VASUDEVA KIRTHANA MANJARI. Compositions of Mysore K. Vasudevacharya with notations in English and lyrics in Sanskrit also.
Editor – Sangeetha Kalarathna S. Krishnamurthy (eldest grandson of Vasudevacharya). Published by Darpan – An Imprint of Prism Books Pvt Ltd. Hardbound. Pages 544. Price Rs. 545.
Sangita Kalanidhi Mysore Vasudevacharya was one of the outstanding Carnatic music composers of the 20th century (1865-1961). He was also known as ‘Abhinava Tyagaraja’. He has to his credit about 250 compositions in varied formats like swarajati, tana varnas, pada varnas, keertana, tillana, javali, and ragamalikas. He was also the mentor of composer-musician Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wodeyar of Mysore. It is said that Vasudevacharya embarked on the role of a vaggeyakara with his kriti Chintayeham Janaki kantam in Mayamalavagaula raga , and his last kriti was Mama hridaye vihara dayalo in Reetigaula composed in 1956. Thereafter he composed music for the Ramayana dance-dramas of Kalakshetra, spearheaded by Rukmini Devi Arundale.
The book Vasudeva Kirthana Manjari (Vol. 1) was first published in 1929, and volume two in 1956. Each volume comprised 70 compositions in Telugu script. In 2008, a comprehensive volume in Kannada containing all the compositions of Vasudevacharya was brought out by the late D.V.K. Murthy.
The present book titled Vasudeva Kirthana Manjari, has vaggeyakara Vasudevacharya’s compositions with English notation and lyrics in both English and Sanskrit. It has 15 Varnams, 151 Kritis, 10 Tillanas and 6 Javalis. Printed with care, this book published some years ago, is a valuable addition to any library. A good reference for Vidwan Vasudevacharya’s compositions for performing musicians looking for notations in the English language.
S. JANAKI
