Classical Music

Father's Tutelage

Devarajan’s master’s father was Sri Sangeetha Vidwan. Paravur N. KochuGovindan Asan (1890 – 1929), a reputed mridangist and singer of his time. Originally, he had gone to Kathakali but soon switched to learning music in his adolescence under the tutelage of Paravur ValiyaUnnithan Bhagavathar. Soon after, his guru advised him to learn mridangam, as it would lead to him getting more chances to conduct concerts. He later went to Trichy and learned mridangam under Pudukottai Dakshinamurthy Pillai for a continuous period of time, soon returning to Paravur under the name “Mridanga Vidwan Paravur Kochugovindan Asan,” soon becoming the #1 mridangist in all of Kerala.

Apart from being a regular of top vidwans’ and vidushis’ concerts, he also played mridangam in the musical dramas of those days. He used to amaze the audience by playing a Dolak with his left hand whilst simultaneously playing the mridangam with his right hand. It was in Kadakkavur Kunjukrishnappanikkar’s “Sahridayanandini Sangeethanatanasabha” that he played mridangam the most number of times. Apart from being a highly regarded mridangist, he was a highly accomplished Carnatic singer that held concerts all through Ceylon, and Malaysia.

Realizing that singing is an important part of musical education, Govindan Asan used to take his son to listen to the concerts of famous people. Such concerts were helpful in consolidating musical lessons and understanding stylistic features. Kochu Govindan Asan knew the principle that listening and practicing enrich the music in the mind and took special care to impart the most important parts of vocal music to the disciple ( his son). This rich, intensive training from the age of 4 till he was 20 gave Devarajan the confidence to perform many concerts while still a college student. Along with vocal music, he taught his son Mridangam and sent to him to other several gurus to additionally study Veena as well as vocal music.

All India Radio Classical Concerts

1997

G Devarajan

Ini namakkoru—Bilahari—Rupakam – (Kotiswara Iyer)

Innamum tamadam—Devamanohari—Adi (Vedanayakam Pillai)

Kuratarintidayo—Sankarabharanam—Adi (Desika Vinayakam Pillai)

Saroja mabha—Chakravakom—Adi (Swati Tirunal)

1997

G Devarajan

Paratpara—Vachaspati—Adi  (Papanasam Sivan)
Innamum sotanayao— Todi—Adi (Rajam)
Pahiparavata—Arabhi—Adi (Swati Tirunal)

1997

G Devarajan

Parabramamme—Sama—Rupakam (Vedayayakam Pillai)

Ivarkkum Enakkum—Brindavanam—Adi (Ramalingaswamy)

Morning Variety

D. K. PATTAMMAL: Eppadi padinaro—Karna—taka Devagandhari

N. C. VASANTAKOKILAM: Kaddhanavariki—Todi

PALNI VIJAYALAKSHMI:  Adukintran kannan—Abheri

Thiruchi Orchestra

Kanden — Kanden— Vasanta—Adi(Arunachalakavi)

Paridanamichite—Bilahari—Jhampa (Patnam Subramanya Iyer)

Kallidaikurichi S Lakshmi Narayanan

Mamavasada—Natakuranji — Rupakam (Swati Tirunal)

Manasaguru—Anandabhairavi— Rupakam (Dikshitar)

Brahadamba—Sankarabharanam Jhampa (Ponniah Pillai)

Varuvar azhaittu—Begada—Chapu (Ramalingaswami)

Kadambam

CHUDAMANI Unnai ninaindu

M. M. DANDAPANI DESIKAR :
Pattukkoru pulavan

S. DHARIMAMBAL: Niyeyanri

S. G. KITTAPPA : Madarse mayile

KURUMALAI LAKSHMI :
Deva va va

V. V. SATAGOPAN : Anandanama

RAJARATNAM : Narumalar

R. BALASARASWATI : Srushtilo

K. C. DEY : Chet chet ob johan

Palladam K. Nagaraja Rao -Flute

Harane Karnataka behag —Adi (Papanasam Sivan)

Adamodi-Charukeri—Adi (Tyagaraja)

Sri Kesaya—Bhairavi—Rupakam (Vasudevachar)

Manakkurangu Abhogi—Adi (Papanasam Sivan)

Accompanying Artists

Mavelikkara Krishnankutti Nair
Mavelikkara Velukutty Nair
Mavelikkara Raju
Kalarkode Mahadevan
Chalakudy Narayanaswamy
Madurai/Ramnad K. Venkatachalam
Kumbakonam Rajamanickam Pillai
Chalakudi Balakrishnan
Koivila Chellappan Pillai
Trichy Sundaram
Suchindram Krishnan
BA Chidambaranathan
GS Raghuveeran
Nellai Mani Iyer
Nellai PS Devarajan
V. Sundaresan
Thoothukudi Devarajan
TR Krishnan

Shadkala Pallavi

Shadkala Pallavi was originally pioneered by Shadkala Govinda Marar, a contemporary of Thyagaraja Swamikal and Swathi Tirunal. He had great prowess in singing in 6 speeds (talas) earning him the title Satkala. Devarajan Master took it upon himself to master this special, unheard form of Ragam-Thanam-Pallavi and composed around 150-160 Shadkala Pallavis with complex talas and numerous, rare ragas to go along with this.

At his 75th birthday celebrations in Kochi, the Shadkala Pallavi of “Sharavana Bhava Guhane Shanmugane” composed by master in
Raga Shanmukhapriya was performed by renowned Carnatic musician Mavelikkara Prabhakara Varma and his disciple Mavelikkara Subramaniam. Later, Devarajan master entrusted Dr. Trivandrum K Krishnakumar with singing his pallavis.

He has publicly presented several pallavis composed by Master including “Prapanchotbava Karana Mayookhame” in Raga Vinodini and “Sabarigiri Natha Darshanam” in Kannada Maruva. Devarajan Master, as stated before, had tremendous knowledge and prowess in classical music and these pallavis are enough proof of that. The notations of these pallavis are located here, and this clip of Devarajan master in a lec-dem shows how and why the pallavis are sung.

Sangeetha Shastra Nava Sudha

A study on classical music by G. Devarajan. It is breathtaking in its comprehensive study of all forms of Classical Music across the world, as it explores the minute differences between Indian Classical Music and other systems.

Devarajan Master presents his research on the science behind music, writes detailed, elaborate information about the rare, hidden components of music, and has even translated major Indian ragas to chord progressions. It is not only informative but presents a glimpse into the mindset of Devarajan Master and his intellectual approach to composition and music theory.