Veena Chakravarthy S.Balachander In Concert - RAGAM-THANAM-PALLAVI in Ragam SRI
Veena Vidwan S. BALACHANDER (18 Jan 1927 - 13 Apr 1990) was one of India's greatest musicians and foremost exponent of the Veena. S. BALACHANDER's playing ranged from the subtle to the extravagant and always compelled attention. He did not care to win you over; he overwhelmed you. His distinctive, unique and technically challenging style reflected tireless and intense self-study and effort for musical self-expression. That made his music very original and every concert of his an exciting adventure into new realms of aesthetic discovery. And then, you awoke to the originality of a truly creative mind, powerful in its musical exploration. The characteristic feature of the SB Style of Veena playing was the production of an array of musical passages or "sangathis" with a minimum of plucking and noted for unrivalled improvisational brilliance, virtuosity, power and gentle tenderness too.
In this excerpt from a concert, S. BALACHANDER renders a Ragam-Thanam-Pallavi in Sri ragam. The maestro, accompanied by violin, commences with a contemplative alapana of the nuances of ragam Sri and moves to Thanam format replete with stunning virtuosity. The artistes' flights of fancy take the gripping concert through a scintillating ragamalika-thanam of Kedaram, Useni and Hamsaanandhi before returning to Sri. The elegant Pallavi that follows. in which mridangam joins, is set to Chathusra Jathi Triputa (Adhi) thalam (2 kalai) starting on 'Samam' (eduppu).

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