A Class Concert for a Mass of Audience (1979) - M Balamuralikrishna - Annavarapu - Upendran

A few weeks ago a distinguished music curator hobbyist friend, shared some mint condition spool tapes, containing some old concerts of Dr. Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (BMK) for our music for posterity project.
A 3 hours long concert among them made me more curious. With an active and exclusive listening, the impact it made on me was more pronounced than any recent listening.

A closer examination of the contents suggested to me that it was a compilation of excerpts from live concerts from the same season (1979 tour with the same accompanying artistes). The compilation, it appears, has been done with much meticulous thinking and an aesthetic outlook. I perceive the objective as an effort to create a model concert to assure “rasānubhava” in phases. To encourage an ordinary listener to advance in listening experience and become a well-informed rasika. Thus the title of this concert - A CLASS CONCERT FOR MASS AUDIENCE.

This offering, more a musical journey with many milestones, tells many melodious stories. The concert can be distinctly classified into three aspects of our music.

BMK in one of his compositions says, “Bhakti (Devotion), Rakti (Emotion) and Tanmayatvam (Attachment) are the 3 elements (Bha..Ra..Ta) sourced for the term BHARATA, the embodiment of the Trinity aspect (the gods of creation, preservation and destruction); music in a refined form, is the composition of bhāva, rāga and tāla. I know nothing but the music arising from Murali that enraptures all the three worlds.”

This concert, I believe reflects, in a true creative spirit the insight expressed above.
Let’s briefly look into these three aspects.

1. BHAKTI (Devotion):The first 50 minutes encompass renditions in Gowla (Dudukugala, a Tyāgarāja panchrathna kriti), Saraswati Manóhari (a composition of Dikshitar in which the pallavi starts by the name of the rāga) followed by two more compositions of Saint Tyāgarāja in Hindóla (Sāmaja varagamana) and Shuddha Sāranga (Éhi trijagadhīsha). These appeal to the listener to connect with Him through the vehicle of bhakti. BMK helps the listener to do so with the beauty of lyrics and swarams in his inimitable unhurried approach, which anchors the listener to peace and prepares one to experience the next phase of rasānubhava.

2. RAKTI (Emotion): The next 80 minutes is a deep dive into the finest aspects of a meritorious Carnatic music concert. Here, BMK engages his listeners with high-quality scholarship in music. A rare composition of Shyamā Shāstry in the rāga Tódi (Émani migula varnintu) with a detailed rāgālāpana, kriti, sāhitya-vinyāsam, swara-vinyāsam, and followed by laya-vinyāsam by TU.

The summit of the second phase of the musical journey is the presentation of an RTP in Amritavarshini & Ānandabhairavi set to Trishra Jhampe tāla in Sankeerna gati. BMK’s explanation and encouragement nudges the listener to feel empowered to exercise the power of volition to follow the maestro to get the best from one’s listening experience.

BMK’s effortless presentation of a complex RTP of Amritavarshini & Ānandabhairavi, which flow like two rivers to culminate in a confluence and yet retain their individual characters when he sings just 2 notes of each rāga juxtaposing their identity. The confluence also occurs when a keen listener grasping such fine moments of distinctness merges with the music of Muraligānam.

At the end of this phase, the listeners may feel that they have been mentored and guided to achieve a PG degree in listening to music.

The third phase is like a celebration of listener’s achievement of graduating into a well-informed rasika.

3. TANMAYATVAM (Attachment): In this phase of about 50 minutes, we listen to a variety of compositions, spreading fragrance and beauty for a long-lasting afterglow.

Be it the Jayadéva asthapadi (Rāséhari) sung in Rāgamālika (Charnams in Móhana, Saraswati, Bhāgesri, Behāg with Pallavi in Reetigowla); or a Doha of Kabirdas (Mathkar móh tu) in Āhirbhairavi; or a Pada of Purandara Dāsa (Jagadóddharana in the rāga Kāpi) or a Keerthana of Annamācharya (Indariki abhayammu in Harikāmbhóji), the listener dwells in the mood of celebrating the listening experience and hardly escapes the spell of Muraligānam, transcending time.

In the final step of ecstasy in the joy of listening, we are again treated with Saint Tyāgarāja’s compositions in Punnāgavarāli (Gandhamu pūyaruga) and Madhyamāvati (Alaka-lalla-lādaga) and a beautifully rendered Tillana (Kuntalavarāli) and a Mangalam (Madhyamāvati) composed by the maestro himself.

The concert is an exquisite compilation of 16 compositions presented to facilitate a layman to gracefully advance in listening experience to become a well-informed rasika.