Foreword

-By B.R.C.Iyengar

When Sri Govindarajan requested me to write the foreword for the book, I was a little bemused and even nervous. To write a foreword on the works of a great vaggeyakara needs a strong nerve not to mention adequate background both in terms of knowledge as well as experience. If I readily accepted to do it, it was not based on either of them but on the unique opportunity of paying my tribute to my revered elderly friend and guru- in a way-Sri Varadaraja Iyengar. My admiration of him was entirely accredited to his masterly music known for sacred tradition (sampradaya), depth, grandeur, grace, splendor and refinement. I must thank Sri Govindarajan for this opportunity.

It is said that Saint Thyagaraja composed as many as 25, 500 items. However, as on date we have access to just about 700 of them. The loss of this treasure is confounding. It is the case with many other vaggeyakaras and their works too. The most gratifying news however, in this context is the endeavor Sri Govindarajan has made in bringing out the valued compositions of his late father Sriman Vinjamuri Varadaraja Iyengar, in the form of a book; the comment that he makes that even in this case a good many of these compositions are either misplaced or lost, is yet disquieting.

Today Carnatic music is fighting an angry struggle to retain its status as a major art. The evolution or resurgence, the research and its application, the listening and appreciation, have strong bearing on what we are talking about. The approach as well as the aspiration of the artist, which in turn, is essentially based on his capability and culpability, has beyond a shadow of a doubt, changed. Whether this change is for the good, or not so good is the point for deliberation. To be more lucid, the sense and effort of educating the masses has disastrously failed. The listener has lost the sense of...................