Cerebral music on violins and cello

The Madras String Quartet played Thyagraja and Vyasaraya, setting off the beauty of South Indian music against Western harmonies

The Madras String Quartet presented some fine, cerebral music at a three-day festival that concluded in Bangalore on Sunday, February 28.

Led by violinist V S Narasimhan, the group played 45 minutes of Western classical music, and followed it with half a dozen Karnatak compositions, adapted to the quartet style. Understandably, the southern Bangalore audience was more tuned to the second part of the concert, and responded with respectful applause after each composition.

If you are familiar with film music in the southern languages, there’s no way you could have missed hearing Narasimhan, even if you have never heard of him. He has played the lead violin in hundreds of films. His work with Ilaiyaraja, especially, ihas won him a following among more informed music lovers.Besides Narasimhan, the Madras String Quartet comprises V R Sekhar, B J Chandran, and Hemantraj Muliyil.

The quartet was formed in 1993, and has performed across India. If younger music lovers in Bangalore haven’t heard about them, it could be because the Madras String Quartet is no youth band, and they don’t play rock... Their music calls for serious listenership, and is a sure delight for anyone with even a passing familiarity with Indian and Western classical traditions.

At Sunday’s concert, they alternated slow compositions with brisk ones in the first part of their concert. They specialise in the music of the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, and it would have helped if they had announced the names of the compositions they played.

The first composition they played in the Indian section was the simple Raaravenugopabala in raga Bilahari. With its happy, major-scale appeal, it energised listeners, and many started humming along (not such a good thing, since some were off-key!). The quartet then went on to play complex compositions of Muttuswamy Dikshitar and Thyagaraja, and concluded with the Vyasaraja composition Krishna nee begane baaro in raga Yaman Kalyani.

For most of their work, they kept the grammar of the raga intact, but in some passages, like in Evari bodha in raga Abhogi, they introduced harmonies using notes outside the raga. That sounded a bit too radical for ears tuned to the tonal restraint of Karnatak music. Overall, the performance was acoustically satisfying, showcasing genuine, sensitive musicianship. It sounded lovely most of the time, even if one detected a couple of uninspired moments.

The quartet’s music is niche, definitely not something less rigorous musicians can pull off. Narasimhan played most of the leads, and the others played shorter solos. Everything was notated, which means that it didn't have the improvisational expansiveness of a conventional Karnatak concert.

Sekhar’s cello had a seasoned, mellow feel, and his touch was exquisitely delicate. (Incidentally, he is the son of the Carnatic violin wizard Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan). Together, the four musicians played authentic, grace-oriented Carnatic music, setting off its beauty against the harmonic richness of the Western classical idiom. It was beautiful.