A book of Lalgudi’s compositions

Lalgudi Jayaraman was not just a celebrated violinist but also a vaggeyakara. After Veena Seshanna, he was probably the only prolific instrumental performer who also actively composed. Jayaraman’s pieces were widely performed in his own lifetime by stalwart contemporaries including Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, D.K. Jayaraman, Voleti Venkateswarlu, and M.L. Vasanthakumari. His compositions have been part of music and dance repertoires ever since.

To highlight Jayaraman’s genius as a composer, his children, the violinists G.J.R. Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi, recently released a hardbound book of Jayaraman’s compositions, titled Lalgudi’s Creations, consolidating an earlier two-volume paperback. “This also includes many of our father’s later compositions and 15 of our grandfather V.R. Gopala Iyer’s songs,” says Krishnan.

Multilingual scripts

G.J.R Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi
| Photo Credit: Shikha Khanna

The lyrics in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit are presented in their respective scripts along with English transliteration. They include thillanas, tana varnams, pada varnams, kritis, jatiswarams and a pushpanjali.

The Lalgudi bani is so rooted to faithful reproduction of the voice that all instrumental students have to learn to sing the compositions first before playing them. The intertwining of vocal proficiency and instrumental adroitness adds depth to the playing and is vividly reflected in Jayaraman’s compositions and their notations.

While the earlier books were facsimiles of handwritten lyrics, this Lalgudi 90 edition (commemorating Jayaraman’s 90th birth anniversary two years ago) is printed on thick paper, with notations in English, in Jayaraman’s bi-colour system — one for swaram (notes) and another for sahityam (lyrics).

Unlike Western classical music, notating Carnatic music is no simple task due to the integral gamakams. Most available notations are either rudimentary or require laborious interpretation. Jayaraman’s notations, however, are comprehensive and logical, using intuitive diacritical marks to indicate the tiniest detail. Vocalist S.P. Ramh, Jayaraman’s senior student, skilfully notated many of the pieces, learning them on the spot as Jayaraman composed them.

Jayaraman belongs to a small subset of lyricists who also set their compositions to tune. Observing his methodical documentation, one wonders if he honed these skills to pass on the bani without alteration and aid his numerous students. That he was an effective teacher is indisputable, borne out by accounts from his many protégés, who are reputed vocal and instrumental performers and teachers.

Krishnan says his father derived inspiration from nature, from requests by artistes and laypeople, and by listening to other musicians. He converted his Nilambari tana varnam on goddess Saraswati, in Telugu, to a pada varnam in Tamil on Muruga, acceding to a request for a special composition for a young dancer’s arangetram. The thillana in Durga came after listening to Ajoy Chakrabarty’s rendition of that raga in Chennai, and from hearing Ilaiyaraaja’s Ragavardhini kriti. As to why Jayaraman never used a signature, his son says, “He felt that the musical style was distinctive enough.”

Recorded renditions of the pieces would have made the book more useful and complete. A digital version, offering portability and instant access, would have helped make the works of this consummate musician accessible to younger people.

Digital notation transcriptions are by Rangaswamy Venkataperumal and printing by A. S. Diwakar of Compuprint. The book is available at Saptaswara Musicals and Karnatic Music Book Centre. For further details email, [email protected].

The writer is a Kalpalata Fellow for Classical Music Writings for 2022.