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TAMIL MUSIC
- தமிழ் இசை
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"...தமிழன் சொந்தத் தாய்மொழிச் சொல்லில்
இசையைக் கேட்க இச்சை கொள்வதே
'தமிழிசை' என்பதன் தத்துவ மாகும்..."
Nammakal
Kavijnar
"..In consideration of the tremendous original contribution of the ancient Thamizh people
to the development of isait Tamizh, the least we can do to recognize their efforts is to
present their ideas in a simple form which can be understood by ordinary people. Mere
references to mutthamiz (முத்தமிழ்)
alone is not adequate to convince the world that Thamizh
music traditions go way back to the fifth century A.D. or
even earlier..."
Dr.C.R.Krishnamurthy on இசைத் தமிழ்: Tamil Music
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Tamil music is sometimes categorised into Devotional, Classical and
Popular Folk music. Rythms of popular folk music express a vitality which stems from the
closeness of its contact with the life of a people. Classical music deepens and refines
these associations with life and its moving ragas and melodies have withstood the passage
of time and remain almost timeless. Finally, the devotional music of the Tamil people,
gives expression to the ecstasy that comes from transcending our fragmented and partial
self and becoming one with that which is whole and therefore holy.
The
musical traditions that have developed amongst the Tamil people have also been influenced
by the differing origins and languages of the peoples of the Indian sub continent.
Carnatic classical music is related to speakers of the Dravidian group of languages.
In the South Indian Classical
Music website, Dr.K.Srinivasan
refers to the origin of the word Carnatic music. He points
out:
| "The name Carnatic music refers to the traditional music of a region called
Carnatic. All books on recent Indian history note that before British rule, the kingdoms
in South India were: Travancore - most of today's Kerala, Mysore - the southern part of
today's Karnataka excluding the west coast, and Carnatic- most of South India. (almost the
same as Madras State of the 1950s i.e. all of today's Tamil Nadu, southern Andhra and some
neighboring areas). When the Carnatic kingdom came under British control, they renamed it
Madras Presidency. They also renamed the town of Chennai patnam as Madras City... see
Encyclopedia Britannica for a map of Carnatic.... ...Tamil 'Nadu' is also often called as Tamil 'agam'. 'Karu' means black and also means
central. 'naadu' means country and 'agam' means home. Thus Karunaadu meant central
country, as well as black (people) country. The name 'karu naad agam' got anglicized to
'Carnatic' state. In Tamil, the word karunaadagam is still used. The British renamed the
territory as Madras. The music of karunaadagam was called karunaadaga isai..."
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Dr.Srinivasan's interpretation of the origin of the expression 'carnatic
music' is not without controversy. Appapillai
Rajendra points out:
| " 'Carnatic music' did not come from the word karnatak nor does it have any
connection to the state of Karnataka. Although the western world up holds
the Roman Empire as the crux of all ancient civilization, in reality, long
before the advent of the Roman Empire, the glory of the Tamil arts and culture
was at its peak during the Chera, Chola and
Pandya dynasties.
Cilappathiharam makes mention of Cavari Puhum Pattinam. During this period
the performing arts were very popular and as a matter of routine, dramas and
music expositions were held on every full moon night on the banks of
the river Cavery, where it merges into the sea. The popularity of these dramas
cum music prevailed in the township that was located on Cavery near the sea
shore (Kadal Carai) which got its name as Cavery puhum Pattanam and the
festivity on the sea shore became known as ‘Carai’ (Shore) ‘nadaham’ (Drama) and
‘issai’ (music), which turned out ‘carai nadaha issai’ to ‘carnadaha isssai’ and
anglicized as ‘Carnatic music’." |
And Kalki Krishnamurthy pointed
out in an
article titled "Bhayappada Vendam" (translated by Burma Sankaran into
English)
| "..To which
country does Carnatic music belong? There is no doubt that it belongs to
Tamilnadu. Since the days of Silappadikaram Carnatic music has been present
in Tamilnadu for generations. This music has not attained its pre-eminent
state in Andhra or Karnataka. Only in Tamilnadu has it reached its pinnacle
of glory. But then why is it called Carnatic music? It is similar to Bharath
being called India. The Greek invaders when they entered India they
encountered the river Sindhu. So they called this country Sindhu, which in
course of time got changed into India. In the same way the North Indians
named the south Indian music as Carnatic music because the state of
Karnataka was nearest to them..." |
Mahadevan Ramesh's essay affords a
Gentle Introduction to Carnatic Music
and in Isai Inbam Singai Krishnan
explores in Tamil the antiquity of Tamil Isai -
"இப்புவியெங்கும் வழங்கிவரும் இசை முறைகளுக்கெல்லாம் அடிப்படையாய் இசை விளங்குபவை
ச, ரி, க, ம, ப, த, என்னும் ஏழு சுரங்களே. இவற்றை உலகுக்குத் தந்தவர்களும்
பழந்தமிழர்களே.."
