Abstract

The main feature contributing to the richness of Karnataka classical music is its vast repertoire of compositions. The trinity- Tyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Shyama Shastry have contributed greatly to this repository through their compositions in various formats. Their works are exemplary in all the aspects and represent the lexical and aesthetic values expected of a high-quality composition. Mysuru as one of the centres of Karnataka music has produced many composers who have enriched the repository with their valuable compositions. Generally, they have also followed the path of the trinity, but human desire of creativity has led for invention of new formats, ragas, talas and many ornamental aspects, usage of language etc., here and there.

This article explores some of the similarities and differences in the compositions of trinity and a few significant Mysuru composers of 19^th to early 20^th centuries. They are Mysuru Sadashivarao, Veena Padmanabhaiah, Veene Sheshanna, Mysuru Vasudevacharya, Veena Shivaramaiah, Veena Venkatagiriyappa, C. Rangaiah, H.Yoganarasimham, Ra. Chandrashekaraiah, R.N. Doreswamy and Jayachamaraja Wodeyar. It is worth to note that, despite the strong influence of the trinity, each of these composers have left a mark of uniqueness in their works.

Key Words: Tyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshitar, Shyama Shastry, Mysuru, vaggeyakaras

Introduction:

When we look back into the history of Karnataka music, it is the valuable repertoire of compositions that stands out and marks its grandeur and richness. There is no doubt that the magnificent tree of Karnataka music has grown into a kalpavruksha and today it is acclaimed worldwide. The contribution of Karnataka music trinity – Shyama Shastri (1762-1827 CE), Tyagaraja (1767-1847 CE) and Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775-1835 CE), through their compositions have not only created the best pieces but also providing a well-defined and structured framework adhering to the principles of both lakshana and lakshya (theory and practice).  The trinity have set the guidelines through their musical works, which have become the unwritten definitions for vaggeyatva or the art of creating compositions. These have since then become the beacons of light, guiding all the future musicians.

Mysuru, being the centre of fine arts, has a distinguished place in the cultural map of the country. Looking back into the musical history of Mysuru, we come across many musicians and composers who contributed invaluable works to the repository of Karnataka music. Many of these musicians come under the shishya parampare or student lineage of either Shyama Shastri, Thyagaraja or Muthuswami Dikshitar. Almost all the composers of Karnataka music were inspired by the compositional style of Trinity. While some composers accepted the path of their predecessors in following the tradition, some others tried to exhibit their individual natural desire of creativity by experimenting innovative ideas in the field of vaggeyatva. In this background, here is an attempt to identify the similarities and differences found in the compositions of the Trinity and some select composers of Mysuru.

This article is focussed at the vaggeyakaras who stood apart for their brilliance, variety in formats and made efforts in incorporating creativity in their works.  

Scope:

In this article, the compositions of Mysuru vaggeyakaras who lived between 1800 and 1950 CE have been taken for analysis.

Limitations:

During this period Mysuru gave shelter to many vaggeyakaras. But, in view of the limitation of this article, compositions of eleven significant composers of this period are considered and only the special characteristics found in their works have been taken up for analysis.

Methodology:

Qualitative and analytical approach is employed. This involves the analysis of special characteristics found in the compositions obtained from manuscripts, other primary and secondary sources.

Analysis:

Compositional Style of Trinity

Due to the consequential works of the trinity, Karnataka music saw a new era and they took it in the path of divinity, knowledge, devotion and vision. They succeeded in providing spiritual experiences and rasanubhoothi to each and every one by their magnificent compositions. Though all the three were contemporaries, their composing styles were not only different but unique.

Shyama Shastri was adept in capturing the depth of devotion, mood of the raga and rhythmic beauty in his compositions. Majority of his compositions are in Mishra Chapu tala and he has also composed in viloma chapu (ta ka dhi na + ta ki ta). Bunch of his three scholarly swarajatis are a great contribution to music. His specialities include- liberal use of swaraksharas, creation of a new pattern called swara sahitya, presence of three or more charanas with the same notations in all his compositions, works in rare ragas such as Manji, Kalgada, Chintamani, samudaya or group kritis called ‘Navaratnamalika’ on goddess Devi and one varna in Anandabhairavi raga. Except the three swarajatis and a varna, all other compositions of Shyama Shastri are in kriti format.

