CHENNAI: The evolution of world music through the years is immense. You may feel that, that has everything to do with the advent of the internet era. However, for something as enriching as music, it is easy to cut across cultures even without the internet, for world music has evolved through the integration of like minded people to make the entire globe a single unit that believes in indiscriminate music.
Collaborations began in the pre-independence era and things have evolved ever since. Be it orchestral music or western classical influences in Indian classical music, there has fusions of different kinds. Chennai being the hub of carnatic music has seen several historic events in the evolution of music as well.
1820
Muthuswami Dikshithar was inspired by orchestral music and western classical music that most of his compositions follow the rules of English note making. Songs such as Sakthi Sahitha Ganapathim follow the rules of English note making.
1824
Baluswami Dikshithar, brother of Muthuswami Dikshithar, a famous carnatic music composer was introduced to western classical music, an European orchestra, by Muthukrishna Mudaliar, which sparked his interest to learn more about the one instrument he was passionate about- violin. The violin is an indisposable instrument in carnatic music now, but to know that its roots are from a country that had absolutely nothing to do with carnatic music just appalls us, as the blend of the instrument without tampering the rules of carnatic music is more than just fitting. Violins thus replaced veenas soon.
1936 to 1950: Ellis R Dungan was a filmmaker who made a list of Tamil movies without knowing the language. Dungan, has contributed classics to the industry and the music was commendable. There were western techniques used, and MS Subbulakshmi was cast to play Meera Bai, in the movie Meera thus coming up with 15 great songs that had brilliant orchestration. Orchestral music, which was dormant for a very long time, was at its peak when Dungan started making movies to encourage Indian orchestral music.
1952
The beginning of an era that revolutionised orchestral music. After assisting SM Subbiah Naidu, MS Viswanathan realised that he had the capability to compose music. He then started working with CR Subburaman and played the harmonium. After Subburaman’s death, Viswanathan along with Ramamoorthy, his lead violinist and worked on the incomplete films of Subburaman. He worked on live recording techniques with a huge orchestra, where there were no multiple takes or any scope to digitise and correct. Vishwanathan Velai Vendum, (Kadhalikka Neram Illai, 1964) has been noted for it’s orchestral arrangement.
1958
T Viswanathan, the man who took Indian music abroad, studied ethnomusicology in the University of California. He met Jon Higgins, whom he accepted as his sishya and taught him Carnatic music. He was the pioneer to revolutionise Indian music, especially carnatic music abroad and give it the recognition it requires.
1960s
Jon B Higgins, the ‘sobriquet Bhagavathar’ founded the Indian music studies programme in Toronto’s York University. Popularising carnatic music abroad, Higgins was in awe of India’s culture and learnt carnatic classical music and has his own renditions of Thyagaraja kritis. His famous renditions include Endaro and Krishna Nee Begane.
1993
VS Narasimhan joined the film industry with sound knowledge of western and carnatic violin, after which he started Madras String Quartet with his fellow musicians, which performed orchestral western classical music with a combination of carnatic with western harmonic principles. Ever since the advent of Madras String Quartet, several strings orchestras and orchestral performances have been established.