When Cynthia and I decided to work on Maurice Delage, we did not know we were unearthing so many treasures at one go.
When Cynthia and I decided to work on Maurice Delage, we did not know we were unearthing so many treasures at one go. Delage was better known for his composition Four Hindu Poems that Cynthia, professor of music at Saint Leo University, Florida, had performed before. But this other composition was literally unknown, kept in the closet for years, and not much performed after Delage himself had it performed in Paris more than 70 years ago. Delage came to India in 1912, wide-eyed with wonder with his parents who ran a business in India. He was struck with the music, undoubtedly. Having been in the close company of his mentor Ravel besides Debussy and Stravinsky, little wonder that Delage was deeply impacted by Carnatic music. He went looking for recordings and fell upon Coimbatore Thayi’s music.
A devadasi Palanikun-jaram, also wearing the name of Coimbatore Thayi, lived on Naattu Pillaiyyar Koyil street, in Georgetown, Madras. An adept singer, a gramophone artiste of her time, she did not fail to enchant Delage. He heard her rendition of an Arutpa of Ramalinga Swamy and that led to the creation of Ragamalika. He was in awe of the technique that was so foreign to him “open and closed mouthed singing” amongst other elements cast a spell on Delage. He transcribed and recreated Thayi’s Arutpa in a Western composition called Ragamalika.
If Delage was mesmerised by Thayi and Carnatic music, I was mesmerised by Ragamalika. The parts for piano and vocals seemed to fit perfectly the notes of Western music, but there was a mysterious lilt to the composition. Cynthia and I worked on ways to handle the composition collaboratively without hurting its original beauty. Inna the pianist, found it unusual but beautiful. Cynthia’s voice moulded itself to Delage’s tune. There was rhythm that quietly followed a tala cycle, the lyrics rushed by like in a kriti, there were akaara passages. It sounded so close now and then so far as it would take off in another direction that was altogether enthralling. Delage mixed tunes like in a ragamalika, an assortment of ragas. He called for muting a note, a prepared piano experience, which perhaps was one of the first in Western music. Carnatic music invited him to explore and innovate.
Our Florida recital Concerto Sangeetam at the Saint Leo University brought me closer to Western music, but above all brought me closer to my own than ever before. In exploring it, I saw as in every collaborative effort, how vast its reach is. How its roots can spread and bring out new shoots in so many ways! This Carnatic music that compelled Delage to say, “it sent a chill up and down my spine”. A devadasi made a Carnatic composition etch itself in a Western composer’s heart, propelled him to create a distinctly different piece, that each time it is heard, would definitely strike a chord somewhere. This was Ragamalika - the story of a man from Paris, of the city of Madras and of a devadasi named Thayi which an Indian, a Russian and an American had the joy of performing in Florida. This article and Concerto Sangeetam serve as my tribute to the city of Madras, now valiantly rising from the floods, braving the odds and restoring itself.
Dr Vasumathi Badrinathan is an eminent Carnatic vocalist based in Mumbai. She can be contacted on vasu@vasumathi.net
