...Anugraha

The term Intonation in music means, put simply, producing notes that are in tune. It is what we would call śruti śuddham. The most important factor for producing a note in tune is possessing an accurate outlook of that note. Once this is present, intonation is developed by practicing to match the note we produce with this standard. In Carnatic music, of course, we do not have an "absolute note" -- they are all relative to the chosen reference ṣaḍjamam. Thus, for perfect intonation, a keen sense of hearing is absolutely essential. When performing in large halls, musicians hear their own instruments only very faintly. And there isn't enough echo either. So, intonation becomes a big challenge. Now, an accompanying Carnatic artist has a tougher problem -- he needs to be able to hear the main performer as well. Furthermore, an instrument that is initially tuned perfectly to the taṃbūrā, may go out of tune during the course of the concert; and the musician needs to be able t...

From his signature to the involvement on the stage, Saxophone Kadri Gopalnath surely states that his one and only obsession is music. 56 year old, Kadri Sir was born in Mangalore to Sri Taniappa and Srimathi Gangamma. Sri Taniappa was a great nagaswaram artist so music was not something new for the young Kadri Sir. He started learning the nagaswaram under his competent father at a young age. His path, however, soon took a sharp turn. Seeing the shiny, curved saxophone played in the Mysore Band Set, he immediately fell for the strong and beautiful sound it produced. It took him 20 years to win over this and earned him the title Saxophone Chakravarthy. Ever since then, Kadri Gopalnath has been a great asset in the field of carnatic music and a great person in the era of humanity. On October 7, 2006, Chicago, IL had the privilege to listen to an outstanding concert by him and his team. They consisted of Sri Kadri Gopalnath, Sri Tripunithura Radhakrishna on the Ghatam, Sri Vittal Rama...