By Dr. Rama V. Bennur

The Hoysala Karnataka Sangha of Mysuru created a unique opportunity of listening to three generations of violin on the 17th of September 2018, at the Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi Bhavana at its premises. The father, son and granddaughter enthralled the audience with their melodious bowing. The most popular violinist of Mysuru Vid. H.K. Narasimhamurthy (HKN), his son Vid. H.N. Bhaskar and his daughter Pruthvi Bhaskar were the artistes of the day.

Both H.K. Narasimhamurthy and Bhaskar are the disciples of the legendary M.S. Gopalakrishnan of Parur. They have imbibed the unique style of fingering and bowing that is known as ‘Parur style’ of playing.

The clarity in sound in the speedy sangathis and the mellifluous flow of the nada are striking in their playing.

HKN sticks to the traditional playing while Bhaskar, the much sought after violinist of Chennai, enjoys exploring the new vistas.  Young and upcoming Pruthvi assures the listeners of a bright future ahead. She is all set to follow the path of her father and grandfather.

They were accompanied on mridanga by Vid. A. Radhesh and on morching by Vid. V.S. Ramesh respectively.

M.L. Krishnaswamy, President of the Sangha, had sponsored this programme.

The highlight of the well-planned concert was a Raga-Taana and Pallavi that was presented by the trio in three different ragas! A rare experience indeed.

Bhaskar started the alapana with Shanmukhapriya. He played the complex phrases with striking ease. His execution was flawless. The precision and the control on the instrument is phenomenal.

HKN’s choice was raga Abhogi. He adheres to the tradition and successfully brings out  the raga bhava in every phrase he plays. Pruthvi opted raga Hamsanandi. The little fingers created magic with the soul stirring long notes. (But the father seemed to be very much   concerned!)

She is undoubtedly a promising violinist. This was followed by excellent Taana by all the three in the respective ragas.

The pallavi was presented individually in the three different ragas that was set to Tisra Triputa taala. The lyrics would start before the taala (atheetha edupu). In the Kalpana swaras, Bhaskar brought the melody of Behag, HKN played Madhuvanthi and Pruthvi again pleased the listeners with Chalanata.

The popular compositions  like ‘Anupama gunambudhi’ (Athana-Tyagaraja), ‘Bantureethi kolu’ (Hamsanada-Tyagaraja), ‘Brocheva revarura’ (Khamach-Mysuru Vasudevachar) and ‘Janani ninuvina’ (Reethigowla-Subbaraya Shastri) were in unison and decorated with alapana and kalpana swaras.

The lively strokes by Radhesh and the morching by Ramesh enhanced the musical experience. The concert ended with a few tuneful Devaranamas like ‘Tunga theera viharam’, ‘Jagadoddharana’ and ‘Tamburi meetidava.’