November and December months in Chennai are somewhat optimistically known among the native music lovers as "The Season", reminiscent of the summer "seasons" in Hill Stations of the colonial era. Like the those events, the Chennai season is also based on exclusion and exclusivity. The defining requirement is a fair knowledge of Carnatic music or at least a credible pretence of it.
Like the hill stations, the music season too does not take well to democratisation. The influx of hoi polloi and lumpen proletariat have rendered the queens of the hills overcrowded, dirty, deforested and generally denuded of their original charm. The Chennai season attempts to avoid such democratic disaster by requiring a basic minimum knowledge of Carnatic musical idiom or, as I said earlier, at least a good pretence of it. This arrangement works well.
Those without even a passing familiarity with this form of music prefer decadent film music with its borrowed themes, prettified voices, electronic gimmickry and crude double entendres. They stage their own musical festival, also around the same time. Suffice it to say serious musicians do not perform at those and the audience tend to be of a certain jingoistic socio-political persuasion. These events are known as Tamizh Isai Vizha (Tamil Music Festival) which for the cognoscenti is an oxymoron.
Given that November and December in the South Indian calendar are inauspicious for weddings, many halls are available to host musical concerts.The evenings are pleasant and conducive to dressing up in heavy silk saris. This conjunction of possibilities is the origin of the Madras Music Season. Then Madras became Chennai and I.T. became all the rage making Chennai more prosperous. Suddenly everyone wanted to be part of the cultural scene and rediscover their cultural heritage. The Chennai Music Season was born.
Concerts are sponsored by "sabhas" which literally are gathering of people. There is a clear pecking order amongst the sabhas with the higher echelons patronised, sponsored and bank-rolled by old money. Sabhas run on subscriptions (mostly from pensioners) are "virtual", to use a modern phrase, hire venues for their concerts and do not give away free passes. They generally claim to be more serious about the music. At the bottom of the musical pyramid, Builders and Developers sponsor many concerts and distribute free VIP Passes to their prospective customers. Much to their chagrin, the recipients discover that every one is a VIP. Such concerts are more about marketing new homes than about music. Still people come attracted by an evening out and snacks and coffee.
Comments like "nalla irundhadhu" (it was good) are as much about the music as about the quality of snacks served. The crowd numbers must not be confused with those who actually listen to the music - many turn up for the food. It is possible to have all three main meals of the day at the sabhas and at a reasonable price too. It is therefore not surprising that Sabhas are also ranked by the quality of food they serve. Caterers use the music season to hone their skills in preparation for the imminent wedding season. For many music lovers the quality of catering is an important determinant in choosing a concert to attend. Chennai's army of music lovers marches on its palate.
The City sees much influx of people from afar during this season: people avoiding the northern winter, NRIs making the obligatory visit "back home", Mumbai residents who cant decide between Chennai and Mumbai and Bangaloreans who have no culture to speak of. A recent phenomenon is NRI kids, mostly from America, coming to perform at the Chennai festival. Participation allegedly enhances their chances of an Ivy League admission. A host of Serviced Apartments have sprung up to cater to this trend. Sabah-crawling is known and people are known to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at different sabahs, and teatime snacks at yet another one.
In Madras of yore, the artistes were mostly indigent and the audience were economically better off and it showed in the way they dressed. Today the artistes are much better off and dress accordingly, whereas the audience looks like it has just rolled off a bed. Most female artists coordinate their outfits with those of their accompanists. Lots of gold ornaments and flowers -also colour coordinated- are in evidence. The dancers, though, for the most part look as if someone painted them instead of the picket fence.
Some of the Madras audience was musically knowledgeable and the rest polite. Chennai audience comes prepared; seriously prepared. They come armed with little booklets of lyrics and raaga notes. No sooner a new piece is begun, they all assiduously search their little books and lean back with satisfaction when they have identified the song and its technical details. The aficionados hum along at the beginning of each piece and then proceed to shake their heads vigorously in appreciation. Audience appreciation is expressed whenever it is deemed due, even in the middle of a piece; but the artistes do not seem to mind. The techies and NRIs in the audience can be spotted videographing the concert, despite its express prohibition, for the benefit of a wider audience on YouTube.
In Madras the concerts served a useful purpose as a marital clearing house where information about "suitable" young men and women was exchanged with a view to striking an "alliance". The parents of the boy and girl were introduced to each other by well-meaning friends or relatives and if they hit it off, the boy got to meet the girl around the sacred fire on the wedding day. In Chennai I have not personally encountered a single such instance despite being the parent of a "most eligible" young man.
