The Person

As this column suggests I will be telling you a little more about myself on this page. I was born on 22nd January 1976. I come from a business family. My father was a businessman in the automobile industry. My mother has been running a music school Kalapeetam for the past 17 years in Madras.

My interest in music was from a very young age. My mother used to learn from my guru Shri B.Seetharama Sharma when I was just around 4 years old. Noticing that I had an interest in music my guru stared teaching me from when I was around six years old. For many generations my family has been involved in the music field. They have been rasikas and patrons of music. My paternal grand mother was very interested in music and was a regular at almost all concerts. She was a fan of Shri Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar. My maternal grand mother learnt to play the veena and was the one instrumental in getting my mother to sing. My mother is a graduate in music from the Queen Mary’s college. I think my dad was one of the earliest fans of Mandolin Srinivas. He was such a fan that he even gate crashed into a kalyanam to listen to him.

I did my schooling in ‘The School’ K.F.I. This is an institution managed by the J.Krishnamurthy Trust. My education and grooming in this school has influenced my perceptions and outlook towards life. The school was different in terms of the atmosphere and method of education to all other schools. I was very interested in Economics from my school days. This made me pursue a graduation course in Economics. I did my B.A. Economics in Vivekananda College. I guess if I had not taken to music I would have followed up my graduation with something like management.

As most of you may be aware I am married to Sangeetha (Sivakumar), a musician. We got married on the 7th of November 1997. We have two daughters Arya and Anantha. There are a couple of photographs of us on this page.

Other than music I am a cricket and tennis fanatic to say the least. I have hardly missed watching a single cricket match live in Chennai. Cricket is definitely one of the biggest passions in my life. My all time cricket hero will always remain Sunil Gavasker. I have collected in my school days possible all the major write-ups on him. Tennis is a game I used to play till very recently (I hope to renew that again). I was a great admirer of Boris Becker.

Both Sangeetha and I love to go out a lot. We watch a lot of movies and eat out very frequently. We try out every new eatery in Chennai. I love all kinds of food, Chinese, tandoori, Middle Eastern, continental, and Thai. I watch a lot of English movies and Tamil movies featuring Kamal Hassan. Julia Roberts is definitely one of my favorite actresses.

I think I have covered most things about myself. If you want to know more feel free to email me.

- Krishna

The Hindu
September -  2001

In his performance after receiving the Kalki Memorial Trust Award T.M.Krishna's voice imparted perceptively pervasive brilliance to every item he handled. By his compelling musical statements he scaled high peaks to claim a higher rank than what he holds now, which is itself marked by sampradaya distinction.There was interpretative passion, animated attraction, deep devotion and exuding confidence to proclaim him as a vidwan with faith, reverential commitment and lyrical sensitivity to the graces and grandeur of Carnatic music. Stupendous in appeal, a rasika could discern how over the years maturity is slowly conferring on his music melodic experience.

From the start his voice stimulated manodharma which in return led to expressive versatility. He was quite at ease with both  the tempo - prone kirtanas like "Kanindu - arul - purindal" (Kalyani, Papanasam Sivan) "Vandadum - solaitanil" (Harikambhoji, a Kalki composition) and "Bogindra - saayinam" (Kuntalavarali) and slow tempo "Enneramum - undan - sannidiyil" (Devagandhari, a Kriti of Gopalakrishna Bharati).In the last mentioned kirtana, which formed the Kohinoor of the concert, Krishna displayed a rare understanding of vintage vilambakala revealing the serenity of Devagandhari and the bhava - soaked sahitya, the composer expressing his deep desire to stay put at the sanctum sanctorum. A masterpiece of Gopalakrishna Bharati was rendered with mastery of vocal control by T. M. Krishna. His Todi alapana wafted all over and if at times it looked as excessive vocalism, it was pardonable as his voice was in luxurious felicity and he himself seemed to be overwhelmed by the occasion, being the recipient of the award.

The season formally got under way on Sunday with the inauguration of the Kartik Fine Arts Festival. The venue was the Narada Gana Sabha's Gnanananda Hall. The series, 28th in the history of the Sabha got under way with Sri MS Ramachandran, Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation presiding and Smt Ramachandran lighting the lamp. Sri N Gopalaswami, IAS, Union Home Secretary, was the chief guest.

The function saw the conferment of the title of Isai Peroli on TM Krishna. The award carries Rs 15,000 in cash, a medal and a citation. Smt Visalakshi Nityanand received the DK Pattammal Award. The event also witnessed the attendance by the Pitamaha of Carnatic Music, Dr Semmangudi R Srinivasa Iyer, who is loved by the audience for his witty speeches.

In the course of his speech, Semmangudi dwelt on the necessity for artistes concentrating on the works of the Trinity. He questioned the need for new compositions when the Trinity have not been understood or presented to their full potential. He also praised the contributions of Varahur Muthuswamy Iyer, the violinist whose centenary is being celebrated this year, towards the cause of music.

