Raaga Rasika
Exploring the World of Carnatic Music
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Welcome to Raaga Rasika! 
 
Raaga Rasika is a series of weekly podcasts and interviews exploring the world of Carnatic Music! Carnatic music is one of the two main styles of Indian Classical music most prevalent in the southern part of India, comprising of the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
 
Are you a novice just getting exposed to Carnatic Music? Wish you could listen a concert with a deeper understanding? Are you a connoisseur who wants to discuss and explore intricate nuances? Join us on this musical journey! We look forward to hearing from you. Your comments, thoughts, suggestions, ideas, and critiques are welcome!

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Listen to our podcasts at:

http://raagarasika.podbean.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

February 02

Episode 59: Special Rasikas’ Voice With Listener Renditions -- Part X
We conclude our series showcasing listener submissions with a snippet from Smt. K. S. Vasanthalakshmi from New Delhi, India. Her submission is the Muthuswami Dikshitar Navagraha kriti "Brihaspate Tarapate", in the raaga Atana. Vidya elaborates on the meaning of this song and shares a high-level overview on the group of songs commonly referred to as the Navagraha kritis. We would like to thank each of our listener contributors for their enthusiastic participation in this sub-series.


4:21 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

January 25

Episode 58: Special Rasikas’ Voice With Listener Renditions -- Part IX
Continuing our series featuring listener submissions, we showcase a rendition on the veena by Sri. Srinivas Raghavan, from Chennai, India. His submission is a tillana composed by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna, in the raaga Brindavani. Vidya highlights some of the salient aspects of this raaga and also shares with us another tillana in the same raaga, composed by her guru Sri. Lalgudi Jayaraman.


11:45 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

January 20

Episode 57: Special Rasikas’ Voice With Listener Renditions -- Part VIII
Continuing our series on listener submissions, we feature a snippet from Smt. Uma Sankar from Massachusetts, USA. Her submission is a Muthuswami Dikshitar composition, "Sri Rama Saraswati Sevitham" in raaga Nasamani. The second featured submission is from 7 year old Ananya Rajesh of Wisconsin, USA -- "Maakelera Vicharamu", a Tyagaraja composition with a profound philosophical meaning in raaga Ravichandrika. We conclude this segment by playing a short snippet from a similarly themed composition by Annamacharya: "Nanati Baduku", rendered by the legendary singer Smt. M.S. Subbalakshmi.


7:20 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

January 13

Episode 56: Special Rasikas’ Voice With Listener Renditions -- Part VII
In this segment, we feature a submission from 3rd grader Kum. Srinidhi Ananth of New Jersey, USA. Her submission is a Tyagaraja composition "Entha Nerchina" in the raaga Suddha Dhanyasi, also known as Udayaravichandrika. Vidya uses this submission to elaborate on Suddha Dhanyasi raaga, and shares snippets from several popular songs by other composers. We finish this episode by discussing the naming convention of this raaga in the Dikshithar and the Thyagaraja schools of music.

9:18 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

December 22

Episode 55: Special Rasikas’ Voice With Listener Renditions -- Part VI
In this segment, we feature a submission on the violin from nine year old Sri. Hari Santhanam of Pennsylvania, USA. His submission is a varnam "Ninnu Kori" in the raaga Mohanam. Vidya uses this submission to elaborate on how varnams are used by students of Carnatic music to obtain rhythmic and melodic mastery. Vidya illustrates how varnams can be used for advanced rhythmic techniques by singing a segment of the Mohanam varnam in Tisra gati wherein each beat is divided into three sub-units as compared to the original of four sub-units.  We finish the segment with a tanam on veena by Smt. Vasumathi Narayanan of Arizona in the same raaga, Mohanam.


5:29 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

November 23

Episode 54: Special Rasikas’ Voice With Listener Renditions -- Part V
Continuing on with the listener submitted renditions, we feature two submissions: the first one is by Smt. Seethalakshmi Parameshwaran from Ohio, USA who submitted a bhajan (devotional piece) on Lord Ganesha in the raaga Tilang; the second submission is a Vasantha raaga alapana by 10 year old Kum. Shreya Ashok from Texas, USA. Vidya provides additional information on each of these raagas and also sings snippets from other popular compositions these raagas.


11:02 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

November 11

Episode 53: Special Rasikas’ Voice With Listener Renditions -- Part IV
In this episode, we feature Smt. Gayathri Satya from San Francisco Bay Area, California. Smt. Gayathri has sung a Thyagaraja composition "Vinayakuni" in the raaga Madhyamavathy and set to Adi tala. Unlike most Thyagaraja compositions which are in praise of Lord Rama, this composition is fairly unique in that it is a Devi (Goddess) kriti. Vidya provides examples of other compositions by the Trinity in this majestic raga.


8:29 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

November 02

Episode 52: Special Rasikas’ Voice With Listener Renditions -- Part III
In this episode, we feature a submission by our listener Sri. Aren Skalman, from San Diego, California. Aren submitted a swarajati: Raara Venu in raaga Bilahari and Adi tala. Vidya elaborates on swarajatis. She also shares with us an example from a complex and involved Swarajati by Sri. Shyama Shastri in the raaga Yadukulakambhoji. We wrap up the episode with a rendition of Thyagaraja’s Raaka Sashivadana in raaga Takka and Adi tala by Smt. Padma Govardhan, from Auckland, New Zealand.

