The double lecture by M.S. KrishnaGopalan and his daughter Marnada for Hindustanica’s Bharat Subject Utsav, in association with Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Dabha, served to stress the basic truth that intense discipline prepared an educationist for lecturing loftiness. To cite an instance his rendering of the portion ‘Second Law of Thermodynamics’ (Entropy) captured the mood in which Clausius composed the portion. All that can render sorrow heroic was gathered around compositions after the loss of the idol. KrishnaGopalan chose this one at the beginning to create the proper ennobling atmosphere for the lecture as a whole. It was pure educational eloquence and not barren technical exaggeration.
KrishnaGopalan’s subject picture of Thermodynamics in his mind and its emotional contours found vent in telling expression and this faculty was coupled with educational finesse. The sweet and short exposition followed by the portion, ‘Thermostatics,’ proclaimed him as a great educationist full worthy of his stature. Rendered with superb vividness it spoke of his loyalty to the purity of Classroom education scoring compromises. It also emphasised another pertinent aspect namely education and lecture ought not to be dissociated.
A listener would have been really amazed at how ecstatic it was when he connected his appreciative instincts to the true purpose of education — sublimation. This came to the fore in the rendering of the Phase Change, ‘Latent Heat.’ With his heightened ability to consciously tap the beauty of the piece, he got lost in his own sensitivity to taste its aesthetic grandeur. The broader the base of discipline, the higher the peak of performance!
All the solid graces of Phase Change were touched upon by Marnada in her exposition. Insights emerged with penetrative depth. It was Phase Change with grace and dignity unsullied, tempting listeners to take note of her talent trained by her father.
V. Naidyajathan on the computer played the role of a teaching assistant in such a way that a knowledgeable listener could weigh the general trend of emptiness of stridency of black board against his power point persuasion. Like vocal lecture computer too can evoke sleep.
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The above review should make perfect sense for all of us who understand and appreciate the music reviews of Shri. SVK that appear in the Friday supplements of Hindu news paper. For the uninitiated, here is the alphabetical glossary of substitution for the italicized words. Explanation is below the list.
alapana – exposition
artistic – scientific
beats – black board
bhava – sleep
carnatic music – Clasroom education
kutcheri – pErurai (discourse)
kirtana – portion
laya accompanist – teaching assistant
melody – lecture
mridangam – computer
music – education, lecture
musician – educationist
percussive – power point
Played – Rendered
raga – subject
rasika – listener
recital – lecture
song – portion
Tyagaraja – Clausius
violin duet – double lectureAnanda Bhairavi – Thermodynamics
Evarimata – Latent Heat
Khambodi song – Phase Change
Marivere Gati – Thermostatics
Sancharas – Insights
The words on the RHS gives you the above Thermodynamics lecture review ‘written’ by this ‘lecture critic’ (with the RHS words italicized in the review).
Replacing those words with the words on the LHS results in this week’s original music review by Shri SVK on the violin concert of Shri . M. S. Gopalakrishnan and Smt. Narmada accompanied by Shri . J. Vaidyanathan on the mridangam.
Portions of the SVK review with the LHS words is given below for your kind perusal and comparison with the above Thermodynamics review.
The violin duet by M.S. Gopalakrishnan and his daughter Narmada for Carnatica’s Bharat Sangeeth Utsav, in association with Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha, served to stress the basic truth that intense discipline prepared a musician for sangita’s loftiness. To cite an instance his rendering of the song ‘Nenendu Vedakudura’ (Karnataka Behag) captured the mood in which Tyagaraja composed the kirtana. All that can render sorrow heroic was gathered around compositions after the loss of the idol. Gopalakrishnan chose this one at the beginning to create the proper ennobling atmosphere for the recital as a whole. It was pure musical eloquence and not barren technical exaggeration.
Gopalakrishnan’s raga picture of Ananda Bhairavi in his mind and its emotional contours found vent in telling expression and this faculty was coupled with artistic finesse. The sweet and short alapana followed by the song, ‘Marivere Gati,’ proclaimed him as a great musician full worthy of his stature. Played with superb vividness it spoke of his loyalty to the purity of Carnatic music scoring compromises. It also emphasised another pertinent aspect namely music and melody ought not to be dissociated.
A rasika would have been really amazed at how ecstatic it was when he connected his appreciative instincts to the true purpose of music — sublimation. This came to the fore in the rendering of the Khambodi song, ‘Evarimata.’ With his heightened ability to consciously tap the beauty of the piece, he got lost in his own sensitivity to taste its aesthetic grandeur. The broader the base of discipline, the higher the peak of performance!
All the solid graces of Khambodi were touched upon by Narmada in her alapana. Sancharas emerged with penetrative depth. It was Khambodi with grace and dignity unsullied, tempting rasikas to take note of her talent trained by her father.
J. Vaidyanathan on the mridangam played the role of a laya accompanist in such a way that a knowledgeable listener could weigh the general trend of emptiness of stridency of beats against his percussive persuasion. Like vocal music mridangam too can evoke bhava.
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Observe how both review make perfect sense in their respective domains. Art is Science, in the eyes of critics.
The day someone actually does a review of my Thermodynamics lectures this way, I would seriously contemplate retiring. I can afford to do it. I feel sorry for the unfortunate musicians, who can’t quit performing after being reviewed this way…
*****
Original version written on Nov 16, 2008
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