Thyagaraja kritis

Originally posted by: LizzieBennett

@Angel

Never thought a day would come when I'd see a post on Thyagaraja on IF, that too in the Bollywood forum 😃. So thank you for this! 😳

I grew up on his kritis. My parents were both heavily musically inclined, especially with Carnatic music. My mom used to sing on Kerala radio with her sis! My dad was a total aficionado and my bro has still preserved his rare collections on the reel-to-reel tape. Carnatic concerts were a staple in our family, we belonged to a Sabha that used to organize these routinely and we used to get reluctantly dragged to them.😆 Of course when I got older all that I'd imbibed growing up started to kick in and I began to actually appreciate the music for what it is. My early training in Carnatic added to this, of course.

We would all watch the Tiruvaiyyaru festival each year on TV.

Shankarabharanam was another favorite growing up, we used to catch the reruns each time it aired on TV, which it used to a lot.

All the songs you posted are perennial favorites. Remember how the comic relief sang "Brochevaravarura" in the movie? 😆

Here's my favorite Thyagaraja composition

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yObHAh_PFHs[/YOUTUBE]

And here's a modern instrumental fusion version that I absolutely love

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvppm1G8fro[/YOUTUBE]

Originally posted by: Angel-likeDevil

Oh daaamnnn... now I see where you get all your musical intelligence from, I'm lucky you are here ☺️🤗

that's really wonderful, LB..😃 To have parents so musically inclined, to have so much presence of carnatic music in your life since childhood :) I wish I trained too, I regret not doing so so much LB.. :(

Same :D Since I can remember, my parents used to play Thyagaraja festival every year.. but somehow, somewhere from late 00s in between we stopped.. My mom brought back Thyagaraja back into our lives last year, and she explained the meaning of some songs 😃 I'm not classically trained(trained only for one year when I was 5 and again, another one year when I was 11-12 😭) but when I watch those videos, it's really hard not to sing along :D I really want to attend a festival once in my life, and even sing with them, must be a magical experience! :)

I watched entire Shankarabharanam movie just recently, LB, always watched it in bits all my life - it's fresh in my memory :p ..but oh God, what can I say, one of the most beautiful movies ever.. i was tearing up when some songs(including Brochevarevarura) played, I realized how I'm emotional about those songs, and Thyagaraja songs hehe :p ..and those wonderful truths he says about music??

Loved the videos.. I've listened to other videos of Karthick before, he is good! 😃

Originally posted by: LizzieBennett

@Angel

Kanyakumari is terrific! I also enjoy T.N Krishnan and Lalgudi Jayaraman, both of whose concerts I've been fortunate enough to attend. I recently went to a concert by Lalgudi's children - Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi and was amazed at how much like their father they sounded. My dad's favorite violinist was MSG.

I remember being blown away when I first heard L. Shankar with Shakti. My bro and I used to think pure classical was boring and uncool and Shankar was this cool guy who experimented with fusion, so we immediately latched onto him! 😆 I still think Shakti is pretty cool and my experience of seeing them perform live at Pune University (minus Shankar plus Mandolin Srinivas) still gives me a high.

Now I appreciate the purists a lot more. I do think Carnatic musicians end up not being so savvy, so they lose out on appreciation from global audiences as opposed to Hindustani musicians, which is kinda sad.

I do hope these younger musicians change that.

Originally posted by: LizzieBennett

Yes he's good, isn't he? Have you heard Harish Sivaramakrishnan? I loved his RangaPuravihara. He does Carnatic rock fusion - quite interesting.

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3O0PhhD6B4[/YOUTUBE]

I get where you're coming from. I used to regret not being able to appreciate the music when I actually used to learn, it was more to please my parents. My dad used to make us recognize ragas and we'd get bonus points if we guessed correctly! 😆 I remember my grandma explaining the meaning of some of the songs by Thyagaraja. The devotion in his songs is so unreal, I just tear up!

I wish I could understand Telugu! 😔

Do you speak Telugu, btw?

The Margazhi poove/ Samaja mix was a good idea, but yeah, wish it was better executed.

I agree about Shankarabharanam - the movie. It still makes me tear up and the deep devotion to music is something we can all learn from.