Section Synopsis (May 2006)

NEWS & NOTES

VEENA ARPANA: NATIONAL VEENA FESTIVAL -MANNA SRINIVASAN  & MANJARI SINHA

The four-fold classification of musical instruments generally starts with the chordophonic/string group, though the percussion and the wind instruments may have earlier antiquity, even in the matter of 'divine association'. Veena has become the generic term for this category in the Indian tradition. It is this instrument that has the privilege of being held by the Goddess of Learning. This could be an indicator of the primacy of strings for purposes of musicology like the principles and precise demonstration of the 'sruti' concept, its varieties and many other aspects and nuances. Every pioneer in musicology, from the ancient 'Trinity' of Narada, Hanuman and Ravana, is associated with expertise in the stringed instrument. The oft-quoted verse of Sage Yagnavalkya, "Veena vaadana tatvagnyah srutijati visaaradah", indicates the exalted place for the 'string' group in the Indian perspective, the spiritual pursuit with 'moksha margam' as the goal.

What if the main concern is the 'kutcheri margam'?

In the Tamil music tradition also, the close linkage of 'Yazh' isai and 'Ezh' isai (the seven-note music) has often been referred to. The hymn of the Tevaram saint-singer Appar, Maasil veenaiyum, refers to the benevolent quality of faultless music from this instrument. Conceptual and esoteric significance is attributed to the structure and design, the components and the placements and also the materials used, in respect of the veena. The veena / yazh variety has always been the main melodic accompaniment for vedic chanting and vocal music through the ages.

Yet, as is often pointed out, if not lamented, the fortunes of this category-- the plucked variety-- as a primary instrument of melody seem to have declined in recent times in the concert circuit in art music, the main criterion in contemporary evaluation and discussions. Often, the relative 'decline' of the veena is contrasted to the growth of the violin in Carnatic music. It is interesting that the pioneering contribution in adapting the violin is attributed to two persons, Baluswami Dikshitar, brother of Muthuswami Dikshitar and Vadivelu of the Tanjavur Quartet, a disciple of the latter while, among the 'Tiruvarur Trinity', it is Muthuswami Dikshitar who is associated more with musicology and identified with the veena. Does this indicate the relative position of the two instruments for purposes of lakshya and lakshana?

The growth of public concerts including Harikatha presentations in a big way from the latter half of the 19th century, added further to the prospects of the violin, which was the preferred accompaniment. Even the tradition-oriented Music Academy chose a vainika-- Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer-- for conferring the award of Sangeeta Kalanidhi only a decade after bestowing it on a violin vidwan-- Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu. Also, in the full list of Kalanidhi-s, violinists feature ten times against five (including one lone gottuvadyam) from the veena family. In the Hindustani stream also, the traditional Rudra veena has become a rare instrument while the sitar and the sarod have made much headway.

In this context, many factors are of relevance. Mainly they relate to the limitations of the stringed group, particularly with reference to vocal music, often mentioned as the 'goal of all arts'. The 'maadhuryam' of 'vaak' is glorified in the Saundaryalahari verse Vipanchya gaayanti' which narrates how the sweetness of one word of appreciation uttered by Devi ("chalitasirasa saadhu vachane") so impressed Saraswati that the latter stopped her veena playing and covered the instrument. Again, in the legend of the Tevaram saint-singer, Tirugnanasambandar, the episode of 'Yazhmuri' indicates the relative limitations of the stringed instrument in keeping pace with the imaginative expressions and nuances in vocal renditions.

Again, due to the difficulties in attaining mastery and tapping the full potential of this instrument, the equipment and accomplishment of the majority of the performing artists is generally inadequate, affecting the emotional content and evocative quality of the music produced, particularly sahitya bhava.

Besides, there are other practical problems, including logistical, from the professional aspect. In recent times, attempts have been made to incorporate changes relating to structure, shape, size, the strings, etc. These have evoked a mixed response.

In Chennai -MANNA SRINIVASAN

The Veena Foundation set up in Delhi, is the brainchild of Raghurama Ayyar, a votary with extraordinary passion, concern and drive for the revival of interest in the veena. In collaboration with the Foundation for National Integration through Arts and Culture, headed by Dr. L.M. Singhvi, the Veena Foundation has planned a series of festivals at different centres to promote the cause of the veena.

The first National Festival of Veena was held in Chennai from the 28th to the 30th of October 2005, in collaboration with the Narada Gana Sabha, Mudhra and the Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha. Karnataka Sangeetha Sabha of New Delhi, was also associated.

After the initial introduction by Radha Bhaskar, the function was formally inaugurated with the lighting of the traditional lamp by dignitaries led by Justice K.S. Bhaktavatsalam, including Padma Subrahmanyam, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, Kasinathan (Commissioner, Culture, Govt. of Tamil Nadu), Rajeswari Padmanabhan and V. Raghurama Ayyar. Sama Veda chanting followed.

The first "veena offering" in the `Veenarpana Festival' was by Saraswati Rajagopalan from Delhi, working in the AIR; she started, appropriately, with tanam in Ghanaraga Panchakam and later rendered Sree Saraswati namostute in Arabhi.