8:37 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

October 23

Episode 51: Special Rasikas’ Voice With Listener Renditions -- Part II
Continuing on with the listener submitted renditions, we feature a submission by Sri. Shashank Shridar, a 3rd grader from Pennsylvania, USA. Shashank submitted a Papanasam Sivan composition: Maaramanan Umaramanan, in Hindolam raaga and Roopaka tala. Vidya sings snippets from other popular compositions in raaga Hindolam. We wrap up the episode with a discussion on the mood created by the notes in this raaga.


1:11 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

October 16

Episode 50: Special Rasikas’ Voice With Listener Renditions -- Part 1
Happy Deepavali! We have received an excellent response to our call for listener submissions. We really appreciate your involvement and enjoyed listening to each submission. Given the response, we will be spreading the submissions as well as our discussion on each selected entry across the next few episodes. In Part I, we feature submissions by: Kum. Ashraya Ananthanarayan who sent in a Tyagaraja composition in Bangala raaga, Adi tala and Smt. Durga Krishnan who submitted a thanam on veena in two raagas -- Hamsanandi and Kalyani.


7:47 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

September 30

Episode 49: Relevance of Arohanam and Avarohanam in Defining a Raaga's Structure
We wrap up our introductory series on Arohanam and Avarohanam with a discussion on whether or not raagas are entirely and solely defined by their corresponding ascending and descending scales. Using examples of raagas such as Reetigowlai, Madhyamavati, and Hamsaroopini, Vidya highlights the varying degrees in which textbook definitions of Arohanam and Avarohanam may (or may not) help understand the form of individual raagas.


6:56 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

September 18

Episode 48: Carnatic Music Terms Defined: Types of Raagas – Audava, Shadava, Sampoorna, Krama, Vakra, Varja, Melakarta, Bhashanga
We continue our discussion regarding arohanam and avarohanam, and define several terms commonly used in Carnatic music to describe raagas. With several examples and illustrations, Vidya elaborates on terms such as Audava, Shadava, Sampoorna, Krama, Vakra, Varja, Melakarta and Bhashanga, and describes how a raaga can frequently represent a combination of these attributes.


7:00 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

September 09

Episode 47: Carnatic Terms Defined: Arohanam and Avarohanam
In this episode, we discuss two very familiar terms in Carnatic music: Arohanam refers to the ascending scale and avarohanam refers to the descending scale. Vidya shares some examples of raagas to discuss kinds of arohanam and avarohanam in terms of number of swarams and the impact of this on the phrases that are permitted. Finally, we discuss how the importance of the arohanam and avarohanam varies from one raaga to another as raagas continue to evolve over time.


4:49 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

August 25

Episode 46: Introduction to Chapu Tala
We conclude our introductory series on talas, with a discussion on two types of Chapu tala: Misra chapu and Kanda chapu. Vidya illustrates these talas using snippets from concert recordings of master musicians Smt. Brinda and Smt. Mukta; and Smt. D. K. Pattammal.


8:28 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

August 15

Episode 45: Introduction to Adi tala and Rupaka tala
We continue our discussions of talas from the previous episode and name the seven basic talas in Carnatic music. Vidya highlights two very common talas: Rupaka tala and the Adi tala. She then explains the angas that make up these talas, and illustrates these with snippets from concert recordings of master musicians Sri G. N. Balasubramaniam and Smt. M. S. Subbulakshmi.


9:02 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

August 04

Episode 44: Carnatic Music Terms Defined -- Laya, Kala, and Tala
In this episode, we introduce the fundamentals of rhythm. Vidya explains how rhythm manifests itself in Carnatic music and discusses terms such as laya, kala, and tala. We finish this episode by defining the basic constituents of tala, called "angas".

9:01 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

July 26

Episode 43: Featured Composition -- Maamava Meenakshi Part II
In this segment, we look at the some more of the highlights of this short yet marvelous composition. Vidya uses this composition to showcase some of the salient phrases of this raaga and also illustrates the concept of improvisation known as “Neraval” in Carnatic music.


9:50 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

July 15

Episode 42: Featured Place — Madurai & Featured Composition -- Maamava Meenakshi Part I
In this episode, we feature a popular composition "Maamava Meenakshi", by Sri. Muthusamy Dikshithar in the Raaga Varali. We begin this episode by talking about the history of the temple town of Madurai in South India -- known for the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple. Vidya walks us through the structure and meaning of this brilliant piece.


10:21 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

June 28

Episode 41: Analysis of a Ghana Ragamalika Thanam – Part V – Varali Ragam
We finish our analysis of Smt. Veena Dhanammal's Raagamalika thanam, by covering the remaining ghana raaga, Varali. Vidya explains how Smt. Dhanammal uses the two common notes between Sri (the previous raaga in the thanam) and Varali to transition from one to the other. Vidya also sings an improvisational segment to illustrate such a transition in sharp detail. Finally, Vidya highlights some of the salient aspects of Varali including the unique gandharam.


1:10 PM GMT  |  Read comments(0)

June 18

Episode 40: Analysis of a Ghana Ragamalika Thanam – Part IV – Sri Ragam
We continue our analysis of Smt. Veena Dhanammal's Raagamalika thanam. We discuss Sri raagam in this episode and Vidya points out some of the salient aspects of this raaga. Specifically, Vidya elaborates on the unique relationship between the rishabham and gandharam notes in Sri Ragam. She also highlights the key difference between the Thyagaraja and Dikshitar schools in handling this raaga.


12:01 AM GMT  |  Read comments(0)