Sri Krishna Jayanti in Muraliganam - A Vintage Concert - Dr.M Balamuralikrishna - Mysore, 23.08.1981

Imagine that you are witnessing a grand assembly of some of the great vāggéyakāras! They have all come together on an invitation to celebrate the divine descent of the Lord Sri Krishna on to this earth. The occasion, Sri Krishna Jayanti. And they all sing the glory of the Lord in their own creative way, expressing all the devotion and love. You are one among those in the blessed audience. What would your experience be like when you happen to visualize such an event?

Here is an offering of a live concert held about 42 years ago in Mysore on the very same Janmashtami day, on 23.08.1981, which has the promise of realising what you just imagined with your volition.

Dr. M Balamuralikrishna (BMK) in this concert seems to have become a perfect conduit for the flow of divine, pure, and melodious music of Saint Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Narayana Teertha, Purandaradasa, Jayadeva, Bhadrachala Ramadas and the Vāggéyakāra in himself.

This album is a presentation of restored and remastered edition of the concert. It is sincerely hoped that you would enjoy listening to the music while celebrating the Jayanti, and also live the moments of fulfillment of realisation of the imagined event cited above.

Here, BMK is accompanied by Sri. Annavarapu Ramaswamy (violin) and Sri. U K Sivaraman (mridangam).

BMK’s renditions in this concert begins like the cool moving waters of Ganges in Gomukh glacier. As he proceeds with the renditions of rāgālāpana, tānam, and kritis, we hear the grace and energy of huge waves of musical notes cascading, and his svara-vinyāsam is like reaching the heights of Himalayas, merging on to the lake of the mind, chanting the divine name of the Lord Sri Krishna.
While each of the renditions on the life and teachings of Lord Sri Krishna by BMK begs multiple listening sessions to capture all that is presented by him, let us take a glimpse at a few of them to get a flavour of the concert.

BMK in his composition in the rāga Rāgavardhini alludes to how Muraligānam is rejoicing Sri Krishna. He says, “The essence of the music of Sāma-Véda is alone the giver of supreme happiness. It is the music practiced by that sage Narada and Lord Hanuman constantly. On the hills of Govardhana, Lord Krishna, the attractor of the minds of Gopis, rejoices in mesmerising the grazing cows and the Gopis as innocents, with the nectar of the music of His flute.”

Dikshitar’s “Bāla Gópāla” is a soulful rendition that describes the childhood exploits and later divine deeds of Sri Krishna presented evocatively and melodiously in the rāga Bhairavi. The rāgālāpana comprises the absolute essence of the rāga and its nuances. The pace of the presented composition provides the listener an appropriate feeling as BMK’s evocative lyrical presentation sinks in.

It is also a delight to observe how UKS plays the mridangam with subtle changes for the different sangatīs sung by the maestro.

The main item in Kāmbhóji is summarised by borrowing the words of Sri. Tanikella Bharani. An hour-long piece is “like the chirping of hundred cuckoos, like the sound of thousand veenas, like the speed of million waterfalls – his voice spans all these.”

Also, there is a novelty in the manner of participation of both the accompanying artistes in enhancing the overall listening experience.

BMK’s Hindóla RTP is a tuneful offering to Sri Krishna’s love for music. The beauty of the rāga Hindóla presented in this RTP transports the listeners to the times of Dvapara and to the banks of Yamuna to visualise Krishna’s rāsa-leela.

A rendition in Sāvéri, a composition of Tyagaraja from Nauka Charitam, in which the Gopikas are lamenting and longing to meet Sri Krishna, appears to serve as a precursor to the beautiful RTP which celebrates the union of Gopis with Sri Krishna.

I had the opportunity of listening to this concert a number of times over the last several years and summarily, it can be said that, “Once you truly experience the essence of “Nāda” (the pure musical sound), it is rather very difficult to enjoy music devoid of it.”

Come, partake in a rare delight and enjoy listening to the remastered audio.

00:00 💐 Welcome to the Album
00:00:06 ❇️ Varnam_Swarāshtra - BMK
00:08:26 ❇️ Sādhinchané – Arabhi - Tyagaraja
00:19:53 ❇️ Gāna sudhārasamé – Rāgavardhini - BMK
00:27:26 ❇️ Bālagópāla pālaya – Bhairavi – M Dikshithar
00:48:53 ❇️ Chālu chālu nīyuktulu – Sāvéri - Tyagaraja
01:01:18 ❇️ Evarimāta vinnavó – Kāmbhóji - Tyagaraja
01:56:04 ❇️ Rāgam-Tānam & Pallavi (RTP) – Hindóla - BMK
02:18:29 ❇️ Enumādidarénu - Hindóla – Purandaradasa
02:22:39 ❇️ Ammā ninukórina - Khamas - BMK
02:25:42 ❇️ Krishnam kalayasakhi – Mukhāri - Narayana Thirtha
02:30:15 ❇️ Krishnā enabāradé -Kédāra - Purandaradasa
02:35:19 ❇️ Yāmihé – Natabhairavi – Jayadeva (Ashtapadi)
02:39:32 ❇️ Tillana – Kadanakutūhala - BMK
02:45:17 ❇️ Nagumómu galavāni – Adi - Tyagaraja
02:48:15 ❇️ Mangalam - Kurinji - Bhadrachala Ramadas