The programme, as has been witnessed over the past years, had long winded speeches and went well past the set time schedule. The music programmes for the year commenced with a violin duet by Ganesh and Kumaresh, accompanied by Palghat Raghu on the mridangam and Abhishek Raghuram on the Kanjira.

“It’s cool to listen to Carnatic music”, says T. M. Krishna when asked whether Carnatic music and young people gel well these days. Krishna, dressed in black shorts and T-shirt could pass for a typical example of Generation Next – but with a difference. On stage, he is a totally different person, extremely dignified in a kurta and veshti with the “namam” on his forehead as he puts out his best at each performance and is exactly what he says young people could stand for - an ability to be traditional and yet be one with the times. Very articulate and clear in his mind about his priorities and what he wants in life, this charismatic young man shares his thoughts about life, work and his opinions about the world of Carnatic music. It’s a charming family with Krishna’s mother warmly welcoming me, daughter Arya asking what brought me here and little Ananta sleeping peacefully in the crib nearby as I get to know him and share the experience with our rasikas.

Tell us a bit about your family background.

I come from a family of businessmen and I am the first professional musician in the family. My paternal grandmother was a rasika and patron of music. My mother was good in music and learnt from Shri. B. Seetharama Sharma. Watching her sing kindled an interest in me and I started at the age of 6. My first performance was at the age of 12. My father was perhaps the first ardent fan of Mandolin Srinivas and I remember a funny incident when he gate crashed to a wedding reception just to hear him play! There was never any compulsion from my parents to get into the grooves a lot of youngsters get into and they let me do what I liked. I chose to make music my profession ad I have never regretted it. My wife is also a musician and we have two daughters, Arya and Ananta.

Who has been the inspiration in your life as a musician?

The musicians of the 40s and 50s like Ariyakudi, Musiri and Semmangudi mama. Listening to their tapes, I have tried to imbibe those cardinal qualities that made them outstanding in this art.

Does a penchant for music have anything to do with genes or is a musician made?

I suppose genetics does play a role but it has to be supported by environment or background. Just genes won’t produce this interest. The ethos in which you grow up is a very positive factor.

You are described as a singer who stays clear of gimmicks . Would you label yourself as a purist?

Call it purist or whatever but the fact is I am a staunch believer in tradition. Tradition is dynamic, not static. Being purist doesn’t mean you don’t check out other ragas or stifle creativity. Tradition draws a boundary and gives you full freedom to do whatever you want within that framework. Often it is said the artiste gives the audience what it wants. On the contrary you have to decide what to give and so you set the benchmark for yourself.

Ever thought of dabbling in film music?

Frankly I have never even given it a thought and personally I have never given it any significance. Many top musicians have entered the field of music for films and I don’t think it affects their performance or attitude to Carnatic music. It seems to be a myth that the quality of the music deteriorates with an exposure to film music. If an artiste is very strong in music, irrespective of his dabbling in other forms of music his performance as a Carnatic musician will not be affected. 

What was it like to perform during your recent trip to US?

Performing in the US and Chennai is the same. It seems no different and you could well imagine it to be a Mylapore audience except that geographically it is not so. The audience there is as savvy and interested as it is here. No doubt it was a good experience.

You were the Isai Peroli last year. How did you feel and what next?

Great! An award is an incentive. It should make you work harder. It sure creates an immense feeling of satisfaction and is certainly a strong impetus to move forward. 

You were associated with YACM. Tell us about it.

YACM (Youth Association for Classical Music) is the brainchild of Vijay Siva, Unnikrishnan, R. K. Shriramkumar, Anand Siva, K. R. Subramania, B. Kannan and many others. It was founded in 1985. It is a movement to create an awareness and interest in Carnatic music among youth. And the striking thing is that it gave an opportunity for young musicians to perform whereas it had always been that the stalwarts and senior musicians were the only ones to take to the stage. There came a group of young musicians and Unnikrishnan, Bombay Jayshree and others got their breaks in their careers here.

I got involved in YACM in 1992 and was on the committee for 4 years and president for another 4 years between 1992 and 2000. This movement was a renaissance of Carnatic music and a turning point in the field of music as young artistes were able to perform too and gain acceptance as time went by. The "Build a Rasika" program was a very innovative idea of Vijay Siva and it widened the reach of Carnatic music.

The general observation is that the audience is always older folk. Any comments?

I think there is a sea change now and many young people are into appreciating music. It needs a certain maturity to appreciate classical music. Appreciation comes with maturity which is emotional and intellectual maturity.

Your advice to the youth?

Success doesn’t come easily. Work hard, hard, hard! Don’t be in a rush. Cultivate a balance. There are more opportunities now than ever before. The earlier artistes such as Ariyakkudi went through the whole cycle and then reached the top. There is no easy way to good music. It requires sadhana – and lots of it. Don’t forget, “It’s cool to listen to Carnatic music!”

Do you think music is getting commercialized?

What is wrong with commercialism? Unless music is rewarding enough as a career who will take to it? Let us be clear - it is not commercialism at the cost of quality and commitment. Music cannot be a passion for the sake of charity alone. Bhakti is no doubt an important element but nothing stops a musician from getting the returns he should and if he does not, then art is degraded. Unless we make it attractive enough for a musician he loses interest and cannot give it his all to rise to any level of greatness.

