Colonial Interludes: The Western Airs of Muthuswamy Dikshitar: Lecture Concert at Texas A&M University Sponsored by SPIC-MACAY By Srividya Ramasubra

Colonial Interludes: The Western Airs of Muthuswamy Dikshitar: Lecture Concert at Texas A&M University Sponsored by SPIC-MACAY

By Srividya Ramasubramanian

College Station, Oct 30 2009

“How many of you have heard of Muthuswamy Dikshitar”? asked Kanniks Kannikeswaran to a packed audience. Only about a score of hands went up. “Kanniks has a tough task at hand,” I thought to myself. It is one thing to give a lecture on Dikshitar in the Music Academy or even at the British Council in Chennai, the epicenter of Carnatic Music. But it is quite another thing when the audience includes Western musicologists, Carnatic aficionados, and all the shades in between. Yet, Kanniks was totally at ease with the audience. He was just as well-versed with jigs and waltzes as he was with kritis and gamakas.

After talking about some fundamental differences between Western and Indian classical music styles, Kanniks gave a historical overview about Indian culture in the late 1700’s under British Rule, to set the stage to introduce us to the “hero” of the narrative – the illustrious South Indian composer, Muthuswamy Dikshitar. Using colorful photos of temples and festivals from South India, his lecture vividly demonstrated the sheer courage and spirit of adventure of Dikshitar who visited numerous sacred “kshetras” that are beautifully described in his compositions.

In striking contrast to the strictly classical compositions of the Carnatic musical trinity – Dikshitar, Tyagaraja, and Syama Sastry – were the catchy yet bawdy European folk numbers played by the colonizers in the British army and European taverns established in India. Given the ultra-conservative family background of Dikshitar, it is remarkable that he was open to exploring new tunes from Hindustani and Western music. Interestingly, Kanniks mentioned that the scholar-king Sarabhoji of Thanjavur, a contemporary of the musical trinity of Carnatic music, maintained bands that included a vast collection of imported Western instruments. In fact, it is Muthuswamy Dikshitar’s younger brother Balaswami Dikshitar, who is credited to have introduced the Western violin to Carnatic music.

Against this backdrop, the listeners were able to see how the nottuswara sahityas evolved as a unique genre that adapted popular Western tunes originating in France, Ireland, and Ukraine that Dikshitar Indianized and Sanskritized in his own unique way. Of the 39 known nottuswaras, all of which are recorded by Kanniks in his two CD series called Vismaya, only a handful are regularly sung these days by contemporary musicians. Kanniks picked up a few exemplars and illustrated to us the original tune from which the nottuswaras were borrowed. Then he followed up by singing the nottuswarams with Sanskrit lyrics by Dikshitar. For example, Shyamale Meenakshi is based on the famous Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star adapted from Mozart’s composition and Santatam Pahimaam is based on the British national anthem “God save the Queen”!

The multi-media presentation ended with Kanniks’s suggestion that nottuswara sahityas be seen as a starting point to introduce children, especially those in the Indian diaspora, to Carnatic music – a revolutionary thought indeed in a world where the first songs that pre-schoolers learn are violent ones such as “Humpty Dumpty had a great fall” or “Jack fell down and broke his crown.”

Dr. Mysore Mohan, faculty advisor to SPIC-MACAY TAMU presented Kanniks Kannikeswaran with a memento in appreciation of the wonderful lecture that he shared. Several interested students stayed back after the lecture to chat with the scholar-artist to soak up more knowledge about Dikshitar and his nottuswara sahityas.

Vismaya CDs on Dikshitar’s nottuswara sahityas are available at www.cdbaby.com.

About the author: Srividya Ramasubramanian is an assistant professor of Communication at Texas A&M University and is also a Carnatic vocalist. She is participating in Shanti Choir (www.shantichoir.org), a multi-media choral/dance performance of Kanniks in conjunction with the United Nations International Choir.