Here are some articles on Mahavaidyanatha Iyer posted on rmic =================================================================== GREAT MASTERS - Two Star Performers =================================================================== This time, Mysore Vasudevacharya introduces you to vocalist Mahavaidyanatha Iyer and violinist Thirukkodikkaval Krishna Iyer. =================================================================== TWO great personalities, apart from my guru Patnam Subramanya Iyer, whose music left a deep impression on me, were Mahavaidyanatha Iyer and Tirukkodikkaval Krishna Iyer. Although I had visited Mahavaidyanatha Iyer a couple of times, I could not get as close to him as I did with Krishna Iyer because the former was by nature reserved. His affairs were usually looked after by his elder brother whose word was law. Vaidyanatha Iyer had great reverence for his brother. I remember one of Vaidyanatha Iyer's concerts at a sahukar's place. It was a big assembly of music lovers. The rich presents meant for the artiste were arranged in the centre of the hall. Vaidyanatha Iyer's brother was present. Iyer began his recital with the kirtane Chintayamakandamoola Kandam in Bhairavi raga, Roopaka tala. He wove a grand tapestry of sound around the phrase akhanda sachidanandam in the anupallavi of the kirtane. He rendered it for nearly an hour-and-a-half, casting a spell on all. At the end of the kirtane, the sahukar wished to listen to a kirtane of his choice. He placed a small note in the hands of Vaidyanatha Iyer's brother, indicating his preference. As soon as he opened the note and read the contents, the brother's face turned red. "Put on the cover for the tamboora and wind up," he ordered Vaidyanatha Iyer. The latter obeyed the command without a word. The sahukar was perplexed and the audience shocked. "What wrong have I done?" asked the deeply hurt sahukar. The brother turned to Vaidyanatha Iyer and thundered: "It is time you gave up accepting outside engagements like this. It is not becoming for a vidwan to participate in concerts if he has to surrender his freedom to sing what pleases him and submit himself to the dictates of another. Your music should hereafter be for your own enjoyment and not for public display." He left the assembly with Vaidyanatha Iyer in tow. That was the last time Vaidyanatha Iyer appeared on a public platform. There was a metallic resonance in Vaidyanatha Iyer's voice, which was helpful for singing passages in all three tempos and was equally facile in all three octaves. What was generally fast tempo for others was the slow tempo for Iyer. Despite such rapidib of movement, his pronunciation of akaras and swaras was crystal clear. DEEP VOICE My guru's voice was heavier but not capable of as much speed. That was why he specialised in the medium tempo to which his voice was admirably suited. He acquired mastery over this technique and became deservedly famous. I still remember what my guru used to tell me regarding voice culture: "One vidwan does not usually possess a voice exactly of the same kind as another. Therefore, there is no point in blindly imitating the style of another. Just as different ornaments are made out of the same basic metal like gold by different men to suit their own tastes, an intelligent artiste develops his own style of music, keeping in view the characteristics of his own voice. For instance, could I sing in fast tempo merely because Mahavaidyanatha Iyer sings in that tempo or would it be possible for him to sing in medium tempo exactly as I do? Such attempts will inevitably fail. Our voices being different, our styles have necessarily to be different. If the shishya has a voice exactly like that of his guru, his music will be a carbon copy of his guru's style." If Vaidyanatha Iyer's pace could be compared to that of a race horse moving at lightning speed, my guru's was the majestic gait of a state elephant moving in a royal processionthe very personiflcation of dignity! POLES APART There was again a world of difference between my guru and Mahavaidyanatha Iyer in the care they took to preserve their voice. The latter went to extremes in caring for his voice. As the proverb goes, he was afraid that the tiny flame of the rnangalarati would cause excessive heat in the body and a spoonful of teertha would bring on a cold! He stuck to a strict diet of rice and pepper rasam. He scrupulously avoided midday naps and practised brahmacharya. My guru was exactly the opposite. "Why on earth should one learn music if one has to starve like this?" he would argue. He ate well and sumptuously, without bothering whether the preparations were cooked in oil or ghee. He slept whenever he liked and as long as he chose to! He would go for his concert in the evening with absolute confidence and return victorious! He would ask with a smile: "Vasu! Who should dictate terms, the singer or his voice?" I fully endorse his deftness. Alone, when he played solo, he displayed a unique style of his own, superior perhaps to the styles of the other two, and sprang a surprise on the audience. THE MAESTRO Krishna Iyer was once accompanying Anantarama Bhagavatar in a concert at Tondamandalam High School, Madras. After a couple of kirtanes, Bhagavatar took up Kambodhi ragalapana. It was a fine performance, the beauty of which was enhanced by the violin accompaniment. Bhagavatar sang a pallavi and after a few avartas of neraval, left it for Krishna Iyer to continue. Unfortunately, right at that juncture one of the strings of the violin snapped. Bhagavatar