Although Tyagaraja sticked on to the kriti structure, he demonstrated his composing skills by bringing diversity within the format as we observe in Ghanaraga Pancharatna kritis, Divyanama Sankeertane, Utsava sampradaya kritis and Kshetra kritis. He introduced a new ornamental aspect called ‘sangati’ which helps to explore the scope of a raga and the mood of the sahitya. By composing devotional and soulful kritis, mostly in traditional ragas and brought out the hidden beauty of such ragas. Tyagaraja also composed in some rare ragas which were mentioned only in treatises and stabilised them by bringing it to practical field through kritis. The three musical operas written by him are outstanding works.

Muthuswamy Dikshitar’s kritis are scholarly in content. They are exemplary with madhyamakala sahitya, prosody and rhetoric. His compositions comprise raga trayodasha lakshanas (thirteen features of a raga), alankaras such as gamakas or ornamentations, soulfulness and depth of emotion.  He has employed many rare ragas including Hindustani ragas, and set them in Suladi sapta talas. Deekshitar’s works are in different musical forms ranging from Varna, Daru, Ragamalike, Nottuswaras, Kritis, Manipravala kritis, Samudaya or group kritis like Navavarana, Vibhakti, Panchabhootha and Navagraha (Sampatkumaracharya, Ramaratnam 2000, 158-159).

Trinity spread their teachings of music, literature, philosophy and bhakti through their compositions and laid a firm framework for composing and their works became model to subsequent vaggeyakaras. Among the trinity, Tyagaraja had a greater number of disciples and the line of tutelage grew in branches and sub-branches. They followed the style of their guru without any change. At the same time, some of them did not limit to composing only kritis like their guru, but composed in other musical forms as well. This aspect has been carried forward by the future composers also including Mysuru vaggeyakaras.   

Mysuru Sadashivarao (Approx. 1790 -1850 CE)

Sadashivarao one of the prominent composers of Mysuru was the disciple of Walajapet Venkatramana Bhagavatar, an eminent musician and composer who was under the tutelage of Tyagaraja. Sadashiva was his Vaggeyakara mudre (Composer’s signature)and he composed Swarajathi, Tana varna, Pada varna, Kriti, Tillana, Ragamalika and Javali. Like Tyagaraja and Dikshitar, he composed Kshetra Kritis and also compositions in rare ragas such as Kiranavali, Chandrachooda, Jayantasena, Punnagatodi, Poornashadja and Balahamsa (Pranesh 2003, 69). His compositions, woven with the decorative aesthetics, such as yati, yamaka, prasa and swaraksharas are rich in lyrics with commendable music. Some of his compositions also remind us of the compositional style of Muthuswamy Dikshitar. In some of them we can see attractive swara sahitya.  In the usage of sangatis, madhyamakala sahitya, multiple charanas or charanas rich in sahitya he follows the path of trinity, but stands in contrast by bringing in poshaka mudre or the patron’s name in addition to vaggeyakara mudre and raga mudre.  

Veena Padmanabhaiah (1842-1900 CE)

He has composed Jatiswara, Swarajati, Kriti and Javali with the signature Padmanabha. Additionally, he has used poshaka mudre, kshetra mudre (name of the place), kuladevata mudre (name of the family deity) in his works. Along with known ragas, he has used rare ragas such as Satyavati, Sindhumandari, Shuddha velavali.

His Kriti, Sarasaralananunam in raga Todi, having madhyama kala sahitya both at the end of anupallavi and charana reminds us of Muthuswamy Dikshitar’s style. His kriti– Sri Herambamide, tuned to the raga Natakurinji reminds of Tyagaraja’s vilambakala kriti– Manasuvishaya set in the same raga. Veena Padmanabaiah has composed a set of five kritis on lord Rama called Padmanabha Pancharatna. Here the word Padmanabha not only means the Lord but also suggests his signature.

Veene Sheshanna (1852-1926 CE)

Veene Sheshanna was the disciple of Mysuru Sadashivarao. Though he has composed more than fifty in various musical forms with the signature Shesha, he is best known for his Tillanas. It is significant that the vaggeyakaras from Mysuru played a major role in contributing to the musical form Tillanas.

Like the Ragamalika Kritis of Dikshitar, Veene Sheshanna has composed Sapta Tala Ragamalika Geete and ‘Ragamalika Varna’. But, in contrast to the trinity, he has excelled in choosing variety of talas in his varnas, besides incorporating sangatis in Jatiswara and Tillanas. He has also made use of rare ragas and talas occasionally in his compositions.

