Sunday, January 07, 2007

Kaatrinile Varum Geetham - M S Subbulakshmi

When I started audioblogging, my first cousin in California, asked me if I could sing this song by MS. I always knew this song as a melody that I have heard my mother sing when I was young.

But when I did hear this song to practice it completely, I realized that this song has many nuances that only a classical singer like MS Subbulakshmi could have done justice to.

There isn't a music fan alive who hasn't heard of M.S.Subbulakshmi, or MS, as she is popularly known. She gave her first recital at the tender age of 10, when she was asked to sing at the wedding of a Saurashtra friend of the family in Madurai.

Her seeming effortlessness of her music is rooted in technical mastery, ceaseless practice, restraint and constant self apprisal. Though she is over 80, she can still hit the gandhara of the upper register and make you soar with her. Such fidelity to the pitch and resonance are the result of breath control, perfect diction and phenomenal concentration. No other artiste has been as successful in blending the intutive and the reflective elements of art.

MS is the first woman recipient of the 'Sangita Kalanidhi' title and the first one to popularise Carnatic music in North India and in the West at prestigious venues (Edinburgh Festival and the UN). Her admirers are from all walks of life - national and international leaders, fellow artistes and other celebrities. On one celebrated occasion, Mahatma Gandhi requested her to sing his favourite bhajan for him.

MS has won many awards and accolades. The latest in the long line is the Bharat Ratna, India's highest award to its citizen. Unfortunately, we lost this unmatchable singer in December 2004.

Here is my version of that song.

Song: Kaatrinile Varum Geetham
Movie: Meera
Singer: M S Subbulakshmi


15 reviews:

Narayanan Venkitu said...

Not sure why I got goosebumps when I listened to your song Ajitha.!! Honestly..no words to explain the joy.!

I remember Murali Venkatraman sang this song a few months back and I had the same feelings.!

It think its the words/the composition..etc..which take me somewhere..where there is a lot of bliss.!!

Your Tamil is superb...( I thought you are from Kerala...! ).!

The thamboora sounds sounds Magical.! and the Karaoke is superb.

I think, it would have been even better had you sung it in a slightly highter scale ( Not sure..pardon me...I am not too technical ).

Thanks again!

venkatesh said...

First time here,Wonderfuly sung ajitha,You have got a great voice,Really enjoyed it a lot.This song is one of my all time fav.Thanks for sharing.
And THANK YOU very much for visiting my blog and for ur kind words.

Anonymous said...

Beautifully sung! Happy New Year, Ajitha!

Awatts said...

Venkatesh >> Thanks for visiting here and for your comments.

Preethy>> Thanks and wish you and your family a very happy new year too!

Awatts said...

NV Sir >> Thanks for your compliment on my song and my tamil, which is my mother tongue. Higher scale - surely but I was trying to to keep the voice as close to the original as I could and any higher scale may have made the voice thin..and appreciate that feedback.

Mad Max said...

missed this one earlier...very nicely done...it would help to tweak the vocals a lil bit, there are spots where the sruthi seems to off very marginally (i might be wrong here)...very nice song selection also

Brood Mode said...

Very nice rendition...

I was delighted to listen to all the classical songs on your blog.

You really should do more songs with a classical tinge

Kudos!

Awatts said...

Anup >> Got a similar feedback from one of my cousins..will try to redo when I get time

Brood mode >> Thanks for stopping by and providing your encouraging comments! Will try my best to do more classical songs. May have more courage once I start going for classes...

Harshan said...

This was just mindblowing ...loved it.

.:: ROSH ::. said...

nice selection of song and very nicely sung

Krishna said...

I love this song. Murali sang this earlier. Very nicely sung, Ajitha. Nice track too. Pramaadham. :)

Awatts said...

~~ Harshan: Thanks! Classical songs are not that easy from my perspective to sing...but am trying.

~~ Rosh: Thanks!

~~ Krishna: Karaoke is from tamilmidi.com and thanks for the feedback.

Anonymous said...

Considering you enjoy music by MS, I'm giving you a bit of Trivia.
MS was trained to sing Mira Bhajans for the movie Mira (where she played the role of Mira) by Sri Dilip Kumar Roy, who was a noted musician of his time. Sri Dilip Kumar was also the closest Disciple of Sri Aurobindo and a devotee of thakur Sri Ramakrishna.
A website dedicated to Sri Dilip Kumar Roy (which will have audio files of his music soon) has been recently launched.
You can access it here:
http://www.dilipkumarroy.com

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is so melodious. You've done justice to a truly wonderful song. Keep up the good work!

PS: This site has a lot of Carnatic music, good collections and the like:
http://www.hummaa.com/index.php

Do check it out!

Again, nice voice!

Anonymous said...

very nice song and great singing Ajitha. thanks for sharing your song.

thanks deep for the link it is really good.