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Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Lalgudi Jayaram – the greatest violin accompanist

Lalgudi Jayaram – the greatest violin accompanist

Most of us nostalgically recapitulate the music behind the visuals.


There are two great accompanists, in my opinion the best for various reasons, most notable among them being their ability to anticipate the main artist’s [vocalist or other instrument player] Bhava, nadai, phrases and even the style of alapana and kalpana swara rendering and these two gems are none other than Sri. Lalgudi Jayaraman [a great violinist] and Palghat Raghu [a great Miruthangam player].

Both of them were very great teachers and wonderful musicians that many vocalists must thank that both these artists did not opt to become vocalists.

His violin will permeate with the musicality of the main artists:- inundate with the lilting swaras of  Madurai mani Iyer , brihas of GNB, the melody of Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna, the resonance of KVN, the dominance of very nice double reed sounds of Semmangudi, the base voice of MDR, the heavy tonality of Maharajapuram Santhanams , the marvelous niravals and swara combinations of TNS etc.

As an accompanist he will never try to over shadow the main artists even though he knew and could contribute to present a more enhanced version to a very great extent.

I do not think the world of classical carnatic music can get another such wonderful violin accompanist though there are several great violinists each with their own over emphasis on their schools of distinct styles.

The Sankarabharanams of  Lalgudi in solo are in my view the best and most exhaustive in bringing out almost all the phrases and sangathees possible.

However,  unfortunately in India the documentary producers do not know what to highlight and what to edit.

However, people like me could still nostalgically recapitulate the music behind the visuals.



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