Music compositions

SAI KRITISANGRAHA: Published by Sai Kriti and Literature Trust, AD 36, 10th Main Road, Anna Nagar, Chennai-600040. Rs.125.

HIRAMALINI SESHADRI, a musician by preference and a medical practitioner by profession, is an ardent devotee of Bhagawan Satya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi. She has composed many devotional hymns in various languages extolling his glory.

For a long period of time, it was medicine that demanded her wholetime attention and music was just a much-loved hobby.

She says in her introductory note that it was Sri T. Sadasivam and Smt. M. S. Subbulakshmi who made her aware of the greatness of Bhagwan Sai, and that all of a sudden, Sai songs poured out of her heart with clockwork regularity.

It is amazing that for one who has not had regular training in the rigorous art of Indian classical music, and who is blissfully oblivious of the rules and regulations necessary to compose songs, she has had the blessings of the Lord to author Varnams, Kritis and Tillanas without error in the lyrical content, raga substance, laya precision and prosody.

Sai Kriti Sangraha has 81 compositions including Varnams in ragas like Vasantha, Todi, Mohanam, Abhogi, and Mayamalavagowla.

The volume has Kritis wearing tuneful apparel in both classical and light classical melodies such as Shanmukhapriya, Khamboji, Nilambari, Todi, Purvikalyani, Devagandhari, Tilang, and Hamsavinodhini, a Tillana in Telugu in raga Nattakuranji and a mangalam in Sanskrit in Saranga.

The lyrics, simple, yet saturated with devotional appeal on many deities in the Hindu pantheon, pleasing raga outfits, and absolutely clear notation by Bhagavathi and Hiramalini's daughter, Divya Seshadri, are positive outputs that would inspire many to learn these compositions with emotional fervour.

Credit is given toVijaya for getting the notations into a computerized format.

Doyens Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and M.S. Subbulakshmi have given appreciative forewords, while senior musicologist K. S. Mahadevan has come up with an extremely readable preface.

The cover design by Sriram Seshadri with the handsome Sai, holding the Tambura is a visual delight.

The songs with the signature Sai are ideal for group singing that is a sure medium for salvation of the soul and mental peace, especially in this strife-ridden contemporary global scenario.

SULOCHANA PATTABHI RAMAN

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