Dr. Nirmal Selvamony, [formerly with MCC] currently Professor with Central University of Tiruvarur, gave a talk on "Performability of CAGKAM Compositions" at the famous Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, on 19 March 2015 at 5.30 pm.
The essence of his talk is as follows:
Although regarded as 'literature' per se, cagkam compositions, according to Dr. Selvamony, are performable musical compositions. He dwelt on their compositions, their performing practice and some basic conventions governing them. Dividing the composition into two basic domains, the akam (Inner) and puRam (Outer), he classified the former based on a master 'home narrative', and the latter, based on the various stages of combat, praise of patrons and the transience of life.
The presentation brought out the dramatic nature of the Inner texts, by dwelling on two things—emoting, and addressorial conventions.
The next segment of his presentation discussed the types of performers, dance, drama and music, and the musical modes.
