Articles on M. D. Ramanathan
M. D. Ramanathan
M. D. R.
M. D. Ramanathan
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Reproduced here for educational purposes only
His life
M.D.Ramanathan (MDR) was born in Manjapara, Palghat District, Kerala on 20 May 1923. He had his early exposure and training in music from his father, Devesa Bhagavatar, who was a music teacher by trade. MDR attended Victoria College in Palghat, where he attained a B.Sc. degree majoring in Physics. He was well known in college as a talented vocalist. During this time, Ramanathan continued to progress his music studies and after completing his degree, he was taken to Madras by his father to further his musical career.
This was also the time when Rukmini Devi Arundale had initiated the Sangita Siromani music course at Kalakshetra with the distinguished and respected Sri Tiger S. Varadachariar as Principal of the college. MDR auditioned for the course and was the only vocal student in the very first batch commencing in 1944.
Being the only student in the course meant that M.D.Ramanathan could receive extra special attention from Tiger Varadachariar. It is to be noted that M.D.Ramanathan is recognised as Tiger's most renowned disciple. M.D. Ramanathan held his guru in very high regard and always showed the highest respect towards him. Indeed, a special relationship between the guru and sishya developed with Tiger also recognising his sishya's talents. It has been said that MDR inherited even his guru's squint! This relationship continued for six years until the death of Sri Varadachariar.
After his graduation at Kalakshetra, MDR continued on at that institution - firstly as an assistant to his guru and later as Professor of music. He held this post, as well as being principal of the college of fine arts teaching both music theory and practice. Through his association with Kalakshetra he taught many students out of which perhaps the late Jaya Pasupathi is the best known.
M.D.Ramanathan's musical knowledge was highly respected among fellow musicians. He received the 'Padmasri' in 1974, the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1975 and the Indian Fine Arts Society's 'Sangita Kala Sikhamani' title in 1976. He was a member of the Madras Music Academy's Experts Committee for many years. He was coveted for the Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi award in the 1983-84 season but the politics within that institution did not grant him the honour. Some have suggested that he be granted the award posthumously.
After a long illness, MDR passed away aged sixty on 27 April 1984. His death was due to heart failure. He is survived by his wife and his adopted son (MDR's sister's son), Balaji, who was about 10 at the time of MDR's death. A memorial fund was set up by a number of musicians and music lovers (including Sankara Menon, T.N.Krishnan, K.J.Yesudas and T.V.Gopalakrishnan) to assist his family after his death. There has been a film made about his life but it yet to be made commercially available. I believe there are only three pre-recorded cassettes of his available (one starts with Mahaganapathim in Nattai and the other the Kanada Ata tala varnam. The third is a double album starting with Viriboni in Bhairavi and has a Pallavi in Sankarabharanam). (A short video of MDR is now available. See the Postscript.) His music was heard for many years as the first item of the day on All India Radio in Madras.
M.D.Ramanathan is remembered as a gentleman and a musician's musician. His dedication to his guru, God and music was below none and his music lives on in the hearts of his admirers.
His Music
The music of M.D.Ramanathan is quite unique. There is no one who has a similar style of music, a style that has captivated the hearts of many music lovers. A colleague of MDR (D. Pasupathi) notes that Ramanathan was a nadopasaka - one who worships sound/music. He sang music for music's sake and was not bothered by a lack of audience or criticism of his style. He also sang for his own satisfaction. His style was in striking contrast to many of his contemporaries and offered peaceful music rich with bhava.
Ramanthan's music was sober, serene and soothing. There was prasanthi in his recitals. is slow rendering not only gave him time for introspective exploration, but also provided the audience with the opportunity to receive the message and ponder over it. The atmosphere he created during a performance was comparable to the bliss one would get while seated on a river bank on a moonlit night. (B. V. Raman & B. V. Lakshmanan in Sruthi No. 8)
MDR's music is easily recognised. Perhaps foremost is the rich, deep voice. Next, is the tempo of his music. By and large MDR preferred the vilambita kala (slow speed), although it is wrong to classify his music as totally slow - he would often include a few faster items with speedy kalpana swara passages. Nonetheless, MDR knew where his musical strength lied and his deep voice was suited to the vilambita kalam and it is was in this that Ramanathan excelled. The combination of these two features makes his music very relaxing. It has been suggested that continued listening to his music can lower the blood pressure and relieve stress.