What is behind the "crowd pullers" and rave reviews? Are they good parameters to judge a performance?

Quality sustains, quality lives. If an artist starts worrying about these two reactions then his performance will suffer. The great names in Carnatic music stood their ground for many years and they performed till they were 65 plus sometimes. Their single-point aim was to give their best and all else would follow.  They followed this cardinal principle of our philosophy and that explains their eminence.

Geetha Iyengar.

Source: http://www.carnatica.net/nvr/tmk-interview.htm

Delving into a treasure house

GOWRI RAMNARAYAN

T.M. Krishna and violinist Shriramkumar are documenting Sampradaya Pradarshini. What triggered the idea?

MUSICAL INTERPRETATIONS: T. M. Krishna and R. K. Shriramkumar with the ancient treatise. Photo: K. V. Srinivasan.

A rare kriti in raga Mangalakaisiki in a Coimbatore concert catalysed the ambitious project. The song was from Subbarama Dikshitar's ``Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini."

A post-concert chat about the need to audio document SSP's treasures produced a concrete result. A cheque arrived from well wishers to start work. The musician recipients realised that they had to get into action.

``It was not easy,'' smiles T. M. Krishna. ``Formidable experts like T. L. Venkatrama Iyer, Mudicondan Venkatrama Iyer, V. Raghavan, S. Ramanathan, B. Rajam Iyer took 20 years to translate the Telugu text into Tamil.''

Opening his tattered 100 years old copy of the Telugu original R. K. Shriramkumar explains, ``The Music Academy's celebration of Subbarama Dikshitar's centenary (2004) had fanned our interest. We wanted to learn more about it ourselves, and make it more accessible to younger artistes. We knew that the task was as great as it was intimidating.''

Subbarama Dikshitar's was a gargantuan achievement. Prompted by connoisseur Chinnaswami Mudaliar, and patronised by the Ettayapuram ruler, this grand nephew of Muthuswami Dikshitar undertook to put down ``in writing and notation everything that he knew, without hiding anything.''

Amazing results

The result was astounding: two volumes of 1,700 pages; 76 profiles of historic figures in Carnatic music; sketches of raga, raganga, upanga, bhashanga; guide to tala and gamaka signs so detailed as to differentiate between jarus in ascent and descent; definitive notes on melakartas and janyas, their sancharis, illustrative lakshana gitas and compositions.

Scattered through are fascinating bits of information — the Trinity went up to the tara sthayi madhyamam in raga Lalitha, diverging from practitioners who stopped with madhyasthayi dhaivatam; or that the use of antara gandharam (instead of sadharana gandharam) in Bhoopalam ensures prosperity.

The compositions, painstakingly notated, range from prabandha, suladi and chittatanam to gitam, varnam, kriti, daru, padam, swarajati, ragamalika. The lakshana gitams are by Venkatamakhin, to whom the Dikshitar school gave adherence.

The book follows his melakarta scheme of Kanakambari-Phenadyuti rather than Govinda's Kanakangi-Ratnangi system. SSP records 229 kritis of Dikshitar, besides those of Tyagaraja, Syama Sastri and lesser known Katikaimookku Pulavar and Krishnaswami Ayya.

In this first phase of their work, Krishna and Shriramkumar have displayed a few pearls from the vast ocean. Their first audio-cassette records 10 Dikshitar compositions from the first book of SSP.

``A tremendous challenge, especially in following the gamakas,'' Shriramkumar admits. Krishna explains, ``It is natural for a Carnatic musician to INTERPRET — not READ — notation. It was really tough to follow the text with absolute fidelity.''

They were lucky to have musicologists N. Ramanathan and R. S. Jayalakshmi to guide them through the process. Jayalakshmi's doctoral research was on the gamakas of SSP. In the cassette she renders the songs on the veena before the vocal version.

"SSP is based on the veena tradition of Dikshitar, and some of the gamakas are best illustrated on its strings,'' says Krishna.

There were stumbling blocks. ``I wanted to give up when we reached Todi,'' says Shriramkumar. Krishna laughs and sings ``Kamalamba'' according to SSP notation. Strange notes waft in, suggesting old film songs and middle-eastern strains.

The startled ears are somewhat healed when the familiar version follows. ``See how Todi has changed since then,'' he remarks. ``See how important SSP is for us to understand that tradition is constantly changing, evolving, re-inventing itself.''

``This is a treatise of scientific, historical, technical and practical significance,'' Krishna concludes. ``A definitive reference manual for Carnatic music.'' Shriramkumar believes that audio recording the entire text is a lifetime's labour. ``But having begun, we mean to go on.''

The cassette produced by Jnanarnava Trust, will be released on February 20 (6.15 p.m. Kasturi Srinivasan Hall) before distinguished guests R. Seshasayee, Dr. V. V. Srivatsa and R. Vedavalli. This will be followed by a concert of Muthuswami Dikshitar's kritis from the SSP by veteran vidwan R. K. Srikantan.