Lalgudi G Jayaraman photo album

Sri. Lalgudi G Jayaraman

Lalgudi G Jayaraman, artiste par excellence, stepped into the threshold of the eight decade of his illustrious existence on September 17. It is matter of pride and a privilege to take this opportunity through these columns to reflect on the respect and appreciation that he has received from on eand lal for his significant contribution to Carnatic Music. It is no exaggeration that the firmament of South Indian Music has been considerably enriched by Lalgudi Jayraman in more ways that one, for he is artist whose amazing vision has stirred the Sagara of Carnatic Music to introduce wider meaningful, dimension that have come to stay.

Sri Lalgudi Jayarama born September 17th, 1930, India) is a legendary violinist performing Carnatic music. In his own lifetime he has gained the title with his spellbinding technique and mastery over the instrument. In the sphere of Carnatic music, Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman is a name that is instantly associated with musical excellence in melody, rhythm, style and technique.

He is a fourth-generation descendant of Lalgudi Shri Rama Iyer (1807-1867), a direct disciple of St. Thyagaraja. His father Lalgudi Gopala Iyer was his guru who trained him in vocals and playing the violin since 1935. He is a multi- faceted person. Musician, composer, musicologist, organizer and teacher par excellence. He is known for his dynamic innovations in the field of music. Methods that he used in adapting and handling the instrument Violin to suit Indian Classical Music created a revolution in this field. At the early age of 12 he started his musical career as an accompanying violinist. Being endowed with rich imagination, quick grasp and an ability to adapt easily to the individual styles of the leading maestros in Carnatic music while accompanying them in their concerts , he reached the forefront in rapid strides. The rich concert experience he thus gained, coupled with sheer hard work and perseverance and the strong urge to give original expression to the musical ideas surging in him, he emerged as a solo violinist of rare brilliance.

A trendsetter in many ways - he has consciously evolved a style that distinctly belongs to him - the LALGUDI BANI. The unique Lalgudi Bani (style) is a perfect blend of precise bowing and accurate fingering. This is born purely out of his devoted rendition of any musical aspect with bhavam (feeling), where Sahithya (lyrics) played a very important role. His meteoric climb to the portals of greatness was largely due to his razor sharp mind, and most important an iron resolve and ceaseless perseverance throughout the long years to achieve exalted standards of excellence.

Even during the early days of his career, he had the capacity to appreciate the positive aspects in the art of great masters and merge them with his own artistic skills. An inherent, creative talent, a brain that had a computer-like storage capacity and the daring to coolly pick up all the gauntlets thrown by the main performer in the public concert, were the firm stepping stones for his having reached stratospheric levels of musicianship. In the words of George Moore, an artiste is either before his time or behind it - Lalgudi most certainly belongs to the first category.

Having been closely associated with all time greats like Mudicondan Venkatarama Iyer, Musiri, Ariyakudi, Semmangudi, Madurai Mani Iyer, G.N.Balasubramaniam, Alathoor brothers and others, he leaves and indelible stamp as an accompanist with brilliant artistic acumen, shrewdly anticipating the musical thoughts of the center stage performer, yet keeping in control the temptation to steal a march over him and that is what concert ethics are all about.

His supportive accompaniment has inspired the vocalist to further his efforts and accomplish something more than what he is normally capable of. The master of Laya that Lalgudi is , all the permutations and combinations, intrinsic swara patterns and solfa finales of the singer would without the bat of an eyelid fine immaculate, impeccable answering statements on the violin. Meeting the laya challenges of a Simhanandana Pallavi, the superb pallavi efforts of Alathoor Brothers and always confident of holding his own when the percussion department as spearheaded by veterans of the likes of Palghat Mani Iyer and Palani Subrmania Pillai become almost routine. That he came through with flying colors is a euphemism.

The melodic quality in Lalgudi's music is underlined in his singularly, imaginative raga delineations. His involved kriti renditions, in spite of the violin being only two dimensional without the advantage of emotional lyrics, reflect the vidwan's absolute knowledge of the sahitya.

For example, in his song interpretation of Tyagaraja's "Bhavanutha" in Mohanam, the bow would give a delicate stress to the syllable "ra" in the word "ramimpumu" consciously avoiding the force on the "na"in the previous word "hridayamuna". It is common occurrence that even a few vocalists sing he words as "hridayamu naramimpunu", a typical instance of how if the drops are taken care of, the ocean will take care of itself.