His raga alapana-s were characterised by effective use of gamakam. They were full of bhavam. Again, his bass tone complemented this facet. His raga essays were not long but were concise and precise. Close listening to these essays will reveal the necessary phrases of the raga, without going into gimmickry or wizardry. The listener was always clear of what the raga was and could get the sweetest essence of the raga. Ramanathan's alapana-s in Sahana, Sri, Ananda Bhairavi, Reethigowla and Yadukulakambhoji will forever hold a special place in Carnatic music history. These moving ragas took on a new dimension when rendered by MDR. Some other ragas that were his favourites include Kedaram, Kambhoji, Hamsadhwani. Like many of the old time greats, MDR did not venture into complicated arithmetic during kalpana swaras but was always had a good control of layam.
During his time at Kalakshetra, MDR taught many students. Since Kalakshetra was primarily an institution for dance, many leading dancers have had music training under MDR. I have spoken to several graduates from Kalakshetra and many have told me that at first they thought MDR's music was strange and unconventional (perhaps due to his mannerisms) but as they learnt more about the art they could appreciate his music more and could realise its greatness. Rukmini Devi too, was also full praise of MDR's music and told her students that it was something special.
MDR had a large repertoire of songs but also had his favourite ones. Nonetheless, every rendition (even of the same song) was different. I have heard his Endaro Mahanabhavulu many times but each is different. On some occasions he begins with 'Mahanubhavulu'. During the raga alapana of Sri raga preceding the Thyagaraja's Pancharatna, he correctly avoids the use Dha as this swara does not occur in this particular composition. In many of Dikshitar's compositions where a madhyama kala passage occurs he will sing the passage in two speeds creating a dazzling effect. This is the case in Sri Subramanyena Namasthe (Kambhoji) and Manasa Guruguha (Ananda Bhairavi). Also, in the Arabhi pancharatna, he sings the charana-s in two speeds as in a varnam. He has started Sogasuga (Sri Ranjani) with the line 'mridangatalamu'. While singing kalpana swaras for the Vallachi (Navaragamalika) varnam he has returned to the pallavi line in (Kedaram) on one occasion while he has used Kambhoji finishing phrases with Ma Ga .. Padasaroja on another. There are many more such examples of his imaginative music that other MDR fans can relate. I look forward to listening to his renditions because they always offer something different.
Stage Mannerisms
Some will say that MDR was more famous for his stage mannerisms and abhinaya (facial expressions) than his music. His facial contortions are well renowned. Together with his squint and kudumi (tuft of hair), watching MDR sing was not the most aesthetic experience. If you listen to MDR's live concert recordings you are bound to hear him chat and joke with his accompanists or the audience. In one concert, while seemingly rapt in the lyrics, he interrupts a neraval to explain the meaning of the line to the audience.
MDR would take his own time before a concert, between items and even sometimes during items if he wasn't quite ready. Perhaps his kudumi was a little too tight (or loose) for his liking and he would thus tie and untie it on many instances during a concert. The mridangist would always have to be prepared to play an extra few avartanam-s (or three) between sections of a krithi. Likewise the violinist had to be careful not to rush on to another line or sangathi as MDR loved to repeat lines several times.
His compositions
MDR has composed more than 300 compositions. This includes varnams, krithi-s and tillana-s. He has compositions in Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu. Many compositions began from spontaneous singing at temples. In some of his later concerts he would sing these compositions. The mudra (signature) he uses is Varadadasa (after his guru). Some of his compositions (like the Bilahari tillana with a line about Kalakshetra), have become standard items in a Kalakshetra dancer's repertoire. I have included the text of this composition at the end of this article.
