While the first snow flurries of the season made their presence felt outside MIT in Cambridge, MA on October 18, an enthusiastic audience warmed upto a brisk rendition of the popular Carnatic classical Dikshitar Kriti, “Vaatapi Ganapathim Bhaje Hum” being played on the violin inside the Wong auditorium. The violinist was Sri Purnaprajna Bangere, prime disciple of Vidwaan HKN Murthy. In a departure from regular Carnatic performance setting where the percussion support is provided on the double headed Mridangam drum, Sri Amit Kavthekar, disciple of the renowned Ustad Alla Rakha, accompanied on the Hindustani percussion instrument, the tabla.  

Myriad permutations and combinations across three octaves in the pentatonic Hansdhwani raga flowed out effortlessly from the violin. In the sawaal-jawaab (Question and Answer) segment of the recital, the violinist Sri Purnaprajna would lead with a musical phrase (group of notes) and the percussionist, Sri Amit would reproduce the phrase not just in terms of number of notes used in the pattern but in terms of the sound pitches that had been produced on the violin. The alternation of turns between the artists and the subsequent synchronized play that ensued brought  joy to the listeners.  The Hansadhwani kriti was a solid opening to a Carnatic-Hindustani jugalbandi concert organized by MITHAS!

The second offering on the violin was a Thyagaraja Kriti in Raga Saraswati, “Anuragamu le” set to 6 beat cycle Roopaka taal. A melodious alaapana section establishing the raga in the lower and middle octaves set the stage for playful exchanges with the tabla during the rendition of the composition. The fingering and bowing style on the violin was in the unique Parur style of violin playing, a tradition named after the father of the legendary violinist Padma Bhushan MS Gopalakrishnan (MSG). Vidwaan HKN Murthy was a direct disciple of MSG, who had the unique distinction of playing the violin in both styles of Indian Classical music, the Hindustani style from North India and the Carnatic style from South India.

The auditorium had several students of World Music course (taught at MIT by Professor George Ruckert) in attendance. “ We are doing a case study on Hindustani Classical Music. It is interesting to see how the violin, which is known to be from the West is used in Indian classical music. The way the artist holds and tunes the instrument, the use of half step notes and microtones, the manner in which the tabla player is feeding off the violinist is quite unique” said two Chinese students Jialin and Charlene.

In the Hindustani section of the concert, that followed the violin-tabla recital, Sri Anirban DasGupta, son and disciple of the renowned Sarod player, Pandit Buddadev DasGupta ascended on the stage with the majestic sarod instrument. He played two compositions set to slow and fast tempos of 16 beat cycle teentaal in Raga Jhinjhoti (Carnatic Chenchurutti). The opening note on the Sarod had a sonorous, metallic tone full of resonance and depth. A short unmetered “alaap” followed by a metered “jod” section and a fast “jhaala” section preceded the rendition of the two compositions to which Sri Amit Kavthekar provided accompaniment on the tabla. The romantic raga Jhinjhoti with its undulated, zig-zag movements came alive with glide movements played on the fretless metallic board by the left hand and the sympathetic resonance created by the numerous taraf strings on the instrument.  A fast mukhra phrase starting on the 12th beat of rhythm cycle landing at the Dhaivat note in the lower octave had an element of surprise to it even though it was a departure from the routine “ni Dha Pa Dha Sa” lower octave phrase or “Sa Re Ga” phrase commonly heard in Raga Jhinjhoti compositions.  The gradual build-up of energy through the display of layakari (play with taal), a variety of taans(fast melodic movements) played at different tempos, plenty of use of tihais to arrive at the important first beat of the cycle, the sum won Sri Anirban and Sri Amit spontaneous applause from the audience.

In the jugalbandi section of the concert, the tabla player sat in the center flanked by Sri Anirban Dasgupta to his right and Sri Purnaprajna Bangere to his left. The violinist Sri Purnaprajna hummed the well known Thyagaraja composition “Saamajavaragamana” followed by a pleasing musical conversation between the Hindustani and Carnatic styles. Heavy gamak ornamented taans on the sarod contrasted fluid, sapaat taans on the violin and Sri Amit Kavthekar’s nuanced tabla accompaniment added color to the rendition. The artists concluded with a beautiful ragamala, with a garland of alaaps in ragas Brindavani Sarang, Pilu and Bhoopali followed by a melodious composition in raga Desh.

The concert, a jugalbandi in the truest sense of the word engaged the audience from start to the end. Sri Purnaprajna Bangere’s lively interaction with the audience and explanation of symmetry in pentatonic ragas in terms of geometry, of differences in treatment of ragas in the Carnatic and Hindustani systems, of the challenges involved in tuning his instrument in a special way for the purpose of the jugalbandi and his candid appreciation of the work of a member of the audience championing the cause of raising awareness about climate change issues was well received by the audience. Professor George Ruckert of MITHAS, who introduced and thanked the artists added a touch of humor by asking students in the audience to meet Sri Purnaprajna Bangere after the concert if they had questions about problem sets in mathematics. At the end of the concert, members of the audience felt that classical music in the hands of hardworking, high-calibre performers who worked tirelessly to perfect their art and to collaborate together with mutual respect for each other’s art held great promise for the future of preservation of the tradition of Indian Classical music.

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