For a musician, who is earnestly involved in music, it is not an easy task to juggle between rendering concerts across the world, organising concerts in the city and also write a book. It is believed that only musicologists who research in-depth about music can present their knowledge to the world in the form of books. But here is a musician, B K Anantharam, who has made an attempt to write a book, 'Karnatic Music in last in 100 years and future'. Written in Kannada, the author has given a detailed glimpse about the scenario of Carnatic classical music over 100 years ago and its evolution over a period of time.
Having born in a musician family, it was not a herculean task for Anantharam, who has rendered concerts for over 50 years, to gather information for his work. But it was painful for him to witness the changing scenario in the world of Carnatic classical music over the years with the coming of science and technology and its influence on music. According to him, the influence of science and technology has made music available on music lovers' fingertips. "A musician expects nothing but a good response from the audience for his music. Today, musicians are not able to establish that rapport with the audience as the turnout is too low when compared to the yesteryears."
He believes that it is Wodeyars of Mysore who patronised Carnatic music by opening music schools, publicising music and also giving out scholarships to the talented ones. "Today youngsters have least or no knowledge about musicologists like T B Narasimhachar, BVK Shastry and Srinivasa Iyengar's immense contribution to Carnatic music. Also, saint Purandara Dasa, father of Carnatic music, laid foundation for practical learning. As a student of Carnatic classical music, it is important for one to know their contribution." In his book, he has emphasised on the history of classical music.
Speaking about the liability of Sabhas over last 100 years, he said, "Earlier, music was confined to the elite, who enjoyed music in courts and temples. In this book, I have not failed to mention how Sabhas have taken the responsibility to promote music, many a times free of cost."
For Ananthram, it took at least one and a half years to gather material and give a different perspective to the stereotyped opinion. Speaking about the difficult phase while completing this work, he said, "Compiling information and giving a new outlook demands time and energy. Travelling abroad for rendering the concerts gave hardly any time to dedicate myself for the book. However, in the last four months, I made sure that sufficient amount of time and energy is dedicated to the book, despite rendering and organising concerts." In the coming days, he is planning to bring out the same book in Hindi and English to cater to a larger audience.
Sometime back, when City Express spoke to him, he recalled a memorable concert. “We played for about five hours at Philadelphia in USA recently. Organisers informed us that they have a dedicated audience and the responsibility was on us to fulfil their expectation,” he said.
Speaking about the novel initiative by Vamshi Academy run by Ananthram, he concluded, “We organise a programme called ‘Maneyangaladalli Sangeeta Satsang’. It is designed to create knowledgeable audience base and awareness in the city by going to the residences, schools and colleges. This imitative undertaken not only includes concert but includes seminars on music.”