Lit for Life 2014 - A Southern Music: The Carnatic Story

Carnatic musician T.M. Krishna was in conversation with author Gopalkrishna Gandhi on the former's book 'A Southern Music: The Karnatic Story' at the Lit for Life 2014.
The Hindu Lit for Life 2014 is presented by House of Hiranandani (www.houseofhiranandani.com) and Powered by VIT University.
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[@KumerenGovender]

I was going to watch 5 minutes of this.. and i ended up watching the whole video. This definitely inspired me to think critically about the essence of music.

[@seetahariharan4089]

An amazing conversation by both the gentlemen....persuades one to think....but...a music lover and a fan of TMK'S just wants to enjoy what falls into the ears !

[@adreshan]

No matter what you have said or shared through your book, people will have their own opinions driven through their perception. I sincerely believe you have an exceptional lucrative way of looking at this entire genre of Southern Music in a completely ecstatic view. The conditioned mind fine tuned in the mere grammatical, phonetic and word formation of music will never ever able to see the subtle injunctions of melody. The entire nature narrates music in the most transcendental genre without written notes or words!. I believe T.M. Krishna is definitely an exceptional being to come up with this amazing insight voicing out his sincere thoughts! Hail Gandharva!!

[@desikanks]

That was a very interesting conversation...Both the men were amazing !!

[@rmsh1956]

Pt Kumar Gandharva was often called a Rebel in Hindustani Classical.He kept aside all Gharana Traditions and his singing was new and his Taans were unpredictable.Every concert was an experiment.T M Krishna is one like him.Traditionalists were against Kumarji,s style which is impossible to follow so as krishna,s singing.You have done a commendable job. Singing closing one,s eye's is essential to look beyond onself.

[@chandrashekharhs9738]

But KG developed his own unique style of singing which we do not see in TMK. He has only changed the format of the concert and is unpredictable.

[@krishnam57]

Felt like seeking' Sangheetha Brahmam' with the aid of mortal words.Kandavar vindadhillai.Vindavar kandadhillai'.Experience sans sharing with speech.If we do it is not experience.This sums up ' Krishna's dilemma.

[@subbuiyer89]

My comments here are just pertaining to this conversation you are having with Gopalakrishna Gandhi. I am still to read the book as it is not available in the US yet. But I will soon access a copy and read it. But in the meantime, you did not disappoint me when you invited diverse opinion to yours to enrich your thought process and I hope my comments are seen in that light too...

[@anishbhattacharya460]

Jiddu Krishnamurthy was not at all difficult to understand.....what he says so simple so practical....

[@subbuiyer89]

Dear Krishna
As you know I am a great fan of yours but I beg to differ that musicality and language are two different and opposite elements of music. In saying this, you are insulting the great visionary composition of Thyagaraja and Muthuswamy Dikshitar. I mention the two composers because they are the ones who displayed great aesthetics in melding language with music and therefore creating a lyrical musicality in their compositions. It is a pity that many musicians over the years have misinterpreted that very musicality and you took upon yourself to even demonstrate that in the Thyagaraja composition that you presented. Strangely, when you sang the Dikshitar's Kriti, you fused the lyricality. How come you could do one but not the other? Is it a lack of imagination or tradition / convention and / or the brevity to blend both and remain innovative? I have a grave misgiving that there is an inherent trap in here. The lyrics and music have never been fused by most Carnatic Musicians because of the strict adherence to the akshara and tala dictating the meter of musicality as opposed to the actual laya (or the meter) determining the phraseology of Carnatic music. I want to take an example of two of your renderings of Muthuswamy Dikshitar as a very outstanding example. Your rendition of Jambhu Pate has all the right musicality going for it with accurate phraseology while your rendition of Shree Dum Durge is all over the place. While the former is constructed only for a vilambakalam rendering, the latter is not definitive as it needs the madhyama kaalam with a kaala pramanam that slopes towards vilambakalam. Is it this lack of definition that makes you go all over the place? In which case you need to re-examine your juxtaposition here. Even otherwise, I am writing this because you are a person who invites a healthy debate and I would want you to reconsider this particular position about Lyrical musicality.

[@extanegautham8950]

ai yo, its such a simple concept, musically appropriate phrasing of lyrical content, @ 22:25, kind of like Music appreciation 101...but people are so impressed....Indians are so easily impressed by Guru types. I am not such a big fan of this guy's music nor of his self important and slightly pompous style. Kind of a watered down version of basic concepts found in Western art, but, perhaps b/c of the lack of humanities and arts education in India with its emphasis on engineering and math, seems like a big deal...

[@subbuiyer89]

Why do you call yourself an artist and why do you call music your art? As you later say in your interview, whether it is music, writing or speaking, you just express yourself. And eloquently I must say, in all forms, in whichever way you choose to express yourself. In the beginning of the interview, you express a desire to not be labelled and I like it....because expression cannot be labelled. It is not a bottle of coca cola you are holding, but a bottle of water. And water has no color and a taste that you make your own. Like Gopalakrishna Gandhi quoted Gulzar Saheb, your music is your "Rooh" the unexplainable phenomena that you must persist and be wedded to. "SHE" as you would like to see, is beautiful and conjugal to your being and expression and so be it. No, with this thinking, the tag of art, artist and artistry (Music, Musician & Performance) does not fit you. And you must seek that path further...

[@sundarrajan846]

Snobbish...speaking in English..showing off