A semmangudi tribute concert highlighted the distinct features of his Bani

Not all legacies are loud. Some Settle in Silence, in the grain of a raga, in the pause before a swara. It’s hard to descibe what semmangudi srinivasa Iyer’s music felt like unless you have sat in front of Him and listened. For there, us who have had heard Him through recording and anecdotes, tribute concerts are the closest we can get to his art. This month at the music academy, Yeet Another Soch Evening Marked His 117th Birth Anniversary, Featuring Aishwarya Vidya Vidya Raghunath. She was consompanied by rk shriramkumar on the violin, arun prakash on the mridangam and guruprasad on the ghatam.

The choice to open the evening with ‘merusamana’ in mayamalavagowla was not surprising. This Tyagaraja Kriti, which compares rama to mount meru, was one of semmangudi’s well-resignized openers, rendered in the Chowka Kala. For semmangudi, mayamalavagowla was never just a beginner’s raga. In ‘Merusamana’, He Demonstrated How a Foundational Rada Cold Carry Immense Musical Authority.

His rendition of the Piece was knowledge for its deliberate pacing, especially the notable Silence Between Pallavi and Anupalavi. This moment, a breath of space before the percussion joined wasted in this concert too. Shriramkumar’s violin paiused and so did the percussion, only to re-straight as the anupallavi began, creating a space that many rasikas would institute recognise as semmangudi’s signature style. The niraval and kalpanaswara at ‘gala munanu sobhillu’ followed. There was a clear transition from keezh kala to mel kala swaras, separated by a precise, short pause and the percussion elevating it.

Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The second piece, ‘neenndu vedakudura’ in karnataka behag, a composition Sieldom Heard in Recent Times, Especially after Semmangudi’s Era, BROUGHT A Gentle Lift to the Concert ‘ It’s hard to think of a semmangudi concert without karaharapriya. The raga was almost second nature to the tradition, it unfolded with an alapana that broughdt out its innate karuna rasa, with the singer and acompanists totally engaged in the music. When most in the audience expected Neelakanta Sivan’s ‘Navasiddhi Petralum’, The Singer Please Surprised them by Rendering Tyagaraja’s ‘Rama Nee Samanamevaru’.The niraval at ‘paluku palukulaku’ was seen in melody.