Mysuru Vasudevacharya (1865-1961 CE)

Mysuru Vasudevacharya belonged to the shishya parampara of Tyagaraja. Guru, Patnam Subramanya Iyer and Tyagaraja were Vasudevacharya’s guiding figures in the art of composing. Vasudevacharya was called Abhinava Tyagaraja and the striking similarities between his kritis and those of Tyagaraja, could mislead one to believe that they might be the compositions of Tyagaraja (Sampatkumaracharya, Ramaratnam 2000, 400). A brilliant and famous composer, Vasudevacharya wrote many compositions in various forms such as Jatiswaras, Varnas, Kritis, Tillanas, Ragamalikas, Javalis and Bhajans with the signature Vasudeva and proved his competency in the field.

Like the kritis of Tyagaraja, majority of his works are on Lord Sri Rama, and there is ample evidence for the inspiration he had drawn from Tyagaraja in incorporating several Sangatis in his compositions. Similarly, we can find madhyama kala sahitya in many kritis. Interestingly, there are two types of madhyama kala sahitya in his Shankarabharana raga kriti – Sri Ramadevi. While the first madhyama kala sahitya is next to anupallavi, the second one can be seen after the charana. In the Atana raga kriti– Bhajami santatam, the entire charana contains madhyama kala sahitya only (Pranesh 2003, 69). If we observe his Tillanas, some are adorned with sangatis, a few others are embellished with chitteswaras. Along with the popular ragas, he has made use of rare ragas, such as Rishabhapriya, Varunapriya, Bhavapriya, Vakulabharana and also involved rare talas namely Mishra Triputa, Khanda Triputa, Trishra Rupaka (Pranesh 2003, 146). It is significant to note that many of his compositions became popular and brought name and fame to him during his life time itself.

Veena Shivaramaiah (1886-1946 CE)

Shivaramaiah, a disciple of Mysuru Vasudevacharya has to his credit of composing Jatiswara, Varna, Kriti, Tillana with the signature Shivarama. Along with this he has also incorporated raga mudre and poshaka mudre – Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar. As instructed by his patron H H Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, he composed Kritis in all the 72 melakarta ragas (Pranesh 2003, 187). He has invented a new raga named Swayambhu with three only three swaras – shadja, gandhara and panchama and composed three kritis and one mangala kriti in this raga, and exhibited his creative ability. The specialities of these compositions are, each one of these are composed in Karnataka, Hindustani and Western styles.  

Veena Venkatagiriyappa (1887-1952 CE)

Venkatagiriappa, a disciple of Veena Sheshanna has composed Varna, Kriti, Ragamalika and Thillanas. But he is one among the earliest composers who created a new form in Karnataka music called Nagmas (Prabhakar 2008, 67). These Nagmas are close to the Gaths of Hindustani music. Nagmas contain only swaras and are best suited for instrumental music. Venkatagiriyappa’s compositions are not only in Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada but his two Ragamalikas are in Hindi. In addition to the popular ragas, he has taken up rare ragas like Maheshwari, Shankarapriya, Sharadapriya, Lalithapriya, Prabhupriya, Ushapriya. Similarly, he has also used Hindustani ragas and talas. Though vaggeya mudra (signature) is absent in his compositions, raga mudre, poshaka mudre, kshetra mudre are incorporated in his compositions.

C. Rangaiah (1895-1984 CE)

Rangaiah was under the tutelage of Veena Shivaramaiah and Mysuru Vasudevacharya.  He composed Geethe, Jatiswara, Swarajati, Varna, Kriti, Kirtane, Pada, Ragamalike and Tillana with the signature Ranga. He followed Tyagaraja in the style of composing kritis and also proved his exceptional skills by writing three musical operas as well.      

C. Rangaiah’s compositions include Saptataleshwari geete which can be sung by seven singers simultaneously, each one rendering the same in different Suladi sapta talas and all coming together at the end. Panchajaati Ragamalika Varna, which has the special feature of change in raga for every avarta (rhythmic cycle) and change in the character of Laghu in Adi tala. One more speciality of this Varna is, it can be sung in Ratte tala, according to which, the purvardha, the first half, can be in any tala but the uttarardha, the second half, should be in chaturashra nade (Prabhakar 2008, 52-53).

