As the December Music Season progresses, some of those behind the scenes seem to have reached significant landmarks in terms of years of service to the arts. There is of course the Music Academy, hosting its 99th annual conference and concerts though that does not mean it will complete a 100 next year – that landmark will be in 2028. The confusion as far as the conference count is concerned is due to the long history of the institution. I hope to explain that conundrum closer to the (actual) centenary. And there is the Vani Mahal at 80 and Maximum Media’s Margazhi Maha Utsavam at 25.
The Parthasarathy Sabha and a Confusing Lineage
The Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha (SPSS), the oldest surviving organisation of its kind, turned 125 this year. Interestingly, and in contrast to the Academy, it may be older than what it claims to be, for it was in 1896 that its parent body, the Sangita Vidwat Sabha, was founded in Thiruvallikeni. The SPSS was registered in 1900 and traces its origins to that date. What is interesting is that the Sangita Vidwat Sabha did not vanish as an idea, for in 1926, it gave birth to a Musical Academy.
Three Academies and One Music Season
That seems to have been short-lived and then in 1928 came the Music Academy, which calls itself in the vernacular as the Sangita Vidwat Sabha. It all seems most confusing. But when we read in R Rangaramanuja Iyengar’s Musings of a Musician the rather cryptic remark that the present Music Academy is the third of its kind, we seem to see the logic behind it. The overlapping institutions, similar names and inherited ideas perhaps explain the numerical confusion that surrounds the Academy’s conferences and anniversaries even today.
The Tyagabrahma Gana Sabha at Eighty
The SPSS has since moved from Thiruvallikeni to Mylapore but staying put where it was founded is the Sri Tyagabrahma Gana Sabha (STGS), of Vani Mahal fame, in T Nagar. It is celebrating its 80th year of founding. The prime mover was the actor Chittoor V Nagiah whose knowledge of music was profound. Begun essentially to provide entertainment to the residents of the newly-developing area of T Nagar, the Sabha had several prominent founding members from varied walks of public life.
Founders, Land, and Vani Mahal
These included Lady Andal Venkatasubba Rao, V Rama Iyengar, S Soundararajan of Tamilnadu Talkies, S Ramaswami Naidu (later Mayor of Madras) and Dr PB Annangarachariar, leading doctor, owner of Vani Pharmacy and municipal councillor. The Sabha held its initial programmes at the Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha before acquiring ten grounds of space belonging to TA Rangachari, advocate. The building, constructed by V Ganapathy Iyer, was named Vani Mahal and inaugurated by Sir CP Ramaswami Iyer on November 18, 1945.
Financial Foresight and Rare Stability in the Music Season
Unlike many others of its kind, the STGS was financially savvy. It wisely invested in land when prices were still low and enjoys a security today that many others, the SPSS included, do not have. Even the formidable Tamil Isai Sangam sits on leased land, owned by the Government, and has to negotiate each time renewal comes around. The Narada Gana Sabha is the only other institution, like the STGS, to have saved early, purchased property and built an auditorium, and that too much later.
A Telling Story of Sabha Economics in the Music Season
And that was in the 1970s and 1980s. It is a telling story of the state of Carnatic music finances that nobody has since managed this feat. Which brings me to the latest of the significant anniversaries. The Margazhi Maha Utsavam (MMU), promoted by Maximum Media has completed 25 and is now in its 26th year. Even at inception, the founders were clear that the audience was not restricted to Sabhas but lay on a much wider platform.
Margazhi Maha Utsavam’s Quiet Revolution
Subhasree Thanikachalam and VK Manimaran envisaged cable television and later the internet as the real stage. The actual performances, however, took place before a live audience, for nothing can equal performance experienced in person. Impromptu engagement with the main performer by way of questions from the audience, with prizes for selected queries, added to the magic. Soon, large crowds followed. Television channels that initially scoffed soon reversed their stand, leading to Carnatic Idol–style formats across networks.
After the Pandemic, the Live Experience Endures
The pandemic saw a few artistes experimenting with direct-to-viewer performances and it almost seemed as though the Sabha as a concept was dead. But after a few years, audiences appear to be returning to the music season, though how this translates into ticket sales is unclear. Barring a couple, Sabhas are cagey about publishing accounts. Five years on, technology remains a disruptor. Yet the Sabhas have survived the gramophone, cinema, television, cable and the internet, for there is still no substitute for live, in-person experience.
This article appeared in The Hindu-https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/anniversaries-great-and-small-in-the-season-of-margazhi/article70429407.ece
My book, Chennai, A Biography can be ordered-http://- https://sriramv.com/2021/12/27/how-to-buy-autographed-copies-of-chennai-a-biography-from-outstation/
