Parent Circle / December 201150

The Queen Of Song M S Subbulakshmi

BY LAKSHMI DEVNATH, ` 125

Written in simple English, the first in the series, Pictures of Melody, the book is in a comic-book format. It has colourful artwork by G Sekar, and a message by M S Subbulakshmi’s daughter Radha Vishwanthan on the back cover. The story of the ‘Nightingale’, from her childhood days, has been made interesting with select incidents from her life. The book comes with an autographed photograph of MS. Released by Heritage Publishing House and distributed by Swathi Soft Solutions, Chennai, it is available in all book stores.

Sri Muthuswamy Dhikshitar Exploring the Six Facets of the Genius

BY GEETHA RAJAGOPAL, ` 100/

Printed by Kalpana Art Printers, Mumbai, and published by Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts & Sangeetha Sabha, Mumbai, this book on Dhikshitar is reader-friendly and tells us the various

facets of the musical genius, his life and work. It contains photos of all the shrines associated with him, neatly captioned. A good book for teenagers and adults.

Speed Thrills G N Balasubramaniam

BY LAKSHMI DEVNATH, ` 125 Titled ‘Speed Thrills’ and released as a Centenary special, this book in the comic format, by Lakshmi Devnath is the second in the series, Pictures of Melody. It has a message by G N Balakrishnan, the younger brother of GNB and G B Bhuvaneshwaran, GNB’s son on the back cover. A leading maestro of our times, who left behind the popular GNB ‘Baani’or stamp, Balasubramaniam was an erudite and handsome musician. This book has all the major and important incidents in his life. The Art is by Oviyar C Thangavel. It is distributed by Swathi Soft Solutions, Chennai.

Nada Vinoda Music Fun BY LALITA RAMAKRISHNA

PUBLISHED BY

TATTVALOKA, ` 40

This is a music education book showcasing facts in a fun way making classical music more meaningful for beginners. If you

wonder ‘Who is singing? What is he singing? Why does he attract such a crowd? How can I enjoy it? Then this book is for you. To make it more invigorating, there are puzzles, quizzes, clues for phrases, explanation of musical forms, stories about singers and how some ragas got their names.

interesting books and CDs on

Pictures of Melody is a series of books on yester-year musicians. Both the books currently available are a must read for children and adults.

Books

COMPILED BY DR SUDHA RAJA

check it out

www.parentcircle.in 51

Thuvakka Paadalgal Of D Pattammal BY STUDENTS OF SUSWARA MUSIC SCHOOL

Kalaimamani D Pattammal has composed numerous groups of songs. In this group, the ‘Thuvakka Paadalgal’ are a simple set of songs on the gods of the Hindu Pantheon, to be taught to children along with the beginning exercises of Carnatic Music. All of them are in the Tamil language with available notations. A song on Swami Vivekananada and one on inculcating good manners is included in this repertoire.

The family of D Pattmmal has brought out this CD. Recorded at Charsur Digital Workstation, the songs are sung by groups of students of Dr Sudha Raja, with ace accompanists like Padma Shankar on the Violin and B Sivaraman on the Mridangam. The icing on the cake, is that this CD is up for grabs, and is produced for free circulation to interested students and parents. It has already been circulated to all the city schools.

For your copies please contact: Thejus Creations, 18, G N Chetty Road, T. Nagar, Chennai-17.

Tyagaraja’s Pancharatna Kritis For Children ` 295

The five golden gems of Tyagaraja are made easy for children, as this set of two CDs comes complete with a small handbook of lyrics. Tyagaraja’s virtues are given on the back cover. The songs are sung by various popular Carnatic vocalists like P Unnikrishnan, Sikkil Gurucharan, and Mahathi. Orchestration has been arranged by S Jayakumar. Each piece has a lead performer, followed by a children’s chorus, for easy enunciation and learning. The CDs are marketed and distributed by Virgin Records.

Essential Krithis For Children Carnatic Classical Music Made Easy For Your Child

` 295

This CD featuring multiple artistes like Unnikrishnan, Sikkil Gurucharan, Anuradha Sriram, Binny Krishnakumar and Mahathi, is a compilation of popular songs like Maha Ganapathim, Krishna Nee Begane, Venkatachala Nilayam, Sudhamaye, Giriraja Sutha, Sri Chakraraja. The orchestra - music is by S Jayakumar, with a chorus by some children. Marketed and distributed by Virgin Records, and recorded at Krishna Digidesign, this CD is aimed at motivating young minds towards Carnatic Music.

Tyagaraja For Children

BY P UNNIKRISHNAN, ` 295

A set of simple Tyagaraja Krithis for children, it is sung by noted Vocalist, P Unnikrishnan. The songs are rendered without many frills for easy learning. It is produced and published by Virgin Records, Mumbai and is a must-hear for young learners.

CDs

TyagaBharathi Songs for Children Vol.2

BY PROF V V SADAGOPAN, ` 125

Tyaga Bharathi Music Education was evolved by Prof V V Sadagopan to introduce rhythm and melody, song and dance, drama and mimicry to the children with a spirit of joy or 'ananda'. This joyful learning process aims at character-building. Moral values are gently introduced without pedantic preaching. The lyrics and music are composed by Prof V V Sadagopan and sung by his children and grandchildren with orchestration by L Krishnan.