People, I guess, are too busy checking out the food to check out boys or girls.
Like the hill stations, the music season too does not take well to democratisation. The influx of hoi polloi and lumpen proletariat have rendered the queens of the hills overcrowded, dirty, deforested and generally denuded of their original charm. The Chennai season attempts to avoid such democratic disaster by requiring a basic minimum knowledge of Carnatic musical idiom or, as I said earlier, at least a good pretence of it. This arrangement works well.
Those without even a passing familiarity with this form of music prefer decadent film music with its borrowed themes, prettified voices, electronic gimmickry and crude double entendres. They stage their own musical festival, also around the same time. Suffice it to say serious musicians do not perform at those and the audience tend to be of a certain jingoistic socio-political persuasion. These events are known as Tamizh Isai Vizha (Tamil Music Festival) which for the cognoscenti is an oxymoron.
Given that November and December in the South Indian calendar are inauspicious for weddings, many halls are available to host musical concerts.The evenings are pleasant and conducive to dressing up in heavy silk saris. This conjunction of possibilities is the origin of the Madras Music Season. Then Madras became Chennai and I.T. became all the rage making Chennai more prosperous. Suddenly everyone wanted to be part of the cultural scene and rediscover their cultural heritage. The Chennai Music Season was born.
Concerts are sponsored by "sabhas" which literally are gathering of people. There is a clear pecking order amongst the sabhas with the higher echelons patronised, sponsored and bank-rolled by old money. Sabhas run on subscriptions (mostly from pensioners) are "virtual", to use a modern phrase, hire venues for their concerts and do not give away free passes. They generally claim to be more serious about the music. At the bottom of the musical pyramid, Builders and Developers sponsor many concerts and distribute free VIP Passes to their prospective customers. Much to their chagrin, the recipients discover that every one is a VIP. Such concerts are more about marketing new homes than about music. Still people come attracted by an evening out and snacks and coffee.
Comments like "nalla irundhadhu" (it was good) are as much about the music as about the quality of snacks served. The crowd numbers must not be confused with those who actually listen to the music - many turn up for the food. It is possible to have all three main meals of the day at the sabhas and at a reasonable price too. It is therefore not surprising that Sabhas are also ranked by the quality of food they serve. Caterers use the music season to hone their skills in preparation for the imminent wedding season. For many music lovers the quality of catering is an important determinant in choosing a concert to attend. Chennai's army of music lovers marches on its palate.
The City sees much influx of people from afar during this season: people avoiding the northern winter, NRIs making the obligatory visit "back home", Mumbai residents who cant decide between Chennai and Mumbai and Bangaloreans who have no culture to speak of. A recent phenomenon is NRI kids, mostly from America, coming to perform at the Chennai festival. Participation allegedly enhances their chances of an Ivy League admission. A host of Serviced Apartments have sprung up to cater to this trend. Sabah-crawling is known and people are known to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at different sabahs, and teatime snacks at yet another one.
In Madras of yore, the artistes were mostly indigent and the audience were economically better off and it showed in the way they dressed. Today the artistes are much better off and dress accordingly, whereas the audience looks like it has just rolled off a bed. Most female artists coordinate their outfits with those of their accompanists. Lots of gold ornaments and flowers -also colour coordinated- are in evidence. The dancers, though, for the most part look as if someone painted them instead of the picket fence.
Some of the Madras audience was musically knowledgeable and the rest polite. Chennai audience comes prepared; seriously prepared. They come armed with little booklets of lyrics and raaga notes. No sooner a new piece is begun, they all assiduously search their little books and lean back with satisfaction when they have identified the song and its technical details. The aficionados hum along at the beginning of each piece and then proceed to shake their heads vigorously in appreciation. Audience appreciation is expressed whenever it is deemed due, even in the middle of a piece; but the artistes do not seem to mind. The techies and NRIs in the audience can be spotted videographing the concert, despite its express prohibition, for the benefit of a wider audience on YouTube.
In Madras the concerts served a useful purpose as a marital clearing house where information about "suitable" young men and women was exchanged with a view to striking an "alliance". The parents of the boy and girl were introduced to each other by well-meaning friends or relatives and if they hit it off, the boy got to meet the girl around the sacred fire on the wedding day. In Chennai I have not personally encountered a single such instance despite being the parent of a "most eligible" young man.
People, I guess, are too busy checking out the food to check out boys or girls.
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