Special honours comprising a medal, a cash purse and a certificate of merit, were conferred on Vidya Shankar, Pitchumani Iyer and Kalpagam Swaminathan, leading exponents of the veena in Chennai.

In his welcome address, Raghurama Ayyar referred, among other things, to the antiquity of the instrument and its distinction as a quintessential symbol of an acoustic vehicle for spiritual pursuit.

In his inaugural speech in Tamil, Justice Bhaktavatsalam drew attention to the declining interest in the veena, glorified in the past by savants like Appar and by sages like the Paramacharya in the recent past. He made reference to Ravana's proficiency in playing on the instrument. He paid tribute to the memory of the great veena artist of our times-Dhanammal-- who was an institution in herself. The Commissioner, Culture, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, stated that facilities for teaching veena playing had been made available in the Govt. Music Colleges in the State. Mementos to all awardees and participants were presented on behalf of the State govt.

Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan referred to stalwarts like the Karaikudi Brothers-- Subbarama Iyer and Sambasiva Iyer, Devakottai Narayana Iyengar and Mysore Venkatagiriappa who created waves with the veena. He pointed out that along with nagaswara - tavil, the veena was also part of temple music.

President Abdul Kalam who is deeply interested, and proficient in the veena, had sent a message that ran as follows:

"The veena represents the confluence of the science of musical sounds and the philosophy of harmony and tranquility. Its divine music has the power to direct the mind of the listener towards spirituality. In this material world, music is like a balm, which soothes stressed minds and brings people together."

Veena concerts by a number of votaries took place over three days, the venues being the Narada Gana Sabha on the first two days and Vani Mahal on the third day. Those who participated included the octogenarian doyenne of the veena world in Chennai, Vidya Shankar, the veteran Kalpagam Swaminathan, famous ractitioners like Rajeswari Padmanabhan, E. Gayathri, Karaikudi Subramaniam and Padmavathi Ananthagopalan and representatives of the younger generation like S.P. Ramh, B. Kannan, S. Sundar and S. Srinivasan. Others were Revathi Krishna, Geetha Krishnamurthi, Hemalata Mani, Tiruchi Sivakumar, Kalyani Ganesan, Jayalakshmi Sekhar, Shyamala Sajnani, R.S. Jayalakshmi and Saraswathi Rajagopalan. The performances reflected different styles and varied levels of equip-ment and proficiency, in music-making and in veena playing.

Two sessions were devoted to a seminar and lecture demonstrations. These were chaired and moderated by Dr. V.V. Srivatsa and proved very illuminating. The participants included Dr. Vidya Shankar, Dr. S.A.K. Durga, Dr. R.S. Jayalakshmi, E. Gayathri and Dr. Kausalya (Principal, Government Music College, Tiruvaiyaru).

Srivatsa pointed out that the Sangeeta Makaranda mentions the veena being part of the orchestra for Siva's dance. Many scriptures and treatises like Taitriya Samhita, Natya Sastra, Brhaddesi, and Sangeeta Ratnakara refer to the veena. He said that the sublime sound of the veena was the nearest approximation to the human voice. It's effectiveness in rendering gamaka-s is referred to in the Dikshitar kriti Meenakshi me mudam ("Veenagana dasagamakakriye") and in Sarangadeva's verse Darsana sparsana. Various names have been given to the veena types associated with different divinities. Venkatamakhin refers to three types of veena according to the features, plucking methods, etc. Srivatsa pointed out that different styles and schools had evolved in veena playing in the South-- Tanjavur, Andhra (Vizag / Bobbili), Mysore (as developed by Venkatagiriappa), and Travancore (as developed by Venkatadri Bhagavatar). He referred to kriti-s dedicated to the veena like Sree veena in Kalyani with lyrics by Satyanarayana, and Naa nota nee mata by Devulapalli Krishna Sastri.

Vidya Shankar spoke with authority on points like importance of the sitting posture; the structure of the veena; the spread and splitting of fingers; and fingering technique with reference to adjacent swara-s. She stressed that the basics should be learnt vocally to begin with.

S.A.K. Durga made the point that the term veena was used in a generic sense in early days to refer to harp types, bar lute, and the lute. The veena was an excellent medium to prove many concepts and theories like 22 sruti-s, melakarta, gamaka, etc. The strings could be tuned to grama-moorchana / shadja-madhyama, through modal shifts. Sarangadeva refers to the two-octave, fretted 'kinnari' veena with 12 swarasthana-s; and Raghunatha Nayak developed the 24-fretted veena. Durga's disciple, Shobana, demonstrated the melakarta raga-s.

Dr. R.S. Jayalakshmi spoke about the scope for the 'manodharma' aspects-- ragam, tanam, niraval and kalpana swara and said that the 'tanam' was very essential in veena playing. There were varieties like chitta tanam (referred to in the Sangeeta Sampradaya Pradarsini); suddha tanam (with pure notes); and koota / vakra tanam. The 'tayam' referred to in the Swara Mela Kalanidhi, according to her, was tanam with notation. She quoted from Prof. Sambamoorthy's book, regarding madhyama kala (medium tempo) and ghanam (weight and forcefulness) in tanam. She spoke in detail about the difference in the playing of 'ragam' and 'tanam' on the veena and demonstrated an interesting method developed by her to teach tanam-playing.