thought that Krishna Iyer had found himself unequal to the pallavi and hence had intentionally broken the string as a cover-up. A mischievous smile on his lips proclaimed his thought! Krishna Iyer, quick on the uptake, blazed with fury. He did not care to replace the string."A single string is more than ample to deal with your wonderful pallavi. Please continue," said the great Krishna Iyer and managed the rest of the concert without even once touching the other two of the remaining strings! REMARKABLE GIFT Krishna Iyer was gffted with another remarkable ability. Sometimes, he used to arrive at concerts after the performance had begun. On such occasions, he used to take the instrument gently out of its case and, placing his fingers softly on the strings once, he would locate the basic sruti of the vocalist, and working from there get a clear picture of the swarasthanas on the other strings. He would at once join the concert, without bothering to tune the instrument. Only at the end of the varna or kirtane would he tune the violin as required. His control over the instrument was superb. In those days, the remuneration paid to musiclans for concerts was very meagre. Generally, the vidwans did not specffy their terms. They gladly accepted whatever was offered. I myself have seen even veterans like (Veena) Seshanna accepting engagements for five rupees' If under such circumstances Krishna Iyer was able to acquire property worth more than a lakh of rupees with his concert earnings, one can easily imagine the number of concerts in which he took part, and how hard he would have tolled. It was only natural that Krishna Iyer looked upon his earnings with great pride and took great care of them. But sometimes, he overdid it, which seemed strange and unnecessary to people around him. A solo recital by Krishna Iyer had been arranged at the palace before His Highness Sri Chamaraja Wodeyar shortly after I returned to Mysore, completing my gurukulavasa at Tiruvayyar. At the end of the performance, His Highness presented him with an expensive shawl and a thousand rupees. In those days, currency notes were not much in use and so the money was presented in silver coins, attractively arranged on a silver plate. Krishna Iyer's heart jumped to his mouth when he saw all that money. He was beside himself with joy and even forgot that he was in the presence of royalty. He began to examine the coins to see if there were any counterfeits. He was not very happy with two of the coins and said: "Your Highness may graciously be pleased to order for these two coins to be replaced." The maharaja roared with laughter. ===================================================================== Translated by S. KRISHNAMURTHY ===================================================================== Scanned from an article in the Alapane Series, Deccan Herald, Bangalore, May 1994 ===================================================================== In article <070302Z22111994@anon.penet.fi>, wrote: > Here is an anecdote from Mysore Vasudevachar's life itself. I read this in an old issue of (mid 50s) the Svadeshamitran magazine - it was written by MV himself. MV starts off by quoting a few Sanskrit shlokas about an ideal "guru" and "student". I remember one - a sort of etymologizing on the word "guru" - gushabdastvam andhakAra: rushabdastannirodhaka: andhakAra nirodhatvAt gurUrityabhIdhIyate Roughly, it means that in the word "guru", "gu" indicates darkness and "ru" stands for removal of such. Since (one) removes darkness, (he/she/it) is known as a Guru. Anyway, MV mentions that he had already had some basic training in music and had studied language, grammar, etc at the Maharaja's College at Mysore before going to TiruvaiyyAru for advanced training under Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer. PSI at that time had 2 other senior disciples (Paramesvariah and Kempegowda ?) in residence. MV's duties were to get up early in the morning and provide tambura shruti for his guru for about 2 hours. Then after the Guru finished his daily worship, he had to wash the puja utensils; after which, he would head to the Cauvery for washing clothes and such. Following that, he would sit in on the senior disciples' lessons until mealtime. Afterwards, he would do "pAdasevA" for his guru during the latter's siesta. In the evening, he would be around his guru when the latter sang or composed ... This went on for a while. MV started to get a little bit apprehensive about when PSI would actually teach him anything. Judging what was going on in his mind, PSI one day called him and said "Vasu, I have taken you to the steps of the sanctum sanctorum; all there is to do is to open the door"; and elaborated on the need to hear good music before beginning to learn it. Saying thus, he asked him to be ready early next morning. The next morning, PSI blessed MV with the words "sangIta viddyA siddhirastu" when the latter prostrated before him and started off by teaching his own aTa tALa varNam in Begada, "maracitluNDE". Within 3 days, he finished teaching the entire varNam. Then he asked MV to practice it in 3 speeds for a while. After that, he took up each Avartanam of the varNam and explained the rAga bhAvam therein, the key phrases, and the unusual. This went on for almost a month. At the end, PSI told him "Vasu, I have taught you whatever I know of Begada rAgam. You can now pick up other pieces in this rAga by yourself". Vasudevachar spent about 6 years thus, under the tutelage of PSI, before returning back to Mysore. -Srini.