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CENTENARY TRIBUTE - S. RAJAM

CENTENARY TRIBUTE - S. RAJAM

The very thought of S. Rajam makes me emotional. It reminds me of his benevolence and all the time I spent with him. S. Rajam was a great human being, many of us know, but I shall confine myself in this article to an analysis of his musical style and contributions.
In the quest for Rama

In the quest for Rama

Malladi Ramakrishna Sastri pointed out the path and Arudra whipped me along, with corrections, suggestions, and yes, admonitions. Many other men too, authorities in their fields, led me up to a higher storey.
S Rajam - He was unique

S Rajam - He was unique

S Rajam always seemed to have a lot of time because he never wasted his time or that of others. Punctuality was a remarkable trait with him. During his spare time in All India Radio he would be reading reference books and jotting down notes in a diary—for a painting or for a musical drama he was planning to record.
Recalling D.K. Pattammal’s legacy

Recalling D.K. Pattammal’s legacy

DKP 100’ is an initiative conceived by vocalist Nithyasree Mahadevan to commemorate the birth centenary of her illustrious grandmother, the iconic D.K. Pattammal. Programmes have been planned for the entire duration of this centenary year and have had very good responses from the present crop of musicians and rasikas.
Bharat Sundar

SEASON 2018-19

The music season at the Madras Music Academy was inaugurated on 15 December 2018. I spent most of my days attending concerts at the Academy and occasionally listened to a few concerts at other venues as well. It was an enriching experience to attend several well laidout concerts with in-depth raga alapana, rare kritis, complex pallavis, and lilting tailenders.
THIRUVAARUR BAKTHAVATHSALAM

SAVAL JAVAB - THIRUVAARUR BAKTHAVATHSALAM

Ours is a traditional musical family. My mother Tiruvarur P.R. Anandavalli hails from Tirukkannamangai village, and my father belongs to Madurai where he was a businessman. When I was barely 2-1/2 years old my father passed away. My maternal great grandfather, Ramdas Nainakkarar was a renowned nagaswara vidwan and he followed the Vaishnava culture and tradition as he played regularly at the Tirukkannamangai Perumal Temple.

Aruna Sairam

A singer has to pay attention to her aharya pretty much like a dancer, though to a lesser extent. Presentation and presentability are important. Aruna has the ability to appear well co-ordinated on stage—be it her saree, jewellery, nail art, hairdo—every element is well set and fine tuned.

FIRST PERSON

In the mid-sixties I was very much involved with records (78s and later SPs, EPs and LPs), buying, hearing and, writing about them in Telugu and English. Andhrapatrika weekly in Telugu carried Saragamala (named by my guru Malladi Ramakrishna Sastri) - the first regular column in Telugu to review various aspects of gramophone records-including identifying the labels and giving record numbers.
Anandhi & Sarala

BLESSINGS FROM ANGELS

I honestly cannot recall when and how I met Anandhi Ramachandran. I was a regular at Kalakshetra programmes and on happy terms with singer-nattuvanars Kamalarani, Bhagavatula Seetharama Sarma and the man I described as second to Nandi as far as dance was concerned, Karaikudi R. Krishnamurthy.
Annapurna Devi

ANNAPURNA DEVI (1927–2018)

The world of Hindustani music venerated her as Maa Annapurna Devi. She was a sadhika who abhorred the arclights of the concert stage, shunned publicity and refused to face the public eye even when invited to accept prestigious awards.
RAMNAD KRISHNAN

RAMNAD KRISHNAN: A CONFLUENCE OF THREE STREAMS

Ramnad Krishnan’s name brings to mind his electrifying delineations of ragas like Sahana and Begada, Keeravani and Sankarabharanam. Through his son R.K. Ramanathan’s initiative, a yearlong celebration of the legend’s music was organised at Raga Sudha Hall in Chennai, with two programmes held every month, starting in September 2017 and concluding in September 2018.
DOES MUSIC HAVE A RELIGION?

DOES MUSIC HAVE A RELIGION?

Each religion has its system of music based primarily on its cultural origin. Church music indicates the Western origin of its original propagators and mosque music indicates its Arabian origin. But does music itself as an art have any religion?