Interviews About Dr N Ramani

Interviews About Dr N Ramani

Last Interview of Dr N Ramani - 2015 This was arguably the last interview of Dr N Ramani by Archana Nathan from The Hindu in 2015 before... 5 years ago

Last Interview of Dr N Ramani - 2015

This was arguably the last interview of Dr N Ramani by Archana Nathan from The Hindu in 2015 before his passing in the same year in October 2015 in the article "If the flute sings, it must be Ramani" on his felicitation of the Vishesha Acharya Award from Vishesha Fine Arts in Bangalore on 15 February 2015

Carnatic instrumental music is complete only when the spiritual content of the lyrics is felt by the audience

Here are the excerpts of his interview in his own words:

What was it like to train under T R Mahalingam?

My grandfather Azhiyur Narayanaswamy Iyer was actually my first guru. He taught me to sing, to play the violin and the flute. At the time, I was most keen on vocal music and I had reached the level of expertise needed to become a music teacher.

Mali was related to me and when he heard me playing the flute, he asked me to study under him. Lessons were mostly informal and the bulk of my learning was based on listening to him and playing with him. Whenever I asked him to teach me a particular kriti, his process was always to first notate the song to his satisfaction. I remember his painstaking notation for ‘Sarojadalanethri’ in Shankarabharanam. I might have learned 50 songs from him through this formal training, but the rest of my repertoire came from the informal lessons of listening and playing. Mali’s training involved a significant amount of freedom for me, but with it came a lot of probing on the nuances of music. I have been in situations where he posed great challenges to me on the concert platform. The first time I ever played kalpanaswarams in Bhairavi in thisra nadai in the second speed, it was on stage. He casually turned to me and indicated that I was the one to play the next round of kalpanaswarams.

You are credited with bringing international attention to the bamboo flute. What did you think of this kind of responsibility?

I feel a responsibility more to the Carnatic art form than specifically to the flute. I believe that Carnatic music has an intrinsic appeal to even the most casual listener. So, I don’t think that Carnatic music has to be modified in any way to appeal to the public. In fact, my greatest responsibility is to showcase Carnatic music in the way I have been taught, without diluting the art form.

Today, instrumental concerts are largely marginalised when compared to vocal concerts. Why is it so difficult for instrumental concerts – especially the flute, to get solo slots? Also, why does the flute not get main concert slot at The Music Academy?

I don’t think that instrumental concerts are marginalized at all! If you look at instrumental musicians like Chitravina N. Ravikiran and the late Mandolin U. Shrinivas, they have both had massive success in both concert opportunities as well as audience acceptance. I think that gifted musicians will always have concert opportunities regardless of their choice of instrument – voice or otherwise.

How important is virtuosity and creativity for music, especially in the context of the flute?

Both go hand in hand, and it is not relegated to the context of the flute. I cannot imagine that one is more important than the other nor that there are special modifications to them in the context of the flute.

As an example of the importance of virtuosity, I remember a conversation with my friend, the late T. Vishwanathan (an extraordinary musician himself), who commented that certain ragams like Saveri could not be played on the flute due to the limitations of the instrument. It was a few of my new fingering techniques that convinced him otherwise. Today, these techniques are a standard part of instruction for the flute and young students are able to play these ragas quite well.

Who were your icons in your years of growing up?

I was primarily interested in vocal music when I was younger, but when I heard Mali, who was older to me by about eight years, I was struck by not just his music, but also the fluidity of his technique. From that point onwards, I wanted to play like him. I was listening to a lot of vocalists at the time including GNB, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Madurai Mani Iyer, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar.

I was particularly enthralled by Thiruvarur Namachivayam Pillai, to the extent that I went to him to learn a couple of kritis. Both T. Brinda and Madurai Mani Iyer have had a tremendous influence on my playing. When I came to Chennai and had an opportunity to meet the number and variety of artists here, I was humbled. I realised that I had a long way to go to join their ranks.

I sought out quite a few musicians, some of whom were wildly popular others who, though not popular, were widely respected in the Carnatic community. It was their guidance and tutelage that really set me on a path of success and growth as a musician.

As a teacher, what did you focus on?

While teaching the flute, I make sure that students spend a fair amount of time developing the mechanical skills to play well – this includes blowing techniques, fingering techniques and developing stamina. Throughout this process, I keep young students interested by constantly teaching them new songs that require use of the techniques that they have just learned. After students reach a certain level of proficiency, I instruct them about some of the finer points of manodharma.

As a guru, I believe in the use of public performances as a teaching tool. The nature of the live performance makes sure that musicians have one chance and only one chance to get it right – this drives a higher level of purpose in their practice. Ramani’s Academy of Flute hosts an annual concert series making sure that even the youngest and most timid students are given stage experience.

About the vocal bani of the flute — why does the flute aspire to be like vocal music?

To me, the emotion of Carnatic music is captured not just in its musical phrasings, but is captured in equal measure by the lyrics of vaggeyakaras which was inspired by their spiritual yearnings and experiences. My emotional connection to Carnatic music is also through those lyrics and their inherent spirituality. Even if I present concerts of technical excellence that are rooted in classical music, I believe that my audience will be missing out on a large part of the emotional content of Carnatic music.


Aaadishabdam Exclusive Interview of Sangeetha Kalanidhi, Sangeet Samraat Sri Chitravina Ravikiran - 2018 

What are your thoughts of and experiences with Dr N Ramani?

Dr N Ramani sir is a phenomenal legend who blessed me from the age of 2 when he was among the artistes who tested me at the Music Academy, Krishna Gana Sabha and at other places when my father and guru Chitravina Narasimhan sir presented me in December 1969.