Some of his compositions
Krithi Ragam Talam Language Anaimakhkattanai Manirangu Misra Chapu Tamil Aparadhamulellanu Gowrimanhohari Adi Telugu Bhaja Bhaja Manuja Behag Adi Sanskrit Bharatesanute Arabhi Misra Chapu Sanskrit Brindavanaloka Kalyani Adi Telugu Brochudaku Samayaide Begada Rupaka Telugu Dandapani Ramapriya Rupaka Telugu Dari Neevale Begada Rupaka Telugu Dharmavathi Dharmavathi Rupaka Telugu Durgadevi Sri Adi Sanskrit Emdukichapalamu Purvikalyani Adi Tamil Ennakutram cheideno Huseni Adi Tamil Gajavadana Hamsadhwani Rupaka Sanskrit Gurucharanam Kannada Adi Sanskrit Guruvaram Bhaja Manasa Dhanyasi Rupakam Sanskrit Hariyum Haranam Atana Rupakam Tamil Innamum I Chalama Begada Adi Manipravalam Jagadambike Kedaram Rupakam Sanskrit Janani Natajanapalini Sankarabharanam Misra Chapu Telugu Jaya Jaya Sri Vasanta Triputa Sanskrit Kamalakshi Sankarabharanam Jhampa Telugu Kanda unakkinda Thodi Adi Manipravalam Krishnananda Mukunda Kharaharapriya Misra Chapu Sanskrit Lalithe Natakurinji Misra Chapu Sanskrit Mahadeva Abhogi Adi Sanskrit Manamai Ramanai Sindhu Bhairavi Misra Chapu Tamil Manasa Sriramuni Bhupalam Adi Telugu Mayamma Ranjani Rupakam Telugu Narayananenru Sollu Desh Misra Chapu Telugu Neepadamula Nera Nammiti Chakravakam Jhampa Telegu Neranamminanura Hamsadhwani Adi Telugu Neranammina Anandabhairavi Misra Chapu Telugu Nivale Daivamu Yadukula Kambhoji Misra Chapu Telugu Nivamti Dhaivamu Kapi Adi Telugu Nive Dinarakshakudu Devagandhari Adi Telugu Palaya Mam Begada Rupakam Manipravalam Pavana Rama Atana Rupakam Sanskrit Padasaroja Mukhari Adi Telugu Padasaroja Saveri Adi Telugu Padayugamunu Janaranjani Adi Telugu Paduvom Parandham Purnachandrika Adi Tamil Palayamam Ritigowla Adi Telugu Parakelanayya Mohana Tisra Laghu Telugu Parthasarathe Surutti Rupakam Telugu Parvathi Parameswaram Natai Adi Sanskrit Purnatrayesa Purnachandrika Adi Sanskrit Ramam bhaja Arabhi Adi Sanskrit Raghuvara Bilahari Adi Sanskrit Rama Raghava Thodi Rupakam Telugu Rama Rama Nilambari Adi Sanskrit Sagara Sayana Vibho Bagesri Adi Sanskrit Saketanatham Bhaje Kamavardhani Khanda Chapu Sanskrit Sambo Satatam Kapi Adi Sanskrit Sami Ninne Kori (Varnam) Ranjani Adi Telugu Sankaram Sankarabharanam Rupakam Sanskrit Sarasijamukha Yadukula Kambhoji Adi Telugu Sitamanohara Kanada Adi Telugu Sri Ramadutam Darbar Adi Sanskrit Sri Valmikapuravesa Sama Adi Telugu Sriguruvaram Hamsadhwani Rupakam Sanskrit Srimohana Rama Mohana Rupakam Sanskrit Stanumalayum Kambhoji Adi Tamil Sundaramurthini Natakurinji Rupakam Telugu Thyagarajagurumasraye Kedaram Adi Sanskrit Tillana Bilahari Adi Tillana Kapi Triputa Telugu Tillana Kathanakuthuhalam Adi Tillana Sindhu Bhairavi Adi Tamil Velavane Sahana Adi Tamil Venkatesa Girisa Madhyamavathi Adi Telugu Vighnaraja Sri Ranjani Adi Telugu Vinave Gowla Adi Telugu
M. D. R.
Written by Composer Flautist G S Rajan, a disciple of MDR.
Reproduced here for educational purposes only
Fifteen years after the death of M D Ramanathan, fondly known as MDR, there is still no musician able to live up to the grandeur and grace that characterized the life and music of this eminent Carnatic vocalist. Even the bass voice and distinctive musical style, specializing in the slow tempo, have not been bestowed on anyone else.
MDR’s rendering of the sahitya (lyrics) of a kriti was always with a view towards preserving the meaning. He would never take a pause or go into an elaborate sangati (musical variation) at an inappropriate syllable. This habit is so common that it goes unnoticed among many Carnatic vocalists. Since the compositions of the great vaggeyakaras are in Telugu, Sanskrit, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam, only a very careful singer or one versed in all these languages, can avoid unintentionally distorting the meaning. Sometimes a single breath or an elongation of the syllable ‘a’ taken at the wrong time can bring about ludicrous changes in the spiritual meaning of the text. However, a strong criticism made of his treatment of the lyrics was that he would add words, extempore. For example, in a Tyagaraja kriti if the word to be sung was Rama, he would prefix Sri or Ananda to the name. This was felt to be taking liberties with the composers, whose literary gifts were undoubtedly above editing.
