The concluding session of day one of The Huddle 2020 began with a song. Two artistes — Anil Srinivasan, pianist and educator, and musician Sikkil Gurucharan — opened their act, aptly titled “Between jazz and Jaunpuri: finding music’s middle ground”, with an interesting medley of poetry and music.
Starting off with a composition by 15th century poet-saint Arunagirinathar’s Nada Bindu Kaladi Namo Namaha, a song in praise of Lord Muruga, and segueing into Ave Maria and a poem on Allah, both by poet and freedom fighter Subramanya Bharathi, Srinivasan and Gurucharan set the context for their session.
With an intent to present music that was universal in its spirit and appeal, the session reiterated the pursuit and possibility of multiple truths. “There’s your truth, and then there’s mine,” said Srinivasan reinforcing music and its potential to enable and nurture multiple, meaningful and truths that are manifold.
Against the backdrop of the polarised world of today, Srinivasan made a statement about how as musicians, they [referring to himself and to Gurucharan] were neither left nor right. “We walk the middle ground because music is after all about compassion and if there is any side that requires for us to be on it, the best way to do it would be by expanding our empathic universe.”
The two, who have collaborated for over a decade now and constantly created music that marries the classical and the contemporary in a way that the overall experience is genre-bending, laced their session with interesting pieces of music that helped demonstrate the very idea of the middle ground.
Srinivasan spoke about the very magnanimous nature of music and how, in a sense, it doesn’t belong to any one place, region or community that can, therefore, claim ownership of it.
They demonstrated this idea of inspiration, layering and universality with Srinivasan playing a little verse of the national anthem of the United Kingdom, God Save the Queen.
Gurucharan went on to present how that melody manifested itself in a composition called Santhatham Paahimam by Muthuswamy Dikshitar, one of the Trinity in the Carnatic music repertoire, way back in the early 19th century.
“Thank god we didn’t have Twitter then,” said Mr. Srinivasan drawing attention to how audiences today had perhaps lost the ability to enjoy the music purely for its beauty and sentiment.
Making references to the music of the blues, jazz and its relevance, the journey of Tamil Isai, and Frederic Chopin and traversing through them all, with ease and conviction, Mr. Srinivasan and Mr. Gurucharan demonstrated the premise and philosophy of music, at large.
“We are, after all,” said Mr. Srinivasan, “just one community and we need to allow music to speak to ourselves and to others.”
