Sāmī ninnē kōri (cauka varṇam) - Śrīrañjanī - Ādi - Rāmasvāmi Dīkṣita (1735-1817)*

Описание: *With contributions by Śyāmā Śāstri (1762-1827), Cinnasvāmi Dīkṣita (c. 1778-1823), Muttusvāmi Dīkṣita (1775-1835)

After exploring Muttusvāmi Dīkṣita’s composition in the Mādhavamanohari rāga, I wanted to compare it with a piece composed by his father, Rāmasvāmi, in the arguably coeval Śrīrañjanī rāga. This is the famous - though rarely performed - ‘Sāmi ninne kōri’, described in the Saṅgīta Sampradāya Pradarṣiṇi (SSP) as a ‘cauka varṇam’.

I haven’t been able to find a clear distinction between a ‘cauka varṇam’ and a ‘pada varṇam’ (two types of compositions), so hopefully someone will enlighten me. What I do know, however, is that there is a common misconception that pada/cauka varṇams have lyrics throughout while tāna varṇams don’t. The real difference is stylistic: tāna varṇams move quickly with an energetic texture of ‘tānam’, while cauka/pada varṇams - being essentially dance compositions - are sung slowly with meaningful pauses, designed to express love, passion, and longing.

The opening lines translate to: ‘My Lord, she is hopelessly enamoured of you.’ The ‘lord’ here is Tyāgarāja (called ‘Aiyyārappan’ in Tamil), the form of Śiva worshipped at the monumental Coḻa temple in Tiruvārūr. Rāmasvāmi Dīkṣita had been appointed by the Nāyak rulers of Tañjāvūr to organise and standardise the temple’s musical rituals. Tyāgarāja is admittedly a most unlikely object of romantic devotion for two reasons: First, he is depicted as ‘Somaskanda’ - seated with his consort Kamalāmba and their son Skanda between them. Second, no one has actually seen these idols in centuries because they are permanently covered in cloth up to the neck. On special occasions either the left foot or the right foot are revealed - never both. Skanda is completely hidden and has never been visible.

While Rāmasvāmi typically signed his works with the colophon ‘Veṅkaṭakṛṣṇa’, he seems to have used 'Tyāgarāja' or ‘Tyāgeśa’ for compositions on Tyāgarāja. The most remarkable feature of this piece, however, is that it was left unfinished when Rāmasvāmi died. Only the first half and one section of the second half - the first caraṇasvara - had been completed. Not wanting such a beautiful composition to be lost, his neighbour Śyāmā Śāstri - who along with Muttusvāmi Dīkṣita and Tyāgarāja (the composer, not the deity) forms the ‘trinity’ of Carnatic music’s greatest composers - suggested that he and Rāmasvāmi’s sons complete the work. The second caraṇasvara was composed by Śyāmā Śāstri, the third by Cinnasvāmi Dīkṣita, and the fourth and final one by Muttusvāmi Dīkṣita.

The result is extraordinarily rare in the Carnatic tradition: a piece created by multiple composers. Even more remarkable is that two of the four collaborators - Śyāmā Śāstri and Muttusvāmi Dīkṣita - are widely (and deservedly) considered the greatest musical geniuses in the tradition.