Mohan's Carnatic Corner is a comprehensive web site for everything related to carnatic music. Other
important websites for Carnatic Music include Srinivasan's South Indian Classical
Music and Kishore Balakrishnan's Carnatic
Webring.
Dr. T.M. McComb writing in Carnatic Music - Recordings &
Discussion comments:
| "Carnatic music is the classical music of Southern India. The basic
form is a monophonic song with improvised variations. There are 72 basic scales on the
octave, and a rich variety of melodic motion. Both melodic and rhythmic structures are
varied and compelling. This is one of the world's oldest and richest musical
traditions..." |
He also addresses the question Why Carnatic Music? and
responds:
| "As a Westerner interested in Carnatic music, I am frequently asked
to explain my interest and to articulate what makes South Indian music special. Both
Indians and Westerners ask the same questions. Since I did not grow up with it, but rather
chose it for myself from among a broad range of world traditions, Carnatic music is
special indeed. There is always a sense in which cross-cultural interactions serve not
only to broaden one's horizons, but also to set one's own cultural identity more strongly
in relief.... I value Carnatic music first for the effectiveness with which it can
build positive mental discipline. It helps me to focus and organize my thoughts, and it
helps to eliminate negative mental habits. How does it do this? Of course, I do not really
know. However, I do claim that music naturally illustrates patterns of thought, and in the
case of the great composers of Carnatic music, these mental patterns have been effectively
conveyed at the highest level..." |
V. N. Muthukumar and M. V. Ramana point out
"Until the late 19th century,
the primary location for performances of Art music was at the abodes of
kings and other rich patrons. These concerts are described as being centered
on ragam-tanam-pallavis, elaborate exercises in musical creativity, usually
in major ragas like Sankarabharanam, Todi and Bhairavi. The modern concert
format (kaccheri paddhati), on the other hand, is largely dominated by
kritis, which were either composed by "the trinity" – Syama Sastry,
Tyagaraja, and Muthuswami Dikshitar - or vaggeyakaras following their
styles. The relationship between these two musical forms – ragam, tanam,
pallavi (RTP) and kriti – is complex..."
Unusual Pallavi Themes
The Carnatic
Beginner's List, provides a 'fairly broad introduction to the variety of Carnatic
music in a manageable number of recordings' and is 'an attempt ... to provide a
starting point for people who are interested in listening to and learning more about
Carnatic music'. The Carnatic
Recording List sets out at greater length a selection of Dr. T.M. McComb's
favourite Carnatic music recordings.
Amongst the traditional musical instruments of the Tamil people are
the Veenai, the Thavil, Nagaswaram, the Tambura the Mirudangam and the
Ghatam.
Every year, in December and January, Chennai
in Tamil Nadu, hosts a Festival of Tamil
Music & Dance and many frontline Tamil musicians perform before Tamil music
enthusiasts, including many from the Tamil diaspora. Among the
major music societies participating in the annual festival are the Music Academy, the Tamil Isai Sangam founded by Rajah Sir
Annamalai Chettiar, the Mylapore Fine
Arts, Kartik Fine Arts and the
Sri Krishna Gana Sabha. The
words of Namakkal Kaavingar's about Thamizh
Isai remain relevant today.
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'பாடுவோன்' கருத்தைக்
'கேட்போன்' பருக
எண்ணமும் ஓசையும் இசைவதே 'இசை'யாம்.
இசைப்பவன் கருத்தும் கேட்பவன் எண்ணமும்
ஒன்றாய்க் கலப்பது ஓசையால் அன்று.
சொல்லே அதற்குத் துணையாய் நிற்பது.
அந்தச் சொல்லும் சொந்தச் சொல்லாம் ;
தாய்மொழி ஒன்றே தனிச்சுவை ஊட்டும்.
அவரவர் மொழியில் அவரவர் கேட்பதே
'இசை' எனப் படுவதன் இன்பம் தருவது.
புரியாத மொழியில் இசையைப் புகட்டல்
கண்ணைக் கட்டிக் காட்சி காட்டுதல்.
