An Incurable Romantic

Title: An Incurable Romantic – The Musical Journey of Lalgudi Jayaraman

Author: Lakshmi Devnath

Publisher: HarperCollins India, 2013 (First)

ISBN: 9789350291887

Pages: 434

Indian music has two distinct streams – the Hindustani of North India and the Carnatic of the South. In both streams, vocal music reigns supreme, but instrumental music has found its voice in the last century. Shri. Lalgudi Gopala Iyer Jayaraman (1930 – 2013) was a great violinist of South India who redefined the role of the instrument in traditional concerts. The violinist’s expected role was to unobtrusively support, creatively mirror and subtly inspire the vocalist, who is the leader of the recital. With his excellent solo performances, Lalgudi created a niche for violin, whose origin is Western European, but which came to be an inseparable part of Carnatic music. Lakshmi Devnath is a well-known writer on Carnatic music and other aspects of Indian culture. Her deeply researched articles find a place in prestigious publications in South India. She has extensively written on composers of Carnatic music, texts on Indian music philosophers and saints of India. The author’s ability to write with ease on a variety of subjects and for diverse age groups has won her wide admiration. This book on Lalgudi Jayaraman is undoubtedly her magnum opus.

Lalgudi Jayaraman hails from an extremely orthodox Tamil Brahmin family that traces its links to the eminent doyen of Carnatic music, saint Tyagaraja. Lalgudi Rama Iyer, one of his ancestors, was a direct disciple of Tyagaraja. The tradition of music runs unbroken in the family, which boasts of six generations of professional musicians. The maestro’s father, Gopala Iyer, was a strict disciplinarian and instructor, who had imparted the knowledge of music to Jayaraman and his descendants. Mastery of the art entailed respect from all concerned, including one’s own father, as noted by the author that Gopala Iyer, in response to queries on the whereabouts of his son from visitors, often replied “avar illai” (he is not here), the term “avar” being a respectful form of address. Iyer believed that unless he was seen respecting his own son, others won’t do it either! Lalgudi’s siblings and offspring also excelled in music. It was once a recurrent theme of Chennai concerts to stage Lalgudi and his sister Srimathi Brahmanandam duo in double violin stage shows. However, the family assigned the highest priority to music as illustrated in an episode in the book. One of Lalgudi’s sisters was ill for a long time and suddenly died at the moment he was about to go out to stage a concert. The family decided that he should attend the program as committed!

Lalgudi earned fame for his tremendous mastery over rhythm. He came out with impromptu, but creative responses to difficult pallavis recited by the vocalist. Cushioned somewhat by one of the grandest pedigrees in South India, his high-voltage entry into music transformed later into vertical takeoff mode. He was not only a violinist, but a composer as well, with that rare ability to compose lyrics and their corresponding musical setting. As is the wont of any violinist, he began his career as an accompanist. As his fame soared, solo appearances started coming out and finally in 1986, at the age of 56, Lalgudi ended his career as an accompanist. All his later performances were solo. The Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in Chennai has a prominent place in the artiste’s life, as they grew together in the 1960s. Lalgudi has given the largest number of concerts on the Sabha’s podium. He excelled as an orchestral composer and conductor too. Lakshmi Devnath summarizes the contributions of Lalgudi and he is remembered for “his pioneering a revolutionary style of violin playing described as the Lalgudi bani; his creation of sterling compositions that include his sizable musical; his discovery of a new rhythmic pattern; his success at getting the violin recognized as a centre-stage instrument; and his all-round efforts towards spreading awareness, appreciation and knowledge of Carnatic music” (p.337). Lalgudi was appreciated by maestros of world art. Yehudi Menuhin once gifted him a violin and he returned the favour with an idol of Nataraja carved in ivory.

Professional jealousy and unhealthy competition is present in all walks of life, and it is amusing to note that they are not entirely absent in classical music as well. Devnath presents a number of cases in which Lalgudi was at the receiving end of canards and machinations by a few personalities, who were otherwise eminent and well learned in their area of expertise, whether it is vocal, flute or violin itself. But she has carefully reproduced some of the allegations against the master as well, such as his supposed haughtiness and condescension towards younger artistes in later years. Lalgudi pioneered a synthesis of three prominent musical instruments in Carnatic music, namely, violin, flute and veena under the sobriquet VVV (violin – venu – veena). But after a few performances, this effort floundered on a ruckus between the performers on such silly accusations like the veena and flute was relegated to the background and the players were not properly paid. R Venkitaraman (veena) and N Ramani (flute) ranged against Lalgudi in this unfortunate episode. The Chennai Music Academy maintained the practice of awarding the title ‘Sangita Kala Nidhi’ to eminent musicians. Unfortunately, this award eluded Lalgudi, however much he yearned for it. The author points the accusing finger at the famous musician Semmangudi, who had his acolytes in the decision-making fora of the Academy. Not only that, when a politician mistakenly praised Lalgudi as a receiver of the award, Semmangudi publicly corrected the politician that he has not yet received the award. This infuriated Lalgudi very much and led to a rift between them. This was later reconciled, but Lalgudi declared that he won’t accept the award, even if the Academy deign to present it to him. After many years, a sort of rapprochement was arrived at, by the Academy gifting him a Lifetime Achievement Award. Lalgudi was severely criticized many times in his professional career. A few considered him as opinionated, arrogant and closeted himself in an ivory tower. He was aloof and his reticence, brusque manners and lack of social graces might be a reason for the misunderstanding. His tillanas were said to be slow. But, Lalgudi always kept a stoic approach to such allegations, remarking that it was up to the critics to accept or reject his work. The book mentions a number of artistes of Carnatic music, not only violinists, but flautists, vocalists, masters of mridanga and veena and even dancers. However, the name of another great violinist of the era, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, is never mentioned. It is strange and inconceivable that these two great maestros had no occasion worthwhile to recall in their decades of interaction.

The book begins with a Foreword by none other than Pandit Ravi Shankar, which is quite impressive. Lakshmi Devnath’s personal acquaintance with the great violinist has helped imprint a touch of intimacy to the narrative. Lalgudi’s aphorisms given in little boxes throughout the text help the readers focus more on the protagonist. The book assumes basic familiarity on the part of readers towards classical music. There is a glossary at the end, describing musical terms such as raga alapana, swara prastara, chittaswaram, violin’s pitch and kattai and others, but uninitiated readers don’t find much comfort in it. A compact disk is also provided along with the book, which includes samples of the master’s art that would be extremely useful for readers. There is a nice collection of photographs of Lalgudi and his family members, but none showing the young master with a kudumi (tuft of hair) and a kadukkan (ear stud) worn by orthodox Brahmins which was his usual attire in the early years! Going through the numerous references to musicians one comes across in the book, one can’t help wonder at the fact that Carnatic music is dominated by the Tamil Brahmin community. The long list of Iyers, Lalgudi himself being one of them, is mind-boggling. Perhaps this might be one of the reasons why classical music is unable to be appealing to a large section of contemporary society? Lalgudi had campaigned far and wide for enhancing the popularity of Carnatic music with his pollination campaigns, but he also doesn’t seem to have appreciated this point. The book is graced with a good index. The title of the book become relevant when we bear in mind the constant refrain of the maestro in bringing out the sweet aspects of music through his innovations which were deeply founded in tradition. His first and foremost love was for music and hence, he may be referred to as an incurable romantic. In real life, nothing could be further from the common meaning of the word, for Lalgudi never even accompanied women vocalists on his violin!

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 3 Star