BANGALORE: Just as in Bharatanatya, Carnatic classical music too has a distinct style called the Mysore bani, which is a pleasing and tranquil style. Although bani does not feature much in the Carnatic pedagogy, unlike the gharanas in Hindustani music, the distinct characteristics and styles of expression of the Mysore bani, as exemplified in the veena, is one of the most reposeful styles. The veena itself is an ancient instrument known for lending itself well to deep gamakas. But it’s popularity is waning, its unwieldy size, expensive maintenance, distortion of its unique sound caused by contact mikes, and the exactitude demanded in mastering the instrument, being some reasons for it.
These are some aspects of Carnatic music that dominate one’s thoughts, even as the birth centenary of Vainika L Raja Rao will be celebrated at the Ravindra Kalakshetra on July 5.
Raja Rao enjoys the singular distinction of having been a scholar, author, composer, musicologist, and a visionary, whose being a concert artiste was just one aspect of his multi-faceted musical pursuits. Perhaps there is no other musician, especially of his era, who has contributed in such depth and range to Carnatic music. One of the legacies that Rao has left behind will literally echo at the Kalakshetra on Sunday, when well-known vainika Suma Sudhindra, one of his wards, will, in the fitness of things, inaugurate the celebrations, and some other of Rao’s students lead by his daughter Veena Kinhal, will take to stage as homage to their teacher.
Rao’s pride in Kannada, sans parochialism, is legion. With an appeal for both the intellect and emotions, Rao’s pioneering contribution has also been in the field of “Kannada Sangeetha”— Haridasa kritis, Shivacharanas and Basavanna’s vachanas, set to musical notations, were published decades ago by none other than the Kannada Sahitya Parishath. This body of work remains a landmark in taking Kannada literature and classical music to the laity. Rao’s books on musicology, especially when no such books were available in Kannada, are another of his meaningful gifts to music.
It would not be wrong to categorise Rao as one who strove for the cause of “Kannada music”, his Mysore bani being what he automatically imbibed from his father, Lakshminaranappa, a foremost ward of Veene Seshanna and Mysore Vasudevacharya, and a court musician of Nalvadi Krishnaja Wodeyar. This was the hoary tradition Rao inherited. Yet, ironically, his aspiring for the patronage of the Wodeyars, never came about. But his versatility was evidenced in his varied compositions, mostly in Kannada, his monumental publishing work, and his popularising of Kannada verse. The centenary celebrations, got up by the Raja Rao Memorial Trust, will also see the release of a CD of some of his compositions.
The function is at 10.30 a.m.