‘We must preserve Carnatic music’

MADURAI

Madras High Court Judge G. R. Swaminathan said that it is pertinent to protect indigenous music in order to represent the culture of a nation while referring to Carnatic and Hindustani music.

He was speaking at the 54th annual day celebrations of Sri Sathguru Sangeetha Vidyalayam here on Friday.

The judge handed out degree certificates to six students who received their undergraduate degree certificates in BA Music and honoured others on the occasion. He also watched a cultural programme on dance, vocal music, veena, violin and mridangam performances by the students.

“The demand for classical music across the world has come down. A radio station in New Zealand shut down their classical music hour and its Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern came out against the broadcasting cuts. If we too need to protect our identity, we must preserve Carnatic music,” the judge said.

He also congratulated the evening music school for making efforts to promote arts and culture. The judge added that he was attempting to contribute his two cents to this music world by learning the kanjira, an instrument from the tambourine family.

“There is a strong link between music and law. While music is a disciplined means of speaking, law is a disciplined way of establishing civil society,” he said. He added that only a few achieve it to perfection and congratulated the Vidyalayam for producing talents among young students.

President of the Vidyalayam R. Srinivasan, Principal V. Bala and Secretary S. Venkatnarayanan spoke on the contributions of the House of TVS, which had established Sri Sathguru Sangeetha Samajam exclusively for preserving and promoting arts and culture in this part of the region for the last 60 years.