The quality of voice is of course Nature’s gift, but some musicologists consider it a failing that MDR who taught for decades could not produce a single disciple in the likeness of himself. But those who have had the opportunity of seeing him and hearing his recitals would agree that MDR’s music was not a baani or mould, but rather a totally distinctive personal expression, and it would have been impossible for such a learned musician to encourage clones devoid of the essential spirit.
MDR’s emphasis on the slow kaala pramaanam (tempo) gave his renditions profundity. Raga bhava, laya, the meaning of the song, all fused into one seamless, uplifting experience. Mathematics was not the challenge here. There was no scope for wizardry either in melody or percussion accompaniment. The challenge lay in maintaining the tempo and evoking the quiet rhythms of inner thought, rediscovering the essence of each raga, and its relationship with a kriti. Listening to his concerts brought on a feeling of peace. If one understood the sahitya of the compositions, the Puranas from which they were drawn stood vividly before the eyes, and the effect was akin to having participated in a religious ceremony.
All these qualities MDR was able to bring out in his music seemingly without any conscious effort. His was music for the soul. Technically, MDR inherited the musical parampara of the saint composer Tyagaraja. MDR’s guru Tiger Varadachariar was a disciple of Pattanam Subrahmanya Iyer, who was a direct disciple of Tyagaraja. MDR’s devotion to his guru was a celebrated example of the best in Indian tradition. As a young physics graduate in 1944, MD Ramanathan came to Madras from Kerala and joined Rukmini Devi’s Kalakshetra, where the legendary Tiger Varadachariar was part of the galaxy of eminent artists she had invited to her institution. Both Rukmini Devi and his guru loved him like a son and recognized his immense artistic capabilities. With their blessings, MDR’s arangetram (debut) was organized in 1949. Venkatarama Shastri presided over the occasion.
MDR spent the rest of his life at Kalakshetra, helping it to grow over the years and adding stature to its reputation. In his later years he was the Principal, and the post acquired dignity thanks to his personal qualities and his inner light. The fact that he was learned took nothing away from MDR’s capacity to make people laugh. His nature was welcoming and never intimidating. As a teacher he had certain strict policies, such as never allowing his students to take written notes in class. This was of course in the ancient tradition of the classical arts, which must be absorbed into the disciple’s experience and cannot be bound in a notebook. But if this seemed difficult, his entertaining way of teaching ensured that the student had plenty of tricks to remember the lesson by.
Sometimes he would sing the musical phrases in such a way as to give them a meaning in Tamil. ‘Ni dha pa ma’ became ‘nee thappammaa’ (‘You are wrong my dear’), and ‘ga ma, ga pa, ga ni’ with an innocuous nasal prefix (unga amma, unga appa, unga anni) turned out to be a list of relatives. Rather than giving his students a charted course to follow, he taught them to observe and perform sadhana and equipped them with the means to find their own path. Surely this is the greatest gift a guru can bestow. On the flip side, however, MDR’s refraining from giving his students a definite course, and the fact that he never presented anyone publicly as his disciple, led to a sort of vagueness after his death, which could be taken advantage of. Today many musicians claim to be his disciples and it would be extremely difficult to challenge them.
MDR did receive national recognition such as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the Padmashri and the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy Award, but being essentially innocent of the cut throat ways of competitive artists, and content to be a devout gentleman, he did not become a jet setting globe trotter whom it should have been India’s pride to present before the world. The Music Academy hid inside its regional strait jacket when the suggestion to honour MDR with the Sangeeta Kalanidhi award was rejected on the grounds that it should not be given to a musician from Kerala that year. (This about a man who made Chennai his home and graced its music scene for forty years.) The loss of course was entirely the Academy’s, but the distorted logic rankles. Chennai is considered the Mecca of Carnatic musicians, but if its apex institutions are free to adopt such blatantly biased attitudes, sad is the cause of our music with its spiritual heritage. MDR died the following year and the Music Academy lost its chance to honour the most luminous star in its firmament.
Today real rasikas of Carnatic music evoke his grandeur through the few available commercial recordings and AIR archives, nostalgically reliving some inspired moments of an inspired soul.
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