Iyer Brothers drew from a vast repertoire of compositions at their veena concert

Iyer Brothers, Ramnath and Gopinath, presented a well-planned concert at Kartik Fine Arts’ Margazhi festival 2024.
| Photo Credit: SRINATH M

When two or more veena players get together to present a kutcheri, and when they use the arrangement to their advantage, the concert becomes a pleasant exercise.

The Iyer Brothers — Ramnath Iyer and Gopinath Iyer — excelled in planning and presentation at their recent concert for Kartik Fine Arts. They were accompanied by Chidambaram S. Balashankar on the mridangam and Adambakkam K. Sankar on the ghatam.

The brothers started with Pallavi Gopala Iyer’s Thodi varnam ‘Kanakangi ni chelimi’ in Ata tala. The varnam, which is quite a challenging one, was played with finesse, taking the speed up a notch from the charanam section.

Muthuswamy Dikshitar’s ‘Mahaganapatim’ is an all-time classic in Nattai and was taken up with an engaging swarakalpana section in mel kalam. The brothers took turns to aesthetically build the final kalpanaswara that was centred around the panchamam.

The brothers possess a vast repertoire, thanks to their tutelage under stalwarts such as R. Pichumani Iyer and Trivandrum R. Venkataraman. In their Kannada raga alapana, one could notice their distinct left hand technique. They played another Dikshitar kriti ‘Sri mathrubhootham’, a song where the composer meditates upon the form of Thayumanavar of Trishiragiri or Tiruchi.

Ramnath Iyer and Gopinath Iyer with Chidambaram S. Balashankar on the mridangam and Adambakkam K. Sankar on the ghatam. 
| Photo Credit:
SRINATH M

Before rendering Tyagaraja’s ‘Sogasuga mridanga’, Gopinath took up an alapana of Sriranjani, restricting his presentation till the upper shadjam after which Ramnath covered the higher reaches. Their alapana stood out for some single meetu long phrases that stretched from the lower Sa to the upper Ri. Subsequently, they played kalpanaswaras in two speeds, ending with a swara centred around the dhaivatam. The percussionists involved themselves enthusiastically by tracing some of the patterns that the vainikas played.

As a filler, the popular kriti ‘Ganamurte’ was played. Detailed sangatis at ‘Nava megha megha’ displayed the potential of the veena to enhance the presentation of a composition. The main raga for the evening was Kalyani, where the artistes’ maturity shone when they rendered a free-flowing alapana, employing some beautiful prayogas through pulling techniques. Their tanam involved operating around different octaves with measured precision and carried embellishments using jantai swaras and fast meetus. The composition that the duo presented was Tyagaraja’s ‘Etavunara’.

In the Mysore tradition of veena playing, compositions called ‘Nagma’ were first composed by Veena Venkatagiriyappa. These compositions, which were inspired by Hindustani harmonium renditions, are purely swara-based and centred around a refrain, around which other melodic explorations are built. The Iyer Brothers played a Nagma in raga Sindhubhairavi composed by Mysore Veena Doreswamy Iyengar in Adi tala. This piece indicated how the brothers are constantly expanding their repertoire. The recital concluded with a Lalgudi Jayaraman thillana in Mishra Shivaranjani.