Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections, 2015.196.50.3a, Connecticut Historical …

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Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections, 2015.196.50.3b, Connecticut Historical …

Program: 6th Annual Tyagaraja & Tansen Aradhana

Subject T. Viswanathan 1927 - 2002

Datec. 1990s

MediumPaper

ClassificationsInformation Artifacts

Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections

DescriptionProgram for the 6th Annual Tyagaraja & Tansen Aradhana. This event, a concert of South Indian Carnatic music, recognized Wesleyan music professor, flute player, and National Heritage Fellow T. Viswanathan (1927-2002).

Object number2015.196.50.3a-b

CopyrightIn Copyright

NotesSubject Note: This event, a concert of South Indian Carnatic music, recognized Wesleyan music professor, South Indian bamboo flute player, and National Heritage Fellow T. Viswanathan (1927-2002). Dr. T. Viswanathan - “Viswa” – was a member of one of the most illustrious music and dance families of South India. His grandmother was one of the finest vina (fretted plucked lute) players of this century and his sister T. Balasaraswati was considered the greatest performer of Bharata Natyam, South Indian classical dance. Viswanathan learned his family's musical repertoire from his mother, T. Jayammal, and studied for over twenty years with the famed flutist T. N. Swaminatha Pillai. He has toured world-wide both as a solo performer and as flute and vocal accompanist to his late sister. In addition to giving lecture-demonstrations throughout the U.S., Viswanathan has taught at Madras University, UCLA, the California Institute of the Arts, and Wesleyan University where he was a full-time faculty member. His extraordinary musicianship has been honored many times, including the highest award in South Indian music from the Music Academy in Madras, and a National Heritage Fellowship given by the NEA in 1992. CCHAP presented a concert led by Viswa’s ensemble in 1998 at Charter Oak Cultural Center, see 2015.196.859 for a recording.

The classical music of India occurs in two main styles: North Indian or Hindusthani; and Karnatic or South Indian, flourishing in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala. Both styles are based on common elements such as the general melodic outline or particular scale, known as raga, and the important concept of tala, which is a rhythmic cycle of a number of beats acting as a metrical framework for all compositions and improvisations. Beyond these basic concepts, North and South Indian musical systems differ in their compositional forms, with North Indian music having separate song and instrumental forms, while South Indian music is more a vocal tradition based on highly devotional songs which are performed instrumentally and vocally.

A South Indian classical music ensemble generally consists of a solo vocalist or instrumentalist (here, the soloist plays kuzhal, or bamboo flute), a melodic accompanist (usually a violinist playing in the South Indian style), a rhythmic accompanist who plays the mridangam, a barrel-shaped double-headed wood drum, and two drone instruments (the stringed tampura and the accordion-based sruti box). (Source: T. Viswanathan biographical brochure 2015.196.140)

Additional audio, video, and/or photographic materials exist in the archive relating to these artists.

Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.

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