|
|
|
Guard Against Commercialism, Gopalakrishna Gandhi Tells Carnatic
Musicians
By Sudha Jagannathan
CHENNAI, March 10: Carnatic musicians must guard against `kalappadam’
(adulteration) of commercialism in all its tawdriness in classical
concerts.
Asserting that "it (commercialism) is what must be guarded
against,’’ Gopalakrishna Gandhi, Governor of West
Bengal, wondered how musicians could sing and play "Nidhi
challa sukhama, Ramuni sannidhi sukhama…’’
even as their managers and promoters were expecting and receiving
six-to-seven digit one-time charges.
Addressing a function got by Music Academy here on Sunday to
confer a "Special Life Time Achievement Award"
on violin maestro Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, Mr.
Gandhi said, "what keeps the classicism of the music classical
is not the prudery of self-esteem but a studied distancing of
the art from its commoditification."
Great Carnatic musicians were known by their home towns, he
said. Very modest places and villages, in fact, were made famous
by the musicians that bore and bear those names, he added. "Even
if Tanjore Balasarasvati and Madurai S. Subbulakshmi brought
to mind well-endowed towns, we know that those great artistes
grew up in the most modest circumstances,’’ Mr.
Gandhi said.
None wished to see classical musicians live in anything but
comfort, he said. "We know that many of them, particularly
in the twilight of advancing years, face the most straitened
circumstances,’’ he pointed out. Nonetheless, he
wasn’t quite sure ``if anybody would want to see musicians
being targeted, as they are, by `promoters’, even as heritage
houses are targeted by developers.’’
In this context, he said musicians needed to be helped by the
equivalent of heritage conservationists. Sabhas like Music Academy
were heritage conservationists, he pointed out. "I appeal
to younger artistes in the classical tradition to bear in mind
the fact that they carry a heritage to be conserved rather than
a skill to be turned into a commodity,’’ he said.
The `greats’ of yesteryear were the reference points for
their music. "Let the same greats and not the idols of
commercial music be their reference points for professional
success,’’ Mr. Gandhi said. The younger artistes
in the classical tradition had a promise to keep and a reputation
to lose, he pointed out.
"Classical music ought not to be the preserve of academies.
Ought it to become so `productified’, so as to become
a cash and carry affair?’’ he asked. "The potting
of classical music would not have seemed so lamentable if the
techno-commerce was benefiting the artistes as much as it is
benefiting an industry which has more to do with profit than
music,’’ he pointed out.
"Let us not confound classical music with crusty conservatism.
Let us acknowledge that there is something called musical intelligence,
musical intention and musical integrity which go to make classical
music classical,’’ he said. "Senior classical
artistes have made their contributions. Younger classical artistes
must make theirs, not by some prudish touch-the-notes, but by
an innately modest recognition of their trusteeship,’’
he pointed out. "To be authentic and real but not be puffed-up
about it… I think for younger artistes to attempt that
balance is not easy. But it is important,’’ he pointed
out. He went on to add, ``it is only then that a classical musician
can consume and enrich, continue and contribute, protect and
renew.’’
Mr. Gandhi said those who valued classical music could not and
should not deny the appeal or the value of non-classical or
`light music’. There was a softer side to any musical
sensibility that responded to the chiaroscuro of human emotions.
"One’s musical mind cannot circumnavigate the melakarta
ragams and their progeny for all time exclusively,’’
he pointed out. "After all, if Subbulakshmi’s `Sambho
Mahadeva’ uplifts me, I must admit, her `Yaro, Ivar yaro’
enthralls me,’’ he said. He went on to ask "Is
it is a lesser MS that sings `Chandrabimba mukha…’
than the MS that sings `Maithrim Bhajata…’? No,
it is not a lesser MS, only a different MS. All of us have different
rasikas in us.’’
Stating that `rasa’ was not and could not be monochromatic,
Mr. Gandhi said, "in note, pitch, tone and timbre, one
has to be fidel. In emotion, reach and impact, one can be feral.’’
Post your comments
Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
|
|
|
|
|
|
