Janya

Ganesh Rajagopalan on gamaka, the limits of comparison, and what instrumental music asks of its listeners After the May 17th concert at The Sheldon, an audience member asked a question that cut to something fundamental. He wanted to know: how important is it for an instrumentalist to know and understand the lyrics — the sahityam — of a composition in order to bring out its full emotional meaning, its bhavam? And can that meaning be conveyed through note embellishment and nuan

Kumaresh Rajagopalan on lyric, melody, and where the music actually lives. After the May 17th concert at The Sheldon, an audience member sent us an interesting question; he wanted to know: how important is it for an instrumentalist to know and understand the lyrics of a composition — the sahityam — in order to bring out its full emotional meaning, its bhavam? And can that meaning even be conveyed through note embellishment and nuance alone, without the words? Sahityam refers