தமிழன் சொந்தத் தாய்மொழிச் சொல்லில்
இசையைக் கேட்க இச்சை கொள்வதே
'தமிழிசை' என்பதன் தத்துவ மாகும். |
Outstanding musicians have nurtured, fostered and kept alive the musical
traditions of the Tamil people and many have become household names and these include Muthuswamy Dikshitar, and
Saint
Thyagaraja.
Leading female vocalists include the Bombay Sisters,
Nithyasree Mahadevan, D.K.
Pattammal, M.S. Subbulakshmi, Sudha Ragunathan,
Sulamangalam
Sisters, K.B.
Sundarambal, N.C. Vasanthakokilam,
and M.
L.Vasanthakumari.
The leading male
vocalists include M.Balamuralikrishna,
G. N. Balasubramanian, Chembai Vaidyanatha Iyer,
Sirkali Govindarajan, D.
K. Jayaraman S.G.Kittapa, Hariharan,
Madurai
Mani Iyer, Madurai Somasundaram, Maharajapuram
Santhanam,
Musiri
Subramania Iyer, Rajkumar
Bharathi, Semmengudi
Srinivasa Iyer, Madurai
T.N. Seshagopalan, Thenisai Chellappa,
T.M.Sounderarajan P.Unnikrishnan,
and K.J.Yesudas.
Amongst the frontline instrumentalists are S.
Balachander (veena), Sheikh Chinna Moulana
(nagaswaram),
Mysore T.Chowdiah (violin), E.
Gayathri (veena) Karaikudi R.Mani
(mirudangam), Lalgudi
Jayaraman (violin), Namagiripettai Krishnan(nagaswaram),
Palghat
T.S. Mani Iyer(mirudangam), N.Ramani
(flute),
L.
Shankar (violin, Kumbakonam
Rajamanikkam Pillai (violin), Mandolin U.Shrinivas,
V. Suresh(ghatam) and
Kunnakudi
Vaidyanatha Iyer.(violin)
Ramesh
Mahadevan is right to point out the 'grass roots'
contribution of Tamil folk music -
| ".. When you listen to Tamil folk songs, the thing that
hits you the most is the intensity variation - the
modulation, sudden up and down in intensity (and sometimes
in frequency) - none of the 'glide' or the 'brighas' or
microtonal acrobatics of the classical music system. Just to
give you an example, if you had listened to 'Inji
iduppalaga' in the recent movie 'Thevar Magan', at the end
of the fourth line ('Marakka manam koodudhillaye') the
singer raises her voice. Another example, (I think from the
movie 'Vaaname ellai') from the song 'Kambangaadu' - the
second time the singer goes 'Kambangaadu', he raises his
voice on the 'kaadu'. A more blatant exhibition of such
voice gymnastics is the 'ullulation' (my spelling may be
wrong) when a chorus of women go into a loud, short, high
pitched scream, to punctuate a song - Ilayaraja employs this
often.
An example I always give as a quintessential Tamil folk
song is from the movie 'Karagattakkaran' which goes 'Mundhi
mundhiri naayagane'. This clearly brings out the simple
melodic grammar of folk songs vis a vis, classical system.
Pure, raw emotional impact seems to be more important than
any ornamental presentation. Even the musical instruments
complement this. Nayanam, a downsized version of Nadaswaram
or simple string instruments like Villu or Kottangachi
violin are often the only ensemble with relentless, simple
drums like Melam (a cousin of tavil) or Udukkai or
Tambattam." |
The Tamil film has become a powerful medium for popularising the music of
the Tamil people, and not surprisingly, Tamil film music often draws its inspiration to a
greater or lesser extent, from each of the three categories -devotional, classical and
popular folk music. The Tamil film music greats include S.P.Balasubramaniam, Ilayaraaja,
T.M.Soundarajan, A.M. Rajah, M.S. Viswanathan, and Abdul Rahman.
An increasing number of websites have MP3 and Real Audio links to Tamil
songs, both classical and popular.
Gangai
Amaran writes on the Birth
& Growth of Tamil Cine Music -
| "Research findings have established clearly that folk music preceded
traditional, classical music in Tamil Nadu. Cave men and tribal men made sounds that
developed into a language. These people gave simple tunes without any rules, but a sense of
music was apparent even then. In my childhood days, there was no cinema as there is now.
