The music Tatwa

In the beginning There was neither existence nor non existence, All….. this world was unmanifest energy…. The one breathed, without breath, by its own power Nothing else was there… - Hymn of Creation, The Rig Veda

The Rig Veda describes the course of creation through empty space with the elements combining together and manifesting as creation. The five great elements of nature Air, Wind, Fire, Water and Earth known as the Panchabhootas are considered the basis of all cosmic creation and have different attributes or tatwa.

They are part of the human body too accounting for different faculties of human experience. An ode to the five elements through Rig Vedic hymns, narration, graphics and music titled “Panchatawa” was a grand celebration of creation unfolded in a riveting flow of sound that reverberated through the hearts of audience spilling over at the Shilpakala Vedika located in the Hitec, Hyderabad on Sunday evening.

It was indeed heartening to see the huge turnout of music lovers who waited in long queues as also the number of people who squatted on the floor as the auditorium was filled to capacity. The open for all concert attracted huge crowds because of the impressive array of talented and well known artistes from across the country, in their elements as well.

Conceived and put together by Durga Jasraj this was the first of four other concerts to be held in different parts of the country. Audience had to sit through a rather long introduction and speeches by the sponsors before the event which began with a rig Vedic hymn and a beautiful meditative rendering by vocalists Pt.Rattan Mohan Sarma and Ankita Joshi.

A poetic narration on the attributes of wind was followed by enthralling flute performances in the Carnatic and Hindustani styles by eminent flautists Shashank Subrmanyam and Pravin Godkhindi. Both artistes sent the audiences into raptures as they represented their tradition and the different facets of wind ranging from its gentle soothing quality to the intense feeling generated by a hurricane.

To the percussionists went the credit of presenting the Agni tatwa with eminent tabla maestro Taufiq Qureshi breathing into the mike generating the gradual building up of fire in tandem with the graphic depicting a small ember grow into a raging fire. Mridangam by Sreedhar Parthasarathy, kanjeera by Bengaluru Amrit and tabla by Pt. Ram Kumar Mishra son of the legendary vocalist pt. Channulal Mishra added to the special quality of the all engulfing fire with the percussion instruments building up rhythm.

The crackling fire effect was beautifully caught by the modest kanjeera that usually remains in the backdrop. Padmabhushan Pt. Vishwamohan Bhatt’s mohana veena spun its magic as the strings tugged at the heart, cooled the heat raked up by the raging fire and spread the feeling of satiation that one gets after a sip of water on a parched throat, while depicting the water element. The Malhar notes had you soaking in the essence and wanting more but like the performance of all the great masters on stage had to be cut short when the artiste was totally getting into form.

It was left to Sangeet Martand Pt. Jasraj to bring in the final touches with his mellifluous rendering followed by the finale in which all the artistes performed together depicting the earth element. Panditji’s voice sounded a little weary with signs of age but his overall mastery of the craft and seasoned singing saw him come up with many “wow” moments.

The limited time allotted to each of the artistes who had to be a small part of a big narrative, some graphics that could have been done in better taste and the overly poetic narration that could have been enhanced with a more seasoned voice were some flaws that left a lingering feeling of dissatisfaction despite the great concept and eminent artistes. Overall the programme was a great coming together of musical greats that left you longing for more.

By Aruna Ravikumar