He has to his credit of composing Kritis in all the 72 melakarta ragas, many kshetra kritis like Tyagaraja and Dikshitar. His imagination and skill can be understood by the fact that he conceived ‘Ekaswari’ (raga based on only ‘shadja’ swara), ‘Dwiswari’ (raga with two notes), Triswari (raga with 3 swaras) and Chatuswari or ‘Swarantari (raga with 4 swaras) and composed kritis in these ragas, which stands testimony to his creativity. For example, though, only shadja swara is used in Ekaswari raga the kriti – Vinayaka, set to Aditala, he incorporates variations of Madhya and Tara sthayis. Along with his vaggeyakara mudra, Rangaiah has also used raga mudra, kshetra mudra and prabandha mudra. Not only he invented new ragas like Bilvadala, Sukumari, Sharabhadhwaja, Shyamali, Tyagahamsa, Sayujyasadhini, but also brought out compositions in these ragas. He has composed some in rare ragas which were almost forgotten and out of regular usage. Rangaiah has also penned some simple poems in Kannada similar to the padas of Haridasas.  It is significant to note that Rangaiah not only composed in Dhruva, Trishra Triputa, Khanda Triputa talas but also in ancient talas like Jhompata, Dyakshara gati’s Sul Tala, in addition to the commonly used talas. We can also observe Chitteswara, Sholkattuswara, Chitteswara sahitya, Madhyamakala sahitya in many of his compositions.

H. Yoganarasimham (1897-1971 CE)

Yoganarasimham a disciple of Mysuru Vasudevacharya has composed Swarajati, Varna, Kriti, Ragamalike, Divyanamama, Tillana, Pada, Javali, Arbhaka geetam and Dhvajavandana with the signature Deva. In his Swarajati in raga Mayamalavagowla, we can observe that, every charana continues in the ascending order similar to Shyama Shastri’s swarajati Kamakshi in raga Bhairavi (Prabhakar 2008, 6). Along with the well-known ragas, he has composed in rare ragas such as Nadavarangini, Bhanu Dhanyasi, Gaganamohini, Pranavakari and Kuntalakusumavali.  In some of his compositions he has also incorporated raga mudra, devata mudra. In addition to compositions on various gods and goddesses, he has tried his hands on various themes like peace, music, flower and national flag, and thus stands different from the trinity as far as topic is concerned thus providing testimony for his out of the box thinking.

Ra. Chandrashekaraiah (1915-1999 CE)

It is understood that Chandrashekaraiah has composed more than 300 compositions comprising Varna, Kriti, Ragamalike, Tillana, Devaranama, Shishu geete, Nritya geete and patriotic songs in the languages Kannada, Telugu and Sanskrit languages. His vaggeya mudre being Chandrashekara. He belongs to the group of composers who have composed more samudaya kriti guccha (group kritis) like Sringeri Pancharatna, Tripurasundari Navavarana kritis, Srilalita saptatitama mela raga kritimanjari (group of 72 mela raga kritis), Saptayogini kriti guccha, Sangeetasanta Gurustuti Navaratna Ragamalika and Ragamalika samudaya kriti guccha containing Ragamalika, Talamalika and Gatimalika (Sampatkumaracharya, Ramaratnam 2000, 440-441).

He not only created new ragas like Sudhashruti, Ayodhya, Kameshwari, Bhandamardini, Arunambike and Shobhanasundari, but also in rare ragas like Manji, Pharas, Stavaraja and helped to stabilise both the lakshya and lakshana aspects of classical music.

He also incorporated raga mudra in his Kritis, which clearly shows the influence of Muthuswami Dikshitar. The compositions are rich with Madhyamakala sahitya, Chitteswara, Chitteswara sahitya at the end of anupallvi and charanas, usage of variious talas, literary embellishments like prasas at the start, middle and end of paadas, Taalaanga prasa, Pada prasa and Swaraksharas.

R N Doreswamy (1916-2002 CE)

R N Doreswamy a disciple of Veena Venkatagiriappa composed Jatiswara, Swarajati, Tanavarna, Padavarna, Kriti, Ragamalike, Tillana, Devaranama, Javali, Bhajan, Nagma and Stotra geete with the vaggeya mudra Laksmiramana. Most of his kritis are embedded with chitteswaras. In some kritis we find madhyamakala sahitya at anupallavi in some after charana. Among the fourteen Tillanas composed by him most of them are in Hindustani ragas. This apart, he has also composed Hindi bhajans. Inspired by his guru, Veena Venkatagiriyappa, Doreswamy also composed four Nagmas in various tempos- madhyama, druta and vilamba layas.

