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N. Ravikiran On His Musical Journey
N. Ravikiran On His Musical Journey
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“To those who have struggled with them, the mountains reveal beauties that they will not
disclose to those who make no effort... The mountains reserve their choice gifts for those who
stand upon their summits” - Sir Francis Younghusband.
Nothing can be closer to truth than this statement as we unravel the life story of Chitravina
Ravikiran, for he did not reach the summit by sheer luck or destiny. The closest to explaining
the phenomenon called Ravikiran could be the term Prarabdham and the complete passion
coupled with single-minded dedication from the man who sowed the seed (his father and
guru, vidwan Chitravina Narasimhan) and from Ravikiran himself as an active participant and
recipient in the process of nurture. To Ravikiran should go the credit of not merely scaling
different peaks, but constantly chiselling himself and inventing and reinventing teaching
methodologies in a scientific manner.
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artiste should be honest to himself and his audience. “Never take the audience for granted
irrespective of city, venue, level or age,” says he.
The years 1972-77 saw him performing vocal concerts in different places. His father slowly
introduced him to the chitravina (his grandfather Narayana Iyengar and father played the
instrument).
By 1978, Ravikiran set on his new voyage and soon became synonymous with the instrument.
He switched to a 21-string chitravina and began presenting several concerts. After a concert in
Delhi, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi discovered that Ravikiran was undergoing home
schooling. Imagine the family’s surprise when on arrival at home, they were greeted by the
Principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya, who was ready to give Ravikiran admission in Class Four. The
boy happily discovered his other loves such as chess, table tennis and cricket. “But I soon
discovered that my passion did not match my talent,” laughs Ravikiran referring to his love for
cricket. . When it comes to teaching students, he admits, “it is attitude more than aptitude that
I seek.”
His thirst for learning never ceased and one day when he listened to T. Brinda, he realised that
he wanted to partake the musical wealth she possessed. “Her one phrase had everything in it.”
It was Y.G. Doraiswamy, who took him to meet Brindamma, who readily accepted him as her
disciple. He remembers that the next day she taught him ‘Sri Kamalambika.’ She was a
repository of not only Kshetrayya padams and javalis, but also of very rare compositions of the
Trinity of Carnatic music and Patnam Subramania Iyer. Ravikiran blossomed under her
guidance and tutelage. Apart from the repertoire, he imbibed her way of thinking and
approach. “Hers was a voice that could move from very slow to very fast. She was the most
uncompromising traditionalist, who would never waver from her values,” observes Ravikiran.
In the year 1990, the year vidwan D.K. Jayaraman was awarded Sangita Kalanidhi, a resolution
was passed in the Music Academy and gottuvadyam shed its colloquial name to acquire and be
known by its more authentic name mentioned in the Natyasastra — Chitravina.
‘Sivane aanalum tapas panninadhaan Sakti’ was his father’s constant refrain, implying that he
would have to work at it continuously. Ravikiran took the advice seriously. His father
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encouraged him to listen to several audio recordings and live concerts and to imbibe the
essence without attempting to imitate.
Ravikiran recalls how in the early years his brother Sashikiran would critique every concert. It
was this feedback from the family that helped him chisel himself into a finer musician.
“Growth can happen only when criticism is accepted. Of course, it should be “informed
criticism from an impeccable source.”
By the time he entered Class Seven, kutcheris had taken over his life. Though he concentrated
on chitravina, he presented vocal concerts too. When he was 18, he performed a 24-hour non-
stop solo concert in Chennai.
Ravikiran remembers the many memorable jugalbandis that he had with several notable
musicians including Balamurali Krishna and Mandolin U. Shrinivas.
Besides being a prolific composer (over 800 pieces including Indian classical, melharmonic,
world and contemporary), he has also introduced several ragas. He has composed in Hindi,
Sanskrit, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. He is the first to create pieces in 35 talas of Carnatic
music and the only composer to come up with a 72-mela ragamalika gitam, a 13-part piece
spanning over 72 parent ragas in seven minutes and has to his credit varnams in rare talas. He
has the distinction of composing a whole piece with only descending phrases! At this point,
Ravikiran mentions what Pt. Ravi Shankar told him when he met him. “I remember you as the
boy who told his father while taking the elevator down, ‘appa, we are going in avarohanam!’”
In early 2016, the chitravina exponent reached another milestone — he tuned the 1,330 verses
of Tirukkural in 16 hours. His special creations for dance operas brought him into close
contact with stalwart-dancers such as Radha, Pt. Birju Maharaj, Vyjayantimala Bali, Prof. C.V.
Chandrashekar and Adyar Lakshman.
While learning, assimilating, performing, Ravikiran was thinking about how he should share
Carnatic music with the world audience. In 1987, violin virtuoso L. Subramanian invited him
for the recording of a pop music album. Soon, many musicians of international repute began
collaborating with him. Ravikiran had seen the work of great musicians and their
contribution to world music. But he also saw a lot of music that came under the banner of
‘fusion music.’ He decided that the time had come to “infuse good music,” and when
opportunities came his way, he welcomed it wholeheartedly.
Birth of Melharmony
When he was invited to the U.K. to perform at the Millennium Festival in 2000 (Ravikiran-BBC
Philharmonic collaboration for Kalasangam’s Global Echoes), it turned out to be a new era for
the world of music. It marked the birth of Melharmony.
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The success of this venture was followed by several melharmonic concerts, collaborations,
paper presentations and recognition from the cities of Madison and Middleton.
In 2013, the city of Middleton declared the third Saturday of every November as Melharmony
Day. In 2015, Madison followed suit declaring November 8 as the day.
Ravikiran collaborated with noted western composer and music theorist, Robert Morris
(Eastman School of Music, NY) and the two developed and expounded the Academic rigour of
Melharmony from the standpoints of Eastern harmony and Western melody. “Melharmony is
a system that takes into cognizance the rules and aesthetics of both melody and harmony-
centred systems (like traditional Indian/Chinese and Classical Western/Jazz). It showcases the
similarities between diverse systems while embracing the distinctions too.”
While this is revolutionary, one cannot but admire the methodical mind of Ravikiran.
Ravikiran admits that though he has few/no memories of the manner in which his father
taught him, he paid a lot of attention to the teaching methodology, when his father taught his
siblings and his cousin.
He recalls how his father had the spikes of the gates in their home painted — 18 on one side, 18
on the other — 36 in all; each of the spikes was coloured and was assigned a raga. So once they
had learnt 36, they would come backwards counting another 36 to finally be ready with 72
melakarta ragas. Though he was not taught in this way, what impressed Ravi was the manner
in which his father kept polishing his teaching method.
It was this among several other influences that propelled him to excel at every stage and every
concert. He has created several melharmonic arrangements based on the works of traditional
composers. His ‘raga-based’ (not just raga-influenced) compositions have influenced several
composers, including Polivios Issariotis.
Busy with several projects and many tasks at hand, the Sangita Kalanidhi’s Aarohanam phase
continues.
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The two-year-old boy reminded me of the dark-hued, mischievous divine child Krishna. I was
18 and enjoyed carrying around this child prodigy during his stay in our house (Dr. V.
Raghavan’s) on his first visit to Madras in 1969. The child was happily singing or humming
ragas even when playing. You could ask him anything related to music and at any time of the
day. He would call me ‘Naganandini,’ the 30th Melakarta raga. During the entire stay, he would
address me so with great amusement. - Nandini Ramani
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