தேடினாலும் கிட்டாத தோடி

sabhash !

Carnatic Music to be classical can NEVER BE DILUTED says PRIYA SISTERS

THE DIGNITY OF CARNATIC CLASSICAL MUSIC LIES IN ITS TRADITION.  AND THIS TRADITION IS ITS SOUL.  AND THE SINGER ENJOYS IT AS S(H)E SINGS A RAAGA . 

THE TRADITIONAL CARNATIC CAN NEVER BE DILUTED. 

brahma mukute Priya sisters

Thodi...Refreshing..Rejuvenating Morning Raga

Thodi…

Thaye Yasodha..undhan ayar kulathuditha..mayan..gopalakrishnan
seyyum jaalathai...keladi..
Intro
You must have got drowned in the depths of this divine Raag at least two dozen times in the last. Such a lyric composed in Raag Thodi has withstood time. Yes, I still remember my grandma singing in 1940s, followed by my mom. Virtually every mom sings this song.
Raag Thodi possibly has adrenaline in abundance. Yes. The moment you hear it
your heart begins to throb rapidly.
Grammar:
You learn that it is one among the many morning Raagas. Experts reveal that it derives its name from the word “thodagam” which meant in ancient parlance ‘ a small beginning”. It is not surprising therefore that this raga is mainly sung during mornings along with other ragas like Naattai, Hamsadhwani, Sowrashtram and Kedharam. This raag is mostly handled in natyam, and folk music.

Thodi belongs to the 8th Melakartha Raag of Hanumath Thodi which is a janya Raag. However, thodi differs from Hanumath Thodi as well as Suddha Thodi.

Now let us consider the Swaras of Thodi:

Arohanam (Ascendent) sa Re1 ga1 ma1 pa dha1 nee1 sa
Avarohanam (Decendent) sa nee dha pa ma pa ma ga re sa.

Hanumath Thodi swaras are different:
Arohanam: sa Re1 ga1 ma1 pa dha1 nee1 sa
Avarohanam sa nee dha pa ma ga re sa

While the Arohana swaras are similar in both Thodi and Hanumath Thodi, they differ in Avarohanam. In Thodi it is : sa nee dha pa ma pa ma ga re sa.
There is a vakram (a retrograde move) that is after madhyamam, panchamam again props up.

Suddha Thodi is a raag devoid of panchamam.
Arohanam: : sa re1 ga 1 ma 1 dha 1 nee 1 sa
Sa nee dha ma ga ree sa.


NOW, EXPERIENCE THE MAGIC THE RAAG DOES !
To begin with we are going to listen to a masterpiece in THODI by
Lalgudi Jayaraman (vocal) accompanied by his daughter. This video is possibly taken a couple of decades ago, at Lalgudi, a suburb of Tiruchy District, in Tamil Nadu, possibly at the Shiva Temple (Saptharishi Temple). Incidentally, Lalgudi (angarai village) is the place of birth of author of this blog.




Let us ALSO listen to AN ALAPANA IN THODI in violin by Ms.Aishu Venkataraman.
click at the title of this posting BUT, PLEASE DO IT AFTER FINISHING THE PAGE (purely for technical reasons.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emg2r8wj8i4

Now another performance which is
Vocal..Alaapana in Thodi
Kumari. K Dharini performed @ Carnataka Sangeetha Sabha on 14th April 2006. For more infomation, please visit http://www.cssabha.org

http://www.kdharini.com



Now listen to the same raag THODI sung recently at New Jersey Thamil Sangam fusing the raag with Western acoustic drums.

Ms.Anitha sings the Thodi based song at New Jersey Tamil Sangam. Jersey Rhythms orchestra: Acoustic drums: Arul Yaganppan, Keyboard:Venky Krishnaswamy,Lead guitar:RajKanth:Bass Guitar:John Holowach,Percussion:Shivakumar Muthuswamy and Raj Manian, Supporting Vocals: Anitha Arya, CHenthil Gurunathan, Durga Venkatraman and Swarna Venkatraman, Sound: Strides



Enjoy classical Music...
Coming to Film Music, a good many songs are immediately available.
K.B.Sundarambal's ever-lasting song " thanithirundhu Vazhunnai Thavamaniye.." shall live longer than humanity perhaps.
The other song that comes to my mind is " Unnaipol Pennallavo" in the film VANANGAMUDI

You may go to www.musiconline.com to listen to both songs.

Singing Thodi..is just Swimming silently as a swan.
Enjoy it. We may not able to describe in words how we feel.

Darbari Kaanada

The height of any emotion, the climatic point of any event, from wherethere is no furtherance and nothing more to be achieved, a sense offulfillment, not without a pinch of longing for something which the soul tells you can never be reached, but which it would never leaveback resigned, heaving out a sigh that it was what it had to be.

An alaap of Darvari Kanada whirls in the listener through all theseemotions. When it ends one feels life is lived to its fullest.
Known by the same name both in HCM and CCM (with slight variation of"va" into "ba"), Darvari (HCM) or Darbari (CCM) Kanada is janyam offAasaveri thaat and suited for late night riyaaz.

Aro: S R g m P d n S
Avro: S d n P m P g m R S

HFM abounds with instances of songs where the rich pathos quality ofthe raag is totally exploited as it provides brilliant moments of bothjoy and sorrow Be it a dejected singer beseeching "oh duniya kerakhwale" (Baiju Bawra) or an abject lover mourning for the "tute huekhabon" (Madhumati) or the girl crying over the "muhobat ki jhutikahani" (Mugal E Azam), or the blind pathetic nostalgic singerremembering when he "raha ghardishon mein hardam (Do Badan),. Thejoyous part was capitalised by Ramachandra in "kitna haseen hai mausam"(Azaad). A lighter version was used by Bappi Lahri in the playful "pagghunghru" for Amitabh in his Namak Halal.

The merriment part of the raag was more to be seen in Tamil films.Earliest one could be dated to Seergazhi's "Sivasankari" inJagathalapradhaban, rendered truly in the classical style with all theswars, nirthams and ghamakas. The accompaniment of veena and flute tothe song is to be heard to be enjoyed. The next in the line should bethe duet of TMS and Janaki "Chinnanchirya vanna paravai" in Kungumam.The denouement of the song with the high pitched Janaki and sternvoiced TMS vying with one another rendering the alaap one after theother is delight to the enlightened listener. Recent romantic formatsof the raag were to be found in "Kalyana thenila" (Mounam Sammadham)and "Malare Mounama" (Karna).
Nothing could possibly be entertained by the mind and soul afterlistening to Darvari kanada.

Perhaps, only sleep, where emotions workback in jigsaw pattern blending joy and sorrow, mingling past and present and lifting you into a world of fantasy yet so much partaking of reality.

Truly the way Darvari Kanada makes you feel.