s) as well as simpler tala-s (e.g., Misra Chapu). And she sings in many
raga-s. Outstanding pallavi-s we would like to draw attention to include
Mal maruga Guha Saravanabhava in Bhairavi raga and Eka tala which she
presented at the Madras Music Academy in 1977, handling the niraval
in the complicated pancha nadai with remarkable skill and artistry; Un
darisanam kidaikkumo Nataraja dayanidhe in Kalyani and Misra Chapu,
which she presented at the Rasika Ranjani Sabha in Mylapore a couple
of years ago and earlier in New York; Neeve gati ani nammiti in Saveri
and Misra Jhampa
at the Sri Krishna
Gana Sabha in
Madras in 1983;
and Nandagopala
Mukunda
in
Bhairavi and Tisra
Triputa which she
demonstrated at the
Gayana Samaj in
Bangalore not long
ago. Interesting for
its technical aspect
Sruti E - Issue 33
but not so appealing to the ear is Idu nalla samayame, Devamanohariye
in Devamanohari which she rendered at the IIT, Madras. In this pallavi,
her enunciation of words is very harsh, needed perhaps for the purpose of
emphasizing rhythm, and melody takes a back seat.
As in alapana, so too in swaraprastara Vasanthakumari
reveals her capacity for originality and imagination. Her kalpana swara-s
are notable for their fluid grace and their interesting combinations. They
are usually in sarva laghu and not technically complicated, but they are
unpremeditated products of a fertile imagination, making it difficult for
accompanists to follow. Most thrilling are the ragamalika swara-s she
often sings as part of ragam-tanarn-pallavi. The choice of the raga-s
and swara combinations both are obviously spontaneous, adding to the
effect on the listeners. In these lovely garlands, she pleats together such
classically traditional raga-s as Kanada, Kedaram, Yadukulakambhoji and
Sahana, as also off-beat raga-s and raga-s with a Hindustani accent, like
Tilang, Revati, Sindhubhairavi, Kalavati, Chandrakauns, Bhavani and
Sekharachandrika the last-named is a variant of Subhapantuvarali, minus
the latter’s pa.
Again, as in raga alapana, so in swarasprastara too
Vasanthakumari shows a penchant for srutibhedam, or grahabhedam as it
is also called. Here she adds a twist, by revealing the outline of a different
raga while executing the grahabhedam in one. For example, when she is
singing swara-s in Revati, using sa-ri-ma-pa-ni-sa—she sings sa-ga-madha-ni-sa, starting on the ri of Revati while executing the grahabhedam.
The result is a brief switch from Revati to Sunadavinodini—truly
producing a pleasant sound (sunada) in a novel mode (vinodini).
It is in comparison to the superior quality of her raga
elaboration and swara-singing that Vasanthakumari’s rendering of sahityas appears, by and large, to be nothing more than merely competent. On
occasion, she invests it also with a superior quality. One example that
comes to mind is her rendering of Darini in Suddha Saveri in which she
sings the opening line, piling sangati upon sangati, in a most thrilling
fashion. It is however in singing the compositions of Purandaradasa, to
which she has devoted years of study, she projects a special feeling that
34 Sruti E - Issue
invariably carries to the listener. Those who know Kannada are often
moved to tears by the ugaboga—the narrative verses—she sings as
a prelude to the devamama-s of the pathfinder of Carnatic music. An
example of this is Ninnantha Swami prefacing Yake nirdaya nadiyo in
Subhapantuvarali. Other favourite compositions carrying the stamp of
Vitthala are: Narayana in Suddha Dhanyasi, Innudaya barade in Kalyana
Vasantam; and Neene anada bandhu in Nadanamakriya.
Vasanthakumari’s repertoire includes, of course, a large
number of the compositions of the Trinity. It also includes a selection of
kriti-s by latter-day composers, especially those of Papanasam Sivan,
Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar and her guru G.N. Balasubramaniam.
Among contemporary composers represented in it are Ambujam Krishna,
R. Venugopal, Periasami Thooran and Lalgudi Jayaraman with his tillana-s.
Vasanthakumari’s kutcheri format accommodates,
besides ragam-tanam-pallavi, the usual items like vamam; a kriti in a
weighty raga such as Sankarabharanam, Kalyani, Bhairavi, Kambhoji,
Todi or Kharaharapriya; a contrasting and less elaborately rendered
kriti in Amritavarshini, Mohanam, Arabhi, Andolika, Hindolam or
Poorvikalyani; some lighter compositions following the main item; and
a tillana to be sure. She leaves a more lasting and pleasant impression
behind when she ends the recital with a viruttam in ragamalika, such as
Oru taram Saravanabhava emu.
Tired blood is the phrase we have used to describe the
reason for great musicians failing adequately to draw on their immense
musical resources in planning and fulfilling concert engagements. It is a
syndrome which seems to afflict a number of our senior musicians today.
Although this may partly be the case with Vasanthakumari also, we need
not perhaps feel too dispirited because she does offer, for the better part
of each programme, music that challenges our imagination. That’s more
than what one can say about many others, especially those musicians of
the succeeding generations.”
Sruti E - Issue 35
36 Sruti E - Issue
Sruti E - Issue 37