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Fifty years of TNS A celebration by his disciples |
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A felicitation function was organized on Sunday April, 4th
2004 at Narada Gana Sabha by the disciples of Madurai T. N. Seshagopalan
to celebrate his 50th year in the field of music. A galaxy of eminent
music personalities, industrialists, sabhanayakas, and other
luminaries and well-wishers made it an evening to remember.
TNS and his wife Sudha Attended by an almost full house and an overflowing parking lot - which is nothing new at NGS - TNS, grandly enthroned on the dais with his wife Sudha alongside was eulogised, first through a video presentation that chronicled his musical career, interspersed with comments and inputs from fellow musicians. The musicians featured in the video tribute included the legendary DKP, Umayalpuram Sivaraman, Guruvayur Dorai, M. Chandrasekharan, U. Shrinivas, Sanjay Subrahmnyan, Haridwaramangalam Palanivel, et al. TNS was praised as a multi-faceted genius, proficient not only in vocal music but also veena, keyboards and lately Harikatha too! The long felicitation function that followed was mostly comprised of speeches by the guests of honor including T. K. Moorthy, R. Krishnaswamy (Secy., Narada Gana Sabha), industrialist R. Seshasayee, critic K. S. Mahadevan, writer "Sujata", K. Santhanam, R. Sundaresan and Sengottai Rajamani, TNS' very first mridangam accompanist. TNS was adorned with a multitude of ponnadais and even a regal silk turban, adding to his evergreen and commanding stage presence! The disciples also adorned him with a massive garland, which had to be supported by several people, about which TNS jokingly referred to later in his speech. Another notable feature was a well-designed souvenir pamphlet brought out for the occasion by his disciples, chronicling TNS' life, times and musical career, interspersed with photographs from his concerts and tours. TNS, in his reply to the felicitations, started off with a touching tribute to his gurus and to the role of a guru in general - as a mentor, friend, philosopher, guide and handholding protector. He quoted extensively from Tyagaraja's kritis which talk about sangita shastra and guru vandanam. He asserted the solidity of the traditional foundations of our music and said emphatically that the traditional ragas and compositions must always take precedence over modern embellishments and modifications and that there should always be a sense of occasion and tradition when presenting a concert. The function was followed by a grand concert by TNS, accompanied by VV Ravi, Vellore Ramabhadran and TV Vasan. His voice in fine form and traversing the octaves with ease, TNS presented O Jagadamba (Anandabhairavi), a brisk Enta Veduko (starting from the anupallavi) and a magnificent Varali alapana followed by a viruttam and Azhi Mazhai Kanna. The crowning piece was a Adi, 2-kalai RTP in Keeravani, making it an evening to remember.
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