E. Gayathri referred to the spiritual aspects of the veena, its structural parallels with the human anatomy-- the dandi being similar to the spinal cord. She said that she had no illusion that she was 'promoting' the veena. On the other hand, she was "promoted by the veena".

Details regarding the manufacture and crafting of the veena were explained in a paper presented by Rajasri, lecturer in the Music Dept. of the Madras University.

Dr. R. Kausalya, dealt with the problems of the institutional system of teaching which has now replaced the 'gurukulam' method.

The proceedings of the festival were recorded by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi, through its regional set up in Bengalooru.

It is to be noted that some talented young artists, with the necessary commitment, have succeeded in retrieving the position of the sarangi sidelined by the harmonium in Hindustani music. There is a lesson in this. The need is for a strategy to revive the veena.

In Delhi -MANJARI SINHA

An embodiment of auspiciousness and prosperity, the veena represents the cultural ethos of India. This oldest Indian instrument adorning the hands of the Goddess of Learning, veena is the mother of all string instruments and the symbol of the fundamental unity and continuity of music in South and North India. To celebrate the spirituality and musicality of the veena and to restore the pride of place of the veena tradition in Indian music, the Veena Foundation in collaboration with the Indian Council Of Cultural Relations (ICCR), the India International Centre (IIC) and the Karnataka Sangeeta Sabha, organised a two-day national festival of veena at the IIC under the auspices of Bharatiya Ekta Evam Vikas Pratishthan (the Foundation for National Integration through Art and Culture).

Notwithstanding all the good intentions and objectives, the festival started well after the scheduled time. Dr. L.M. Singhvi, Chairman of The Veena Foundation, spoke at length about the tradition of veena as the ancient heritage of India, and about his dream of a veena festival that had come true. The enthusiastic audience who had come to listen to the veena recitals protested against more speeches when the chief guest B.L. Joshi, Lt. Governor of Delhi came to the mike after inaugurating the Veena Festival. He also agreed with the audience that he himself wanted the veena recitals and not his own speech, and, just recited the Saraswati Vandana Ya kundendu tushaarahara to flag off the festival.

Bahauddin Dagar gave a flying start to the festival with raga Patdeep on his Rudra veena representing the traditional Dagar Bani. Recently awarded the prestigious Sanskriti Samman, Bahauddin Dagar is the gifted son and disciple of the Rudra veena maestro the late Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. The 'dheer-gambheer' sonorous tonal quality of his Rudra veena itself was remarkable. The detailed treatment of the afternoon raga in the alap - jod sequence, specially the gamaka ang in the mandra saptak was riveting. It was followed by a dhrupad composition in Chautaal, a 14-beat cycle that was ably played by Manmohan Nayak who accompanied him on the pakhawaj.

Suma Sudhindra was the next performer, playing on her modern innovation of the Tarangini veena. An exponent of the Emani-Chittibabu style, Suma is a disciple of the late Chittibabu. The Tarangini veena has a short dandi for better reach in faster taan-s she claims, but the imbalance in its shape and the shrilled twang in its sound created a somewhat negative effect. She did not even bother to tune the veena before starting her concert. She played a kriti in raga Nalinakanti and concluded with raga Simhendramadhyamam. She was accompanied on the mridanga by Prem Kumar and on the ghata by Vishnu.

Saraswati Rajagopalan came next to play on the Saraswati veena. She rendered a reposeful alapana followed by tanam, like the alap-jod of Hindustani style, in raga Dharmavati, creating the tuneful background for a composition of Mysore Vasudevacharya that followed in Roopaka tala of six-beat cycle. Her immaculate skill and imaginative manodharma made a tremendous impact. Another impressive artist in the Carnatic style was Ganesh who came all the way from Chennai to play his chitraveena for hardly ten minutes. He played the sublime swarajati of Syama Sastry in raga Bhairavi and a Swati Tirunal javali in raga Bihag and proved that music is all about sensitivity and aesthetic sense; and that one can beautifully display it even in a short recital.

Ajit Singh and Mustafa Raza played raga Yaman and Charukesi respectively on the vichitra veena in Hindustani style, accompanied by Hashmat Ali Khan on the tabla. The inaugural evening concluded with the enchanting chitraveena recital by P. Ganesh as "Madhurena samaapayeta".

The second day was devoted to promote young amateur musicians, many of whom participated. There should have been some screening to maintain a certain standard and avoid mediocrity! A talented member of the Hamsavahini Veena Quartet, Geeta Mohan seemed up to the mark as she played Giriraja suta, a piece in Suddha Bangala and a detailed alapana in the melodious Abheri.

The programme was conceived with the best of intentions, but seemed to be highly disorganised. The valedictory address and the concluding speeches again talked about spirituality, but one should realise that it is evoked only by sublime music, with utmost "sruti suddhata", which was missing most of the time in the two-day long `Veena Arpana' festival programmes. The festival was made a success by the enthusiastic response of the people who came in large numbers on both the days.
 

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