ensured that I had enough exposure
to all styles of music. He incorporated
various global musical elements
into the violin while exploring
its place as a solo instrument.
Another challenge in taking the
Carnatic violin abroad was that it
was treated as ethnic or folk music
being played sitting on the floor.
People tended to put every foreign
style of music (like African music,
Indonesian music, etc.) under the
same umbrella of world music. It took
a lot of work to help them understand
that this was the most unique, oldest
and complex form of classical music.
What adaptations did you make to learn
western classical music and how did you find
the balance between the two playing styles?
Growing up, my older brother
Vaidyanathan was interested in
western music and had a piano. My
father took me to a western music
video show, and when I heard one
of the violinists playing, I was
fascinated by the structure of the
music and the violin playing with
such perfection. Later on I realized it
was the beautiful music of J. S. Bach
performed by none other than Jascha
Heifetz. That gave me a deep desire
to learn western composition and
also take our violin and create our
own identity for our classical violin
by perfecting some of the technique
created by my father to create unique
and original identity for Indian violin.
When I was in my second year of
medical college, I decided to became
a musician since one of the German
violinist who visited India and heard
me play suggested to my father
I have great potential to become
internationally known violinist. I
wanted to drop out of medicine at that
time, but my mother did not let me. So
I waited to finish my medical studies
before I went abroad to do masters in
western music. I learnt western music
composition and had to learn some
of the most difficult western music
compositions like Paganini Caprice
in addition to Bach, Beethoven,
Mozart etc. But because I was so
passionate, I didn’t find it too tough.
Could you tell us some important lessons
that your father imparted to you?
My father’s first and foremost lesson
was to work hard and passionately.
There is no substitute for hard work.
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Second, he always taught me that no
matter how much I think I know, it is
never enough. There is always scope
to learn something new throughout
life. When I was in medical college,
he would make me read the notes
which he would have prepared for
music major students in colleges.
This gave me a foundation on the
theoretical aspect of Indian music.
He believed in learning global
music to help us ground ourselves
more in Indian classical music.
He also used to organize music
festivals in Sri Lanka in the
1930s. This also gave me lot of
inspiration later on when I started
organizing Lakshminarayana
Global Music Festival.
My father always taught me that
passion and focus are the driving
factors; success and failures are just
passing clouds. Today, everything I
do is because of the seeds he planted.
While your violin sings effortlessly,
have you learnt to sing as well?
Thank you for the compliment!
Initially, I did learn singing since
my father wanted me to sing. My
two sisters used to sing and my
elder brother L. Vaidyanathan
played the violin solo so beautifully.
My father used to play with my
sisters and my brother took solo
violin playing to a different level.
My father also wanted me to learn
the Mridangam, but ultimately I
learnt the violin because of him.
He was my hero and idol.
What is your approach towards composition
and what shapes your creative process?
In western music, there were
different periods of music like
Baroque music, classical music, and
romantic music. During these periods
there were great composers like
Vivaldi, J. S. Bach, Handle, Mozart,
Beethoven, Brahms and so on.
Roughly every century, there has
been a drastic change in western
compositional styles. My contribution
was to bring the global element
in western composition. The first
challenge was to erase the assumption
that only western classical music
comes under classical music, and
everything else is ethnic. In fact,
I feel we have the most complex
melodic and rhythmic structure