The Art of Carnatic Music, Vol. II

Tiruvidaimarudur Ramaswamy Mahalingam (1926-1986) who was popularly known as "Flute Mali" or simply "Mali" was born in Tiruvidaimarudur, Thanjavur district, the cradle of Carnatic music. He started learning vocal music from his maternal uncle Jalra Gopala Iyer, but when he heard a few boys playing the flute, he secretly started practicing it on his own. His prodigious talents and tireless efforts helped him attain proficiency at a very young age. He revolutioned the style of flute-playing in Indian classical music by introducing several new techniques that have now become common practice. He also redesigned the bamboo flute. He made the reeds of his flute thicker and the holes smaller, thus producing a rich tone. He also introduced the eighth hole in the flute that traditionally had only seven. Dr. L. Subramaniam, India's foremost violinist began learning the violin at a very young age from his father Prof. V. Lakshminarayana. His guru-shishya parampara can be traced back to the three greatest composers of the Carnatic music tradition - Shyama Shastry, Tyagaraja, and Muthuswami Dikshitar. He started performing Carnatic (South Indian classical) music at the age of six and soon gained immense popularity playing with his brothers in the Violin Trio. Even as a teenager he took a great interest in different forms of music and attained mastery over Western classical violin as well. Over the years, he has created the Global Fusion idiom and composed several crossover orchestral works but his primary focus has been Carnatic music. His mastery over technique, his sensitive musicianship and his intellectual innovations have enthralled audiences around the world. He has performed in all continents and is largely responsible for the international status that Carnatic music enjoys today. In his glittering career spanning over five decades, he has several innovations to his credit, including playing a varnam in 15 speeds, playing a pallavi in a rhythmic cycle of 21 3/4 beats, and improvising in pancha nadai (by dividing a beat into different pulses). T R Mahalingam starts the album with "Tulasi Bilva", a masterful composition of Saint Tyagaraja in the raga Kedaragaula set to Adi tala of 8 beats. The second piece is "Evari mata", an extremely popular kriti in raga Kambhoji, which ranks among the most important ragas in the South Indian classical tradition. This is also a composition of Saint Tyagaraja set to Adi tala. The third piece is the beautiful kriti of Saint Tyagaraja in raga Kapi: "Meevella gunadosha" set to Kanda Chapu tala of 5 beats. After playing the composition, T R Mahalingam and L Subramaniam improvise on the 5 beat cycle weaving a rich tapesry of notes in complicated rhythmic patterns. The final piece is a Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi in the raga Behag set to Kanda Chapu tala. The Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi is one of the most complex forms of musical expression in Carnatic music. This is the second of The Art of Carnatic Music series.