Sri Chitravina N. Ravikiran

I have admired his brilliance and his gyana (innate skills) for many years from childhood and the manner in which he consolidated upon the wonderful foundation laid by his gurus including the legendary T. R. Mahalingam sir and evolved his own phenomenal techniques. He took the instrument to great heights.

His delineations of core Carnatic ragas and brilliance in laya even in small spaces, diligence in working hard to gain mastery in musical expression are all fantastic qualities that any aspirant must emulate.

Ramani sir was a wonderful human being. He was very uncomplicated in his general dealings and very down to earth, completely unassuming and ready to generously share his knowledge with any artiste.

I had the privilege of performing several jugalbhandis with him. and in fact the first one was I think is when I was still in my teens when Karaikudi Mani sir started Sruthi Laya series of concerts and the very first concert of the series was a jugalbandhi between Ramani sir on the flute, me on the Chitravina and Karaikudi Mani sir on the mridangam, if I remember correctly.

Since then, we played several times together including in very interesting trio concerts with Dr Balamuralikrishna sir in Cleveland Festival. When I was 15/16, we also played in a rare commercial movie with Guruvayur Dorai sir, Shri V S Narasimhan (violin) and Shri Veena Parthasarathy at the behest of Music Director Shri L Vaidyanathan.

In these kind of super hit shows, Ramani sir would be completely at ease and his tonality would carry the day for him, apart from his musicianship we all know about too well. So all in all, I had some of the best times interacting with such a senior maestro, discussing nuances of music.  I think it has been one of my most enriching equations in my life.

Your views about his musicianship and concert presentation?

Ramani sir’s musicianship was very classical and at the same time very innovative within the traditional framework. He could do a lot of things on the instrument that others cannot you know dream about and his concert presentations were invariably centered around the conventional because he strongly believed that only that will give wholesomeness to the feel of the concert. He would never…even though he was capable of different kinds of ragas…almost any ragas he could play with elan, he still chose to play masterpieces in big ragas in many of his concerts and so the concert listening satisfaction was always high from the song selection point of view. He could of course play from super fast to super slow. 

I have heard some amazing concerts of his…In fact, the very first concert he played after he was hospitalised with throat cancer and came out was with me actually in Bangalore and at that concert he played Nennarunchi Naanu in Malavi and the way he played some super fast sangathis in that I literally had to take my hands off the instrument and just only keep putting thalam for the inspired manner in which he played. I didn’t want to disturb his flow. That was how beautifully he played. So very capable and at the same time he could playing a lot of nuances because he was a big admirer of my guru Brindamma and he had drawn a lot of beautiful details that were inspired by her.

What are some of the interesting things that you had discussed with him about music or anything else?

We used to discuss a lot of musical things sometimes it could be some mathematical related sometimes it could be based on the songs we were playing and that kinds of things, sometimes it could be based on who would play what kind of music. Sometimes he would discuss about his guru Mali sir because Mali sir was very very fond of me too. He used to take me out on car drives when I was about five years old. Ramani sir knew this and so occasionally we used to discuss about that. So it used to be varied kinds of things and sometimes it could be general topics too.

Had he given you any professional guidance as a senior musician or did you or your father seek his advice in your early years when you already started performing?

No. I never received any professional guidance from anybody because my father is my complete guru and Ramani sir himself used to hold my father in very very high esteem. He used to discuss musical nuances with my father also. He and almost all the other stalwarts also idolised my guru Brindamma too.  So, we would discuss a couple of mathematical ideas or song choices before our jughalbhandis but we would still play very spontaneously.

What do you think aspiring flautists could learn from him in terms of musical training based on your experiences in interacting with him?

Aspiring flautists really have to learn almost everything that Ramani sir stood for; the classical values  and the kind of gyanam (acumen) you have to develop and the kind of all round virtuosity and versatility that you need to develop on the instrument but still make sure that instrumental virtuosity is only secondary to the musical beauty so you know and then he was able to of course play consistently well for a long time but especially brilliantly when he was inspired so the virtue of consistency one has to learn from him. His concerts would never fall below a particular standard and you know so that something that every artiste must learn to emulate from a great artiste like him.

Interview of Dr N Ramani by Kutcheribuzz - 2001

What are you planning as this season's special?

The three of us are performing together mostly. We have three such concerts. There is also a duet with my son. For the Madras season I try to play rarer ragas that are challenging. I will be trying out a new technique I have been developing. For instance if I am trying to play across two octaves from sa to sa this technique will help me do that easily on the flute like you can do it without a break in vocal music and on the violin for instance.

What do you consider your best concert?

I am 66, and my strongest feeling is that I still have not done my best. I can still do better. But my most memorable concert was in 1992 near New York. It was at a temple and in the space of three days we performed in Detroit flew across the country to Los Angeles to perform there and then back again to the East Coast to New York. The jet lag was terrible and it was a cold night. But the audience was so wonderful that I can never forget that concert. Then there was the overflow crowd at the Theatre de la Ville in Paris in 1998. I played Thodi ragam and the audience was spellbound.

What is your favourite raga?

There is no such thing. Different ragas are favourites at different times. I prefer the rarer ragas, it depends on my moods. Some ragas keep coming back to my mind and I remember what others did with it. And when I keep teaching various ragas I get inspired since their possibilities start becoming clearer and clearer and I get inspired. Now my favourites are Mohanam, Bindumalini and Kapi.

What do you think of Jugalbandhis and fusion music?

I have done a bit of this. My feeling is that Western audiences like only traditional Carnatic music and not fusion. Fusion is liked here.

What are your most memorable moments with Mali, your guru?

I had become popular even Mali was still performing and even got the Sangeet Natak Akademi award and the Padmashri. When these happened, he personally called to congratulate me. This was something unforgettable.

Where do you like to perform? 

I have performed in almost all parts of the world. But I like Europe best though I go to the US most often and most of my students are there.