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Tyagaraja (1767-1847)
The song you are hearing is 'Endaro Mahanubhavulu andariki vandanamulu' (Great souls are indeed many. Salutations to them all) in Sri Ragam. (It is in MP3 format and I don't know whether all of you can listen to it). This is the last of Pancharatna Kritis (5 gems) in ragams Naattai, Gowla, Aarabi, Varaali and Shree. These are considered Tyagaraja's most famous and scholarly contributions to Carnatic music. Can you guess who the singer is?
Though Purandaradas is considered as the grandfather of Carnatic Music. Tyagaraja is regarded as the greatest. He , along with Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri are considered as the "Trinity of Carnatic Music." Tyagaraja has composed more than 800 songs in his long devoted life to Lord Rama, most of them written in his mother tongue Telegu, but a few in Sanskrit.
An ancient scripture, The Bhagawatha, refers to nine types of Bhakti, viz., Sravanam (Listening), keerthanam (Singing), Smaranam (Constant memory), Paadasevanam (Worship at God's feet), Archanam (Pooja or daily worship), vandanam (Paying obeisance), Daasyam (Service), Saakyam(Friendship) and Atma Nivedanam (Self-surrender). Tyagaraja was unique in practising all these types of Bhakti and his compositions reflect every type.
The music of this great composer is dedicated to the attainment of peace and happiness through sacrifice and renunciation. It is Bhakti Yoga at its highest. A remarkable feature of Thyagaraja's compositions is their poetic excellence and spiritual value. Thyagaraja's songs and his name spread far and wide during his own lifetime. A number of pupils came to him and he imparted to each a section of his compositions according to the student's voice quality and musical equipment. It is to these sishyas that we owe the propagation of the songs of the saint.
Thyagaraja's musical contribution is remarkable for its quantity and variety, as much for its quality. In his compositions there is a wide variety of form and type and have an unique balance of tradition and invention. They range from metrical compositions suggested by European band tunes to creations steeped in traditional carnatic music.
Tyagaraja is reputed to have composed thousands of krithis, but only about 700 are available today. He employed over 200 ragams, more than half of which seem to be his creations.
The Pancharatna Kritis are the most representative of Tyagaraja's art as a composer bringing together melody, music and words at a very high plane. It is appropriate that musicians pay their respects to Tyagaraja by singing these kritis on the day of his samadhi every year. Anyone interested in Carnatic music should attend the Tyagaraja Aradhana at least once and would find it a moving and elevating experience.
S.Parthasarathy
8th February 2004
The singer is John Higgins, an American who learnt carnatic music and was regularly giving concerts. He was affectionately called Higgins Bhagavathar and unfortunately died in an accident a few years ago.
This year's Tyagaraja Aradhana was on 12th January which Amritha and I were fortunate to attend. Pushpa and her husband also came with us. Since Pushpa and Amritha were trying to sing along with the singers which included Sudha Raghunathan, Aruna Sayeeram etc., relatives who saw them on TV commented that Perungalathur Sisters were also singing.
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