The concept of a Violin- Venu- Veena concert was started by him. Initially an accompanist too, he strived to elevate the instrument to a certain status that equals that of a vocalist's in a concert. If Lalgudi is on top today, it is because only the top will do for him. He is a musical genius. Whether it is a marriage concert, a temple affair or a Sabha concert, he gives it his all. As the main artiste in a concert, he treats his accompanists very well. It is to his credit that the ragam Kalyana Vasantham really took shape. The krithi 'Nadaloludai' in this ragam has become a firm favorite today.

He has given concerts extensively in India as well as abroad. The Government of India sent him to Russia as a member of the Indian Cultural Delegation. At the Edinburgh Music Festival in 1965, Yehudi Menuhin, the renowned violinist, presented him with his Italian violin, impressed by Lalgudi's technique. He has also performed in Singapore, Malaysia, Manila and East European countries. His recordings submitted to the International Music Council, Baghdad, Asian Pacific Music Rostrum and Iraq Broadcasting Agency by AIR New Delhi have been adjudged as the best and accorded the first position out of 77 entries received from the various countries during 1979. He was invited to give concerts at Cologne, Belgium and France. The Government of India chose him to represent India at the Festival of India in USA, London and he gave solo and 'Jugalbandi' concerts in London and also in Germany and Italy that received rave reviews. Sri Lalgudi went on a tour in the year 1984 to Oman, UAE, Qatar and Bahrain that was highly successful. He composed the lyrics and music for the operatic ballet 'Jaya Jaya Devi' which premiered in 1994 at Cleveland, USA and was staged in many other cities in USA. In October 1999, Lalgudi performed in UK under the auspices of Shruthi Laya Seva Sangham. The concert was a roaring success. After the concert a Dance Drama 'Pancheswaram', composed by Lalgudi was staged.

The genius has earned several titles like 'Nada Vidya Tilaka' by Music Lovers' Association of Lalgudi in 1963, 'Padma Shri' by the Government of India in 1972, 'Nada Vidya Rathnakara' by East West Exchange in New York, 'Vadya Sangeetha Kalaratna' by Bharathi Society, New York; 'Sangeetha Choodamani' by Federation of Music Sabhas, Madras in 1971 and in 1972; State Vidwan of Tamil Nadu by the Government of Tamil Nadu and Sangeetha Natak Academy award in 1979 etc. The First Chowdaiah Memorial National-Level award was given to Sri Jayaraman by the Chief Minister of Karnataka. He has also received honorary citizenship of Maryland, USA in 1994 and the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2001. National Film fare award for Best Music director for the film SRINGARAM in 2007.

His son G. J. R. Krishnan and his daughter Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi follows the footsteps of their great father and are famous in their own rights.

Compositions

Varnams

The varnam is the foundation of Carnatic music. By practicing varnams one acquires raga and swara gnana (knowledge) as well as tala purity. The tana varnam has only lyrics for the pallavi, anupallavi and charanam sections of the compositions. Other sections have only swaras. Musicians will usually begin a concert with a tana varnam. The pada varnam differs from the tana varnam in that lyrics are also set for chitta swara sections. Finally, in the daru or padajathi varnam jathi or rhythmic syllables are sung in addition to swaras. Pada varnams are often the central piece of a bharatanatyam performance.
Good varnams will strictly conform to the structure of the raga of the composition. They will give students of music much insight into the essence of the raga. Lalgudi Jayaraman has composed many varnams that have come to serve as guides to various ragas. By composing in ragas like Devagandhari and Nilambari he has disproved the belief that such ragas would be unsuitable for varnams. Some his most popular varnams are those set in Charukesi, Valaji, and Bahudari ragams

Lalgudi Jayaraman's Varnams

Tillanas

Lalgudi Jayaraman's Tillanas

Krithis

Lalgudi Jayaraman's Krithis

In addition to his krithis, varnams and tillanas, Lalgudi Jayaraman has composed and conducted 5 orchestral pieces for All India Radio's 'Vadya Vrinda' programme. They are in the ragas Priyadarshini, Nagaswaravali, Kannada, Amrithavahini and Mohana Kalyani. He has also composed a Pushpanjali in Gambhiranattai and a Jathiswaram in Rasikapriya. Both of these are compositions for dance. Recently, he composed the lyrics and music for the operatic ballet 'Jaya Jaya Devi' which premiered in 1994 at Cleveland, USA.

In conclusion, Lalgudi Jayaraman has not only made a mark on the Carnatic music world as a brilliant violinist but has proved to be a wonderful, distinguished composer also.