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A Handful of Piano Picks(26) - "The Finale!"

 
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N Y MURALI



Joined: 16 Nov 2008
Posts: 920
Location: CHENNAI

PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 2:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear Ram,
Your writing is like Sunaami. I got sucked in to it. My mind is not working. But I want to reply. Give my some time. Good that you had given the list of all 26. Let me read all that.

N Y MURALI
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msvramki



Joined: 18 Dec 2006
Posts: 418
Location: Chennai

PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 2:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

F A N T A S T I C Ram, your concluding articules in Piano Series !

" MSV undefined Music " ! That is the only way anyone could ever describle his creations !! Well said !!

Like MSV, who has great rasikas (trying to understand his music mapping with many definitions, but failing finally !), you too have many who constantly wait for your postings ( Iam one among them !).

Your postings should continue, may be under some other topic, trying to define an un-defined, but beautifully !

All the best

DAD

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baroque



Joined: 15 Feb 2007
Posts: 478
Location: San jose, CA, U.S.A

PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 8:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Amazing Ram.

Most of the songs you mention here are very familiar and evergreen.

'வடிவேலு பாணியில் "என்ன வ்ளாயாட்டு இது!!!" என்று தான் தோன்றுகிறது!!' Very Happy Smile

LOVED IT. வடிவேலு never ceases to bring a smile to my face Very Happy .

இதுவரை படிச்சாச்சு ...return at the end of the day for the rest.

Listing of all the songs at the end of the article.....Very thoughtful of you. thanks.

vinatha.

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madhuraman



Joined: 11 Jun 2007
Posts: 1226
Location: navimumbai

PostPosted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 6:09 am    Post subject: Articles and Writings by Fans Reply with quote

Dear Mr.Ram
Another excellent piece of a crowning work. Besides, the narrations on the beauty of compositions at all apt locales, your effort to summarize MSV-THE MUSICIAN stands vividly tall. The simultaneous complements of 'his' music are beyond the limitations of human effort of description. The simultaneous complements I refer to are beauty and pity. Beauty is- the enjoyment that comes to everyone in a unique way and the pity is none can pick the nuances that went into the synthesizing the seamless blend of melody, synchrony, emotion, clarity and above all a non-repetitive assemblage in his compositions. His non-repetitive compositions have complimented MSV by his fans' listening to them repeatedly for the nth time with only amplified desire to hear more. We fans know every subtle note in all his popular pieces. There is an element of 'expected ecstasy' in listening to the 'known'numbers that sustain the thrill even after decades. It is a fine baffle, as it bewilders the experts and novice alike by the sheer variety and richness -all by human effort as to how this composer keeps coming out with 'timely' timings in orchestration, singing nuances with top priority to words and emotions. At last to settle for the expression that MSV UNDEFINED THE MUSIC stands simultaneous testimony to the prowess of the legend and to your fine sense of judgment as an analyst. May GOD bless you both. Please make a CD of your write-ups on Piano songs, so that in future, it may serve a different purpose as a sort of 'Review' of a select territory in MM's repertoire. Thank you for the grand work and the opportunity for us to enjoy. Warm regards. Prof.K.Raman Madurai.
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Vatsan



Joined: 20 Jan 2007
Posts: 352

PostPosted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 3:12 pm    Post subject: Piano Reply with quote

Ram, I managed to get into the site magically (past the "Websense" nonsense in Cognizant) and what do I find here (NY Murali sounded me off on this article actually) !!! Brilliant write-ups. Keep going, your writing style in Tamil has the lucidity of a MSV melody.

There are several composers who consciously reconcile Carnatic music rules with those of Western Classical and in their "holier than thou" interviews brag about how they perceive music as music and not as Carnatic and Western Classical. In my firm opinion, no composer in India other than MSV can say that. To MSV, it is a single piece. How else would you explain the sheer seamlessness ?!!? You quoted "Hello My dear Wrong number", a perfect example, or one of the perfect examples. "kAveriyil meenO" is all "light", while "dEva magaL thAnO" drips with classicism. Furthermore, "porumaiyudan irangaL" is a light stab at Dharmavathi, but the following "muthumai varum varayO" is all gamak laden, all classicism. How beautifully they all co-exist seamlessly.....primarily owing to the fact that they were not squeezed in consciously !!!! Such things happen when the composer does not "think" , but only "allows" something to happen, freeing himself from all pre-determined constructs and rules and agendas !!! Reminded of Jiddu Krishnamurthy's adage , "What humanity requires is not Freedome of Thinking, but Freedom FROM thinking " . Any thought structure has to be restricted in nature, emanating from a limited locale, the person's mental conditioning. But the when the person forgets himself and functions as a conduit (for music), what you have is........the MSV brand of music.
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N Y MURALI



Joined: 16 Nov 2008
Posts: 920
Location: CHENNAI

PostPosted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear Ram,
It is a great writing indeed. I have not read all your 26 articles but thanks for giving the list. I can read the left outs. The only thing which I did not like is the word ‘Finale’. You must continue to write articles I this series as long as takes. There is some more song which can be added like the song ‘Mezhuguvarthi Erigindradhu’ from ‘Gowravam’.

