Re: MS Sheela's Music Concerts

Ramakrishna S. Pillalamarri (pkrishna@ARL.MIL)
Mon, 29 Apr 96 10:27:28 EDT

prasAd cODavarapu says "I find that interesting. Unlike 'tyAgarAja
vinuta', 'vAsudEvuDavu' is so unconspicuous, given the context of
the kIrtana. does it appear in the rest of his compositions too?"

An emphatic yes. As a matter of fact, I have been listening to a
cassette full of mysore vAsudEvAcAr's compositions sung by madhura
sangeeta Seela, and was amazed at how neatly he introduces vAsudEva
in them, whether it be a kRti, varNam, tillAnA, ...

For example,

neekEla daya rAdu rAmacandra,
in kadana kutUhalam
....
neekEla daya rAdu rAmacandra,
ninne nammalEda, bhakta vatsala!

rAkEndu nibhAnana, jAnakeeSa!
sAkEta pura-eeSa, sarvESa!

nigamArdha sAra, nitya nirvikAra,
nagarAja dhara, anantAvatAra!

yOgeeSwara, Sreedhara vAsudEva,
pagalu rEyi ninne pogaDu-cunDaga!
------------------------------------------------
calamEla - varNam
in bilahari

calamEla jEsEvurA
cAla ninnE nammiti-nayya
pAlimpa samayamu-gAda
bAlagOpAla!

sannutAnga SreevAsudEva,
calamEla jEsEvurA!
--------------------------------------------------
tillAnA in kAnaDa

(can't/won't write all the nAdar dheem nAdar dheem, tana dhirana dheem..)
dEvAdi dEva nuta dEvakee vara sutA
vara rUpa jita madana, vAsudEvA!
tattajhaNam tadhaNam takatarigiTa .....
-------------------------------------------------
While I am at it, one more kRti. As I was typing this in yseterday, I
was moved at his feelings towards tyAgarAja. The song itself seems to be
patterned after tyAgarAja's "rAga sudhA rasa pAnamu jEsi, ranjillavE,
O manasA!".

gAnasudhA rasa pAnamu jEsE
in kharaharapriya

gAna sudhA rasa pAnamu jEsE
mAnavulE dhanyulu,

ee bhuvilO gAna sudhA rasa sudhA .....

ee nara-dEhamu sthiramani teliyaka
gAnalOluni vAsudEvuni maravaka
gAna-sudhA rasa pAnamu jEsE

yOgi varENyu-Daina nArada muni kRpatO
bhAgavat-AgrEsaru-Dani velasina
tyAgarAjuni mari mahAtmulanu dalacukoni
rAga layAdulanu bAgugA delusukoni
gAna-sudhA rasa pAnamu jEsE .....
---------------------------------------

Thanks to prasAd for giving me a reason to post these songs, and for
Dr. Ashok Madhavan who gave me two cassettes of MSS, one of which
had all vAsudEvAcAr's compositions. I thought I was crazy to drive
to New York, and Bridgewater, NJ for a music concert. He drove from
Pittsburgh to those concerts!

People in and around Pittsburgh - MSS at SVT; May 18th. Too bad I have
a committment that keeps me at home that Saturday. Or else, ...

Ramakrishna