By Jayram Sataluri
To celebrate Dr. M Balamuralikrishna’s 93rd birthday today, I provide a brief analysis of a Dikshitar Kamalamba Navavarna Krithi he rendered at the Music Academy during December 1968. He is accompanied on the violin by T Kesavulu and mridangam by the southpaw Tanjore Upendran. I thank my friend Raju Asokan for uploading this priceless recording on YouTube.
Before I begin the analysis, I would like to share my observations on BMK’s voice. In the early recordings I have from the late 50s to the mid-60s, I can easily discover an influence of GNB in the young BMK. These aspects include the speed, the brigasand most importantly the voice which sounds almost exactly like GNB. In fact, back in those days, he was known as Andhra GNB!
Starting from 1966, I have noticed that the voice is starting to break free from the GNB shackles. It’s starting to sound more assertive and gaining a bit of power. He has gradually slowed down his renditions and focused on bringing more variety in each ragam, which brings a freshness that remained until his passing.
In 1967, he starts incorporating “Hari” in his alApanas. Here his sthAyis are becoming stronger and although he is not able to hit the lowest Sa, his mandra sthAyi has gained more depth. His tara sthAyi is more pronounced.
It is in 1968 where I feel his voice has become “the voice” which has regaled us for long. The voice is clear and at his command; the GNBness is fading away. His 3-octave range or ThristhAyi is more pronounced here and though he has some difficulty hitting the lowest Sa (he can briefly touch it for a sec), he can hit the atitAra (highest Sa) without much struggle. His briga and gamaka control is strong. He is even more risk taking here; when something doesn’t work the first time, he tries again, and it works the second time around. He is bringing in new permutations and combinations which are completely different than what the past masters have done.
Though the recording starts at an “anticlimax”, where he is in the middle of the alapana, the listener is immediately drawn into the craftiness of Kalyani. BMK effortlessly goes through the octaves like you’re on a magic carpet ride. We are enjoying every moment of it and don’t want it to end. Every time I listen to BMK render Kalyani, he brings a different dimension to it that makes me love it even more.The veteran violinist T Kesavulu plays a short and appropriate alapana without spoiling the mood.Then BMK immediately launches into the krithi of Dikshitar and excellently expresses the vaggeyakkara’s Sanskrit sahitya with such delicate care; it is like he is personifying Dikshitar himself! When he renders the anupallavi, “kamalAvANI sEvita pArSvAM kambujaya grIvAM nata dEvAM kamalA pura sadanAM mRdu gadanAM kamanIya radanAM kamala vadanAm”, one can easily visualize Dikshitar’s praising of Kamalamba. It is even better during the long charanam. The small neraval at “nirvana nija sukha pradAyinIm nityakalyANIM kAtyAyanIm” is splendid and “SarvANIM madhupa vijaya vENIM sad-guruguha jananIM niranjanIm” is rendered with great gusto.
Following the krithi is the swaraprastara and at this point BMK goes into celestial mode, taking us all up with him. At one point, he is singing swarams for 7 minutes nonstop with Upendran’s accompaniment; the vocal support and violin are in the background focusing on the Antara Gandharam. If I keep writing about the 7 min swaraprastara, it’ll become 7 pages or even into a novel that few people will read since no one reads anymore! T Kesavulu’s turn is amazing; it is completely his own creation. He goes the swaraksha path by ending on each successive note instead of keeping uniform with Antara Gandharam. One can hear BMK appreciating it very much. The veteran’s swaraprastara end is fabulous as it is different from BMK’s and yet maintains the same mood throughout.
As for Tanjore Upendran, the initimable maestro’s thani is great as always.He was one of those unique mridangam players who would experiment with all the gathis, especially sankeerna. When he accompanied BMK, he would take his playing to another level altogether. His playing during the tisra portion is neat and you can hear a bit of sankeerna and misra too. His farans is fiery, mohara is magnificent and korvai is neat. I will leave it to percussion experts like Venky Ramachandran to expound more.
As I write this, I am happy that BMK’s music is still appreciated today ever since he departed the world in 2016. Many of the younger generation have started admiring and appreciating his music; some younger musicians have started rendering his compositions in their concerts. And yet, as my late friend, a BMK Bhakth proclaimed on WhatsApp, “I have been listening to his music since 1962 and to me he is the greatest musician in the 20th century. Nobody has surpassed him in the past and no one will in the future. Not Semmangudi, not Lalgudi, not MSG, not GNB, and especially no one from the younger generation. He is supreme; everyone else is subservient to him. And that’s how it should be.”