Performers travelled from village to village telling stories . Songs were interwoven in
the stories. The appreciative audience offered these performers whatever they could. This
was the beginning of symphony.... if you look at the chronology of singers,
Kittappa was
followed by T.R.Mahalingam, who was followed by
T.M.Soundarajan,
Sirkali Govindarajan, all persons who could sing in very high pitches. G.Ramanathan
brought a fresh air to cine music. ... The Tamil film songs were strongly based on
Carnatic music tradition. P.U.Chinnappa was followed by
Chidambaram
Jayaraman, Tiruchi Loganathan. Gantasala was followed by P.B.Srinivas,
S.P.B,
Mano..." |
Vishvesh Obla
commented in 1999 on the Golden Era of Tamil Music -
"Listening to a few old Tamil songs always
reminds me of the golden era of Tamil Cine
Music. The two decades from the late fifties
seems to me to have produced the best light
music in Tamil. The golden era not only belongs
to MSV (& Ramamoorthy) but also minor composers
like AM Raja and V Kumar who could create music
which has taste and inspiration behind it.
Perhaps the formative years of Tamil Cine Music
had an element of genuine inspiration behind it
that could shape the musical sense of even the
minor composers.
I have observed the songs belonging to this era
having a kind of organic fluidity that is so
natural to good music. The tunes flow to the
natural sequence of music and don't have the
strain of an artificial imagination at all. The
accidental notes fall so perfectly in their
places and add charm instead of a jarring sound
as one hears in modern Tamil cine music. Take
for instance a song like "Unnidam Mayangugiraen".
It varies in its rhythm and tune so differently
but as a whole it is so beautifully synthesized
that it adds so much of beauty and charm to the
tune as a whole. The variation of tune sequence
(or the scale) in those songs always seems to
blend and not forced as one sees in the songs
today.
They still appeal to the music lover, for there
is the charming simplicity of the tune which
combines elegantly with the better lyrics
(mostly from
Kannadasan, who had a fine sense of the
beauty and more importantly, a good sense of
sound in Tamil Language). The lyrics, hence,
came naturally without any forced or exaggerated
poetic association. One notices that those songs
don't involve much complex orchestration of
modern light music, but nevertheless are so
musically elegant ; there isn't any forced
imagination ; no aping of Western music as in
modern light music. We mostly find the composer
in his natural elements trying to synthesize a
musical expression in a medium 'native' to his
sense of music. Even a later composer like
Ilayaraja is original most of the times when he
tries his hand at folk music with which he grew
up with.
In contrast, today's Tamil cine music seems to
appeal to us only by the hi-fi sound effects and
rarely by any musical sense. There is always the
annoying monotony, one who has any musical
sense, observes. I wouldn't say that the songs
of the earlier period were all so creatively
diverse in their compositions. One can't expect
such a thing in a lesser form of music as light
music. But then there was at least that part of
experimenting and a genuine attempt to create
something from the musical sense that was less
falsified in its inspiration. The composer of
those times, as one can observe, had a kind of
devotion to music, which didn't just have
commercial interests alone. It is seldom seen
today.
It seems to me that it is more than a question
of taste and listening pleasure alone when one
responds to Tamil film music of its formative
period...." |
The Kannadasan
lyric specially written for a song by Sirkali Govindrajan in connection with the
opening of the London Murugan temple in the 1980s, movingly reflected the spread
of the Tamil diaspora and their links with Tamil and Tamil music:
Today, the Tamil people live in many lands and across distant
seas. But wherever they may live, they acquire strength from the richness
of their own cultural heritage - not only because that culture has something to do
with their own roots but also because that culture has a rich contribution to make to the
cultural fabric of an increasingly small world.
The
struggle for Tamil Eelam has
also seen an outpouring of songs and
literature which
reflect the pain and suffering of a people.
 பொங்கி
எழுகின்ற
கடல் அலையே...
sung by S.P.Balasubramaniam
and published by the Swiss Tamil Cultural Federation comes
to mind - as also
தமிழீழம்:
தாய்நாடு வணக்கப் பண்
The
Maha Veerar Naal commemorated by the Tamil diaspora in many parts of the
world in end November each year, has provided a platform to give expression in dance,
drama and song, to a growing Tamil togetherness - a growing Tamil togetherness
drawing strength from its roots in the ground.
"...Nations are as much cultural as political forms, and the creation of a unique high culture of world significance is often central to their
legitimation.... artists ... express the nation's distinctiveness;
their creativity is part of the momentum to independence;
they are themselves symbols and icons of the nation's
unique creative power; they regenerate their nation morally and speak for its heart
and conscience..." (John Hutchinson, European Institute, London School of
Economics and David Aberbach, Department of Jewish Studies, McGill University,
Quebec, Canada in Nations & Nationalism, Volume 4, 1999)
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Nithyasree
Mahadevan
Sudha Ragunathan
