M D Ramanathan - Kharaharapriya Alapana - Centennial Tribute

I bow down to the musician and artist who was almost single-handedly responsible for opening all kinds of gates and windows in my musical journey. Thanks for showering the firmament of Karnatik Music with such fresh flavours and deep-rooted classicism with a tinge of wildness! Remembering the nights and days I have spent just in awe of your creativity oftentimes set in the unknown wilderness of unpredictable yet beautiful and uplifting musical woods.

As the master of Kharaharapriya, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, introduces you to this alapana in Kharaharapriya that is as abstract and creative as it can get, sit back, and brace yourselves to meditate upon this piece of art.

"Though we say alapana is a free form of music and one can do anything within the raga, it is hardly the case. We start, go up the octave, come down, maybe go down further, and end. Each phrase is like a stick in a ladder. But to jump out of that ladder and sing a raga for just what it is (not for a performance) and develop phrases with literally no scalar orientation is so mindblowing." - My dear friend Shrikhar's thoughts on this alapana which I completely concur with.

For example, MDR developes phrases around the motif "SSND" and plays with that, then suddenly comes to "GRDNGRGS" (a classic MDR Kharaharapriya phrase which I have never heard anyone else singing) with no pressure to go up or something.

This alapana is so special since there seems to be absolutely no format or agenda in MDR's mind. It's just all about the raga that he is engrossed in. One phrase leads to the next, and the artist himself is stunned along the way at what he stumbles upon each time there is a twist or a turn that the sound of the raga generates. The artistic endeavour of creation is oftentimes a trained and informed accident.

This alapana was taken from MDR's 1968 Navaratri Mandapam concert with Lalgudi Jayaraman on the Violin and Vellore Ramabhadran on the Mridangam. Uploaded for the sheer joy of sharing!