There is also another type Piano songs in which MSV used the piano not as a lead instrument but used the chords. Notables are ‘Manithan Enbavan Deivamaagalaam’, ‘Kannazhu Minna Minna’ and ‘Kannenna Kannenna Kalungudhu’. How beautiful is the piano piece that starts when the line ends ‘kili Pille Kili Pille KilPille’. These facets of MSV’s Piano have to be revealed. So keep writing more. Though you have mentioned these songs as a group it requires separate postings,.

How true you are when you said that MSV undefined music. Prior to MSV the world has not seen a composition like this. It is a pity that people who knows him as a ‘Mellisai Mannar’ unable to define what ‘Mellisai’ is. But is it only ‘Mellisai’? I do not agree. I think in a broad spectrum we can call his music as ‘Feel’ music. It is the feel factor that is special to MSV. Nobody other than him knows how to infuse feel in the music. We may infer a particular song on a raga based or a folk based or a chords progression based or combination of all based on the notes we decode from the sound generated by him and may be try to prove a theory. But how to write a theory or a practical step to infuse feel in a sound? Is there a practical step in which you can add or reduce the flavor in a coffee?

I have noticed and got dejected that MSV himself could not explain properly about how he handled the composition of a given song. But at times he himself reveals some information without knowing the truth. For example I remember him always mentioning that he found a tune for the words. He would not say that he created the tune or he composed a tune. In Tamil he would say ‘Oru mettu kandupittichen’. That means for him the melody was already there and it got revealed to him.

In this connection I want to bring the information about the ‘Vedic hymns’. Actually the Rishis who revealed the Vedic hymns never claimed that they created the hymn. They said that it flashed to them and they were able to see word by word in their inner consciousness. So in effect they are not the ‘Manthra Karthas’ (Creators) but ‘Manthra Dhrustaas’ (Seer).

It seems almost the same kind of activity happening in this case also. MSV also mentioned in many interview that when the director explains the situation the Music Director should be able to visualize the scene. But more than that MSV was not only able to visualize but also able to fine tune his feeling to that of the character and thus he become the character and not a music director. Once that happens then the flow of melody starts flowing like water falls and there is no stopping. This is exactly why he does not believe in not writing the notes like other MDs and just keeps his mind in tune with the extra intelligence from which he receives the idea flow and conveys then and there. But for this reason he would not have started the song ‘Oorayiram Naadagam Aadinal’ with the humming. The humming inspiration is a clear proof of him becoming of the character when the situation was explained to him. But for this song how could we have imagined as to how to express musically of a suppressed mind having exposed to a situation which it was longing for long. I have noticed many people including grown up people shouting with dupe words like ‘oh’ ‘oohu’ etc when they see water falls, a river or a hilly region after spending mechanical life.

There is another example. Take the case of the song ‘Anbu Nadamoodum Kalikoodame’. Forget for the lyrics which have many ‘mays’ see the tempo of the song. The song has a specific tempo except for the interlude before the 3rd charanam. That interlude happens in a faster tempo. Today we can say that it is because at that time the character which was going in a wheel chair got his fracture cured and has started running. But how MSV could visualize that situation before composing. Because we all know that composing takes place before the shooting. Unless he was explained that during the song that the character which was going in wheel chair would get cured and he visualized that situation and deliberately infused that idea in that interlude by was of fast tempo only for that place.

Take another case of the song ‘kettu kodi urimi melam’ in which MSV visualized that the couple one who is foreign educated the other village folk are trying to give up to each other initially. Hence he got the idea to make western style for the village folk and the folk style for the well educated.

No theory or thesis can be written for this kind of music. At best one can absorb understand and then probably try to bring their own idea for future situations. It is also similar to the fact that Vedas can never be written and recited. It can be taught from a guru only.

But I myself have written articles about many songs of MSV which has been composed based on chords progression or on a raga based. I have also argued that any creativity has to fall in some methods. The fact that any composition once decoded in to notes will fall in any of this categories. These are all the nuts and bolts of a composition. But the fuel for the composition is this feel factor.

