Concert Format
What appears to be a simple list of compositions has a lot of thought and planning behind it. One of the many reasons for the success of every concert of Vinjamuri is his choice of the items for a concert. In order to come up with the list of items to be sung for a particular concert, he would plan meticulously taking many points into consideration. Given below is the list of items from 3 different concerts ranging from year 1937 to year 1964.
The points that he would consider for planning any concert are:
- Choose about 15 items for a 3 to 4 hour concert.
- Always start with a Varnam, mostly Ata tala varnam in 2 Kalas, to warm up the voice as well as the audiences.
- Either an RTP or a major Raga Kriti highlights the concert, from there on tapering down to conclusion.
- There will be minimum repetition of the Talam and same Janya ragas consecutively.
- Compositions of at least 5 or 6 different composers, minimum use of the same composer consecutively.
- Choose the compositions based on the language of the place.
- Choose complexity of the items based on the type of the audiences
- Choose kritis on local deity, especially while singing at the temple Sabhas.
- Change the set of repertoire every 5 years or so to present variety.
| Vinjamuri Varadaraja Iyengar | Vocal » |
| Erode Viswanatha Iyer | Violin |
| Kuchibotla Venkateswarulu | Mridangam |
| Madras Munuswamy Pillai | Kanjeera |
| Vinjamuri Varadaraja Iyengar | Vocal » |
| Dwaram Narasinga Rao | Violin |
| Veeