Shubhapantuvarali & Bhairavi: A Concert of Rāga Ālāpana for 2 Tyagaraja Kritis - M Balamuralikrishna

Dr. M Balamuralikrishna (BMK) began a rāga ālāpana in a concert, at an overpacked music sabha, on a Sunday afternoon. I, per chance, found some space to squeeze myself to squat near the dais. As a result, I was amidst some distinguished connoisseurs of music and music critics. They all looked like they belonged to some elite group, for a novice rasika like me; I was delighted that I ended up there. It was the time when I was attempting to learn and understand music only because of one reason – BMK, the musician par excellence. Learning music meant to adore its maker. It was probably in the mid-1970s and the rāga that commenced to flow from the maestro was already creating inquisitiveness in me as I could not identify it. My curiosity got the better of my teenage patience. I mustered courage and politely leaned towards the elite group and asked in a whisper, “Is this Shubhapantuvarāli?” A kindly looking elderly gentleman, looked compassionately at me and said in a whisper, “Listen to him some more, why hurry? When he (BMK) himself is not in a haste to reveal the beauty of it?” ✅ This incident, though I perceived it differently then, had actually helped me to grasp the idea of the vastness (Ananta) of music. Also, it gradually dawned upon me that if something is limitless, then its components too must be having an infinite personality. ✅ Being aware of the comprehensiveness of the components of music has also revealed such aspects in abundance in the raga ālāpana, kriti rendition and svara-vinyāsam in Muraligānam which shifted my paradigm towards the limitless possibility of a rāga when handled by a maestro like BMK. ✅ BMK in an interview has mentioned that the quintessential part of our music is rāga ālāpana. We observe his penchant for aesthetics has always found a creative form and a beautiful expression in the rāga developments explored by him. ✅ The mastery of rāga development seems to happen in multiple levels. BMK’s approach to visualise the form of a rāga could be like a navigator exploring new waters, complemented by his skilful use of instrumentation. Once the form is seen by him, he weaves a tapestry with his imagination and possibility as the warp and woof in revealing the beautiful designs envisaged by him. The exploration of new waters can begin from anywhere from the shore-line and the tapestry too can be weaved from any of its edges and so does the maestro in his rāga development. ✅ The radio concert presented here is one such rare broadcast of déjà vu of rāga development. It is also an example of a blend of all the higher order aesthetics, manifested as rāga ālāpana. In this radio programme, only two pieces are presented, each running approximately to about 30 minutes. BMK renders two Tyāgarāja kritis – 00:00 - Welcome to the album " Shubhapantuvarali & Bhairavi" 00:06 - Announcement 00:25 1️⃣ “Né pogadakunte in Shubhapantuvarāli” and 30:12 2️⃣ “Sri Raghuvara sugunālaya in Bhairavi” with the main focus on raga ālāpana. BMK is accompanied by Sri. M A Sundareswaran (violin) and Sri. T V Gopalakrishnan (mridangam). Enjoy listening to the concert of rāga ālāpana of Shubhapantuvarāli and Bhairavi. 🙏🏻 Acknowledgements: 🙏🏻 My sincere thanks and appreciation to Sri. L Vasudev for curating the recording and sharing the cassette tapes and to Sri. Ravi Joshi for excellent work of digitisation of tapes.