But how powerful is this feel factor. I shall tell my own experience. Like MSV’s unique style in music his fans are also unique. MSV is the only composer in the world where his own fans may not like to hear some of his compositions. I heard our friend Vatsan telling that he wont hear ‘Maalai Pozhidhin Mayakkathile’. My wife won’t hear the song ‘Manidhan Niappathundu’. Srikumar won’t hear the song ‘Muthu nagaiye unnai naan ariven’. I will not hear ‘Nann unnai azhaikkavillai’. The problem is the fear of getting out of mood on that day. I want to mention hear that I had to hear the song ‘Naan unnai azhaikkavilli’ when I wanted to write a posting for our site. The result I got sucked in to deep emotion that once I finished that article in my office I forgot to lock the shutters of my office when I returned. Luckily I locked the outer grill gate without my consciousness. Some how I had to return to my office in the next half an hour because I forgot my cell, purse etc when I found the shutters not locked. The next 2 days I did not go to the office. This is the reason I avoid to hear such songs. This can never happen to any other MDs.
So the feel factor is the life in his songs. Rest all others are body parts. Many people have not understood this aspect. The world recognizes only the traditionalist because it understands tradition.

I can bring poet Bharathi as parallel to MSV in terms of this feel. If we read his poems we can understand that Bharathi is the one who had handled many situations of this human feel be it love, divine, national outlook, caste discrimination etc. No other poet has imagined of Kannan as Bharathi imagined in his mind. The result we have many poems as Kannan en kaadali, Kannan en velaikkaran etc. It took almost 50years for the world to understand Bharathi.

Like wise I am sure a time will come in future when the world would understand the same feel in the music of MSV.

Your articles in this series have brought out this feel. That is the reason I request you to continue more.

Regards,

N Y MURALI
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Vatsan



Joined: 20 Jan 2007
Posts: 352

PostPosted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 6:18 pm    Post subject: Resp. Reply with quote

Well said Murali Mama. The world understands only tradition or anything traditional packaged cleverly or anything easily quantifiable.

You cannot measure the quality of the output of a man who laid primary emphasis on aesthetics, taste and feel...all of the three being abstract elements.
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VaidyMSV & Sriram Lax



Joined: 15 Apr 2007
Posts: 852
Location: chennai

PostPosted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 7:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dear Ram

what to say on your writting

an unparallel article , on un parallel genius of music .

you deserve a standing ovation for your work .

we need such articles as often as possible . i know its very tough in present conditions . pls do try

i second prof's suggestion, to copy in Cd ,i further suggest that to be distributed either , along with DVD of

MSV Unplugged . Or with the book to be published by Prof .

core members By the way when we are going to see them .....
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baroque



Joined: 15 Feb 2007
Posts: 478
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 1:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Terrific work, Ram!
thanks.
Vinatha.
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msvramki



Joined: 18 Dec 2006
Posts: 418
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 9:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dear Murali,

Your article on the 'FEEL FACTOR' of MSV's music is fabulous.
Whatever you have said is 100% truth.

As you have rightly said, each of MSV fans have one or a few songs which they cannot stand.

If I hear the song " EN ANNAI SEITHA PAAVAM NAAN MANNIL VANTHATHU" from SUMAITHANGI, I get sucked into it and it would take hours to come out of the emotions it creates !

Similary, my wife goes into a different world when she listens to "ETHARKUM ORU KAALAM UNDU PORUTHIRU MAGALE" from SIVAKAAMIYIN SELVAN. She just cannot control her emotions when she listens.

But in spite of this, we are addicted to these songs and we do listen to them for the sake of the 'pleasure' of 'experiencing' the FEEL they create !!

As you have said only MSV's creations are capable of doing this.

RAMKI
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baroque



Joined: 15 Feb 2007
Posts: 478
Location: San jose, CA, U.S.A

PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Smile
I was totally speechless Ram, when I had a glimpse of the autograph. Very Happy
கொஞ்சம் சில நிமிஷம் ஆனது....
நீங்க அவர் ஆத்துக்கே போவீங்க ....just like that! Smile
GREAT!
Vinatha. Smile
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baroque



Joined: 15 Feb 2007
Posts: 478
Location: San jose, CA, U.S.A

PostPosted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 8:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah........ but You will meet him, your friends & family in your next India trip very soon...JOLLY! Very Happy
அப்படித்தான் நினைச்சுக்கணும் ...
DADS.. what can I say!
Dads make great things happen in our lives.
Let me get my dinner started ..Quinoa pilaf & cucumber raita.
good night.
Vinatha.
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vaidymsv



Joined: 08 Nov 2006
Posts: 715
Location: Madras, India

PostPosted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 12:11 am    Post subject: MOMENTS OF MSV - ULTIMATE MOMENTS Reply with quote

Dear Ram,

My Piano Man collection and your series on MSV's Piano prowess are to be preserved forever. What a way to unleash your writing prowess along with the Legend's!!!! Great stuff.

Remember my words - msv moments, moments of life.

Tremendous work on the piano series. When your dad and I visited the Legend recently, he had carried this article and also read out a portion of it to him. (catch MSV listening to all of them!!!!) Just then I got this wild idea of getting it autographed by the Legend. He immediately obliged and I also wanted your dad to scan it and send it to you. I hope you got it.

CHEERS
MSV IS MUSIC
VAIDY

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