Trio celebrates works of yesteryear artistes

Chennai Fine Arts, a cultural organisation with its own identity, is doing yeoman service to the cause of Carnatic music. It organises cultural events, with intrinsic values which are informative and educative.  To mark the ninth year of its musical festival, it had organised Vaggeyakara Vaibhavam, where the rare compositions of Margadarasi Sesha Iyengar, Irayiman Thampi and Chitra Veena Ravikiran, were performed by SAK Durga, Pramela Gurumurthy and Suguna Purushothaman respectively.Durga, a musicologist, outlined how the great Vaishnavite Sanskrit Scholar Margadarsai Sesha Iyengar used ‘Koshala’ as Mudra for his compositions. She further pointed out that the palm leaf manuscripts of the compositions were in vogue. Composing with blank verses was an eye opener for other Vaggeyakaras. She said – ‘Iyengar acquired the name Margadarasi or pathfinder because his compositions are rich in prosodic beauty, and even an acknowledged composer like Swati Thirunal, has referred to Sesha Iyengar in his work.Pramela Gurumurthy, renowned harikatha exponent and musicologist, referred to the compositions of Iraiyaman Thampi, one of the popular composers from Kerala, a vaggeyakara belonging to royal lineage. She said a majority of Thampi’s compositions are in praise of deities of temples in and around Kerala. She also mentioned about Attakathas which were songs for Kathakali, and were composed by him. The legendary senior vocalist, Suguna Purushothaman, referred to the compositions of Chitra Veena Ravikiran in her lecture. She mentioned about his composition in 35 Thalas, and revealed as to how complex thalas would not mar the beauty of the Sahitya and flow of music.Flutist Mala Chandrasekar in her lecture on ‘Vishesha Vadya – the Flute’, revealed the playing techniques and the therapeutic value of music. When she traced the origin of flute quoting the Rig Veda, Bhagawatha Purana, Tholkkappiyam, Dhivya Prabandam, Thevaram, Thirupugazh and Sangeetha Ratnakara, it was educative indeed. She also brought out the contributions of Saraba Sastri, Palladam Sanjeeva Rao.