Jayachamaraja Wodeyar (1919-1974 CE)

The last crowned king of Mysuru kingdom, H H Jayachamaraja Wodeyar has to his credit of composing 94 kritis, all in Sanskrit. He was a Srividya upasaka and accordingly, selected his mudra as Srividya.  Along with the well-known ragas, he has woven kritis in many rare and new ragas like Bhoopalapanchama, Bhogavasanta, Bhanuchandrike, Balachandrika, Hamsanatani, Hamsavinodini, Neelaveni, Nadabrahma, Durvanki, Shivakambhodi, Suranandini, Shuddha Salavi, Vijayavasantha, Jayasamvardhini and also made use of talas such as Mishra Jhampe, Trishra Jhampe, Chaturashra Dhruva, Chaturashra Atta, Khanda Rupaka, Mishra Triputa, Khanda Triputa, Trishra Triputa and Sankirna Triputa.

We can observe that in few kritis, three to four charanas in Druta Kala as in the Kritis in Nata, Amrutavahini, Bhupalapanchama, Charukeshi ragas. These aspects are similar to the Pancharatna kritis of Tyagaraja. Again, in some kritis, subsequent to pallavi, anupallavi and multi charanas only lyrics are given in Druta Kala. Inspired by Tyagaraja’s kriti in the Malavi- Nenarunchi nanu, Wodeyar composed Shankari sadananda lahari in the same raga, tala and style. In many kritis he has followed Dikshitar composing lengthy charanas, madhyamakala sahitya, He has also incorporated raga mudra very intelligently, complementing the essence of the lyrics in most of his compositions. The raga mudre incorporated in the Pallavi of the kriti Brahmanda valaye in the raga Mand is a classic example to his exceptional skill.

Most of his compositions have madhyamakala sahitya. In some we find it after the charana and in some two separate madhyamakala sahityas is seen after anupallavi and charana. As an example, we can see madhyamakala sahitya after pallavi in his kriti in Jayasamvardhini raga. We can also observe the similarities to the compositions of Shyama shastri in setting the talas in atita-anahata positions.

In general, we can see the influence of the trinity here and there in the structure and embellishments in his compositions. But specifically in the usage of Sanskrit language, madhyama kala sahitya, raga mudra, mention of Srividya related details, selection of words, complexity in lyrics and laya, swarakshara, propriety in approach and emotional solemnity with which the compositions shine stunningly reminds us the composing skills and style of Muthuswamy Dikshitar (Pranesh 2003, 226). But contrary to similarities, we can also see that he deviated from the tradition of trinity in as much as by composing only in the kriti form to exhibit his vaggeyatva and by not repeating any raga.

Conclusion:

Apart from the vaggeyakaras discussed so far, many other composers coming under the tradition of Mysuru music, have contributed their works not only in rare ragas and variety of talas, but also have invented new ragas and contributed to the Karnataka music repertoire.  Kritis on Trinity, Acharyatraya (Shankara, Madhva, Ramanuja) and gurukritis have been composed along with compositions in special form such as Saptataleshawari and Nagma.

In addition to the traditional system by following trinity composing in Telugu and Sanskrit, some have shown their love and admiration to the regional language by composing in Kannada also. Some of them have dared to go on their own in selection of the subject rather than falling in line with tradition. 

The most important point that can be seen in this analysis is that all the subsequent Mysuru vaggeyakaras who accepted trinity’s works as a reference source for vaggeyatva, continued the structural forms unchanged till today. Even though some composers have chosen different formats, they have imbibed all the outstanding qualities of trinity’s compositions in their creative works in one or the other way, in line with the verse of Rigveda – “Ano Bhadrah krutavoyantu vishwathah” (Let good things come to us from any part of the world).  Some others, with the natural desire of experimentation and creativity, tried through different experiments with minor deviations from trinity’s tradition. So, rather than differences, there are lot of similarities between the works of trinity and the composers of Mysuru, except a few efforts within the tradition, especially in the field of creative aspects of performance.  But it is equally significant that despite the strong influence of the trio, each of these composers has left a mark of uniqueness in their works.