Introduction to Shyama Krishna Vaibhavam in Muraliganam : D V Mohana Krishna (Telugu & English)

During one of the lock-down days of Covid-19, I had the great opportunity of listening exclusively to some of the compositions of Shyama Shastri (SS), rendered by Dr. M Balamuralikrishna (BMK). On that quiet and enchanted morning, as I walked and listened, an idea came to me. The idea of compiling an album “Shyama Krishna Vaibhavam in Muraligānam” and make an offering of it.

This offering would have been impossible without four main components. These four components are akin to the four wheels of a car, without which the car cannot move and likewise, without the aspects that are described below we would not be moved, metaphorically. The loss of air in any one of these wheels can slow us down in reaching our destination. The four components that made this offering possible, to experience the joy of reaching the destination of understanding on the occasion of Shyama Shastri’s Jayanti, are as below.
1. Shyama Shastri
2. M Balamuralikrishna
3. D V Mohana Krishna, and
4. T K Ramkumar.
While I am immensely grateful to all of them for their own sphere of contribution, I would like to thank both Sri. D V Mohana Krishna and Sri. T K Ramkumar. They have both championed to objectify and translate the essence, in Telugu and English respectively, in order to transmit the intrinsic values contained in the music of SS and rendered by BMK.

Sri. D V Mohana Krishna (DVM), in his Telugu narration speaks about the characteristics of SS compositions, the subtleness of music and the rhythm it contains, its uniqueness and how his Guru, BMK knew the intrinsic nature of the musical notes. Finally, after knowing the subtleness, how BMK eminently conveyed it to the listeners in an enjoyable manner.

DVM explains the various aspects of renditions in the SS compositions presented in this album. There are some technical details that are demonstrated, questions that are answered with clarity, and some anecdotes ranging from the recording of SS compositions by BMK to some interesting anecdotes of learning SS compositions from him. I found it captivating as I listened to him, connecting SS and BMK with the flow of music and also connecting us with them through his narration. I am very grateful to him for his generosity in accepting to grace this album with his introduction. Thank you DVM!

DVM’s narration in Telugu helped me a lot to enhance my humble understanding of BMK’s rendition of SS compositions and I thought it would be of great help, if DVM’s narration is also presented in English for the benefit of the non-Telugu speaking rasika community.
My distinguished friend Sri. T K Ramkumar (TKR) gladly consented to undertake the project of translating the entire narration of DVM to English, which is presented in the comments section below.

TKR has meticulously worked on his translation, keeping in mind the larger section of the audience and when I read his 8-page translation, I could hear DVM’s Telugu auto-translated into English in my ears. TKR has captured the quintessence of the entire narration without any dilution and I sincerely hope his effort and contribution in this regard would be helpful to the non-Telugu and English-speaking aficionados of Muraliganam. Kindly join me in offering grateful thanks to Sri. T K Ramkumar for his contribution.

The English translation is presented in 8 parts in the “Comments Section” below.

Kindly listen to the narration in Telugu and/or read the English translation to get the best from this offering.

Видео Introduction to Shyama Krishna Vaibhavam in Muraliganam : D V Mohana Krishna (Telugu & English) канала Music for Posterity : Sreenivasa Murthy