During December 2011, four lecture demonstrations by various scholars in the field of Carnatic music were conducted.
Margadarsi Sheshayyangar is one of the lesser known composers of Carnatic music, who lived during the pre-trinity days. He was perhaps a contemporary of Shahaji, who ruled Tanjore during 1684-1710. According to Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini of Subbarama Dikshitar, Seshayyangar was a vaishava brahmin, a devotee of Lord Ranganatha, and a profound scholar of Sanskrit and music. He used the mudra “Kōsala” in all him compositions, and the reason may be that he hailed from Ayodhya. He is known to have been among the earliest to use the raga Begada and Brndavanasaranga. Sheshayyangar’s kritis have triple charanams. Most of his compositions are on Lord Ranganatha, but a few are also on Lord Varadaraja of Kancipuram, Goddess Lakshmi, Rama, Sita, and saint Ramanuja. In 1902, nine kirtanams of Seshayyangar were published in “Gayaka locana” by Singaracharyulu. Two specimens of his compositions appear in the “Oriental Music in European Notation” by A.M.C. Cinnayya Mudaliyar. In the Palace Library at Trivandrum and in the Kerala University collections his manuscripts are available. The famous musician Shatkala Govinda Marar sang many of Seshayyangar’s songs before the king, Svati Tirunal. Attracted by the style of his compositions, Svati Tirunal wrote a treatise in Malayalam, known as as “muhana prasanantya prasa vyavasta,” dealing with the principles of proper usage of shabdalankara in musical compositions in Sanskrit. Svati Tirunal points out at the commencement of this work that he gathered the material for this work from the compositions of Sesha Ramanuja and Seshayyangar. Because he paved the way for a systematic style of compositions for all composers that followed, his title Margadarsi (one who shows the direction), is appropriate.
Ravi Varman Thampi better known as Irayimman Thampi (1782–1856) was a Carnatic musician as well as a music composer from Kerala, India. He was a vocalist in the court of Svati Tirunal. He went under the tutorship of Shankaran Elayathu in grammar, linguistics and Sanskrit literature. He wrote his first poem when he was fourteen and dedicated it to Karthika Tirunal Dharmaraja of Travancore. Irayimman Thampi was already thirty one years of age when Svati Tirunal Maharaja was born. Irayimman Thampi wrote the famous lullaby Omanathinkal Kidavo for Swathi Thirunal. Ironically, he also wrote a charama sloka for Svati in 1848. Maharajah Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma is known to have referred to Ravi Varman Thampi as Thampi maman (uncle Thampi). There existed a healthy competition between Tampi and Svati TirunaL in composing songs. The maharaja loved to show his compositions to Tampi for his approval, and certainly valued his opinion and appreciation of them.
Irayimman tampi has to his credit more that 500 compositions. But, only few of those compositions have survived, which include 39 kirttanams, 5 varnams, 23 padams and a few Attakkatha songs. In the work, “Kerala sangitam”, 60 compositions attributed to Tampi are listed. Tampi has composed songs on several gods/goddesses. Tampi used the mudra “Padmanabha” in his compositions which caused some confusion regarding the authorship of some of his krtis. Tampi’s krtis contain numerous and lengthy caranam lines. Kutti Kunju Tankachi, the daughter of Irayimman Thampi was also a composer. Irayimman Thampi died in the year 1856.
When he was barely two years old, Ravikiran the prodigy stunned the music world with his ability to identify and render about 325 ragasand 175 talas. He was also able to answer complex technical questions on various aspects of Carnatic music when quizzed by luminaries. His proclivity for music had been identified and nurtured by his father Chitravina Narasimhan. Later Ravikiran moved on to become a vocalist and gave his debut performance in 1972, at age five. Ravikiran is easily among the most prolific composers in the Carnatic arena today. He discovered a new raga when he was two years old and named it Choodamani, after his mother. Since then he has introduced several new ragas like Keshavapriya, Mohini, Snehapriya, Shivamanohari and Andhakarini. He has to his credit in excess of 500 compositions covering a range of themes in various musical forms such as varnam, krti, padam, javali and tillana. He has also employed a new musical form that he has named swarakrti (compositions sans lyrics but with well-defined structure similar to the krti). He is a multi-lingual composer, at home in five languages – Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada. He is the first composer to have composed in each one of the 35 talas of Carnatic music. He is also the first to have composed a 72-mela raga malika geetam. His other unique pieces include a 5-raga-5-tala-5-jati tillana, and a 5-language multi-styled piece, Sree rama pattabhishekame. Ravikiran signs his pieces with the phrase, ‘ravi-shashi’. He has also employed a new musical form that he has named swarakrti (compositions sans lyrics but with well-defined structure similar to the krti). He has composed major pieces in majestic, traditional ragas like Yadukulakambhodhi, Shahana, Dhanyasi, Surati and Devagandhari, and also handled ragas such as Ranjani, Kadanakutoohalam, Bindumalini and Sindhubhairavi. His varnams and tillanas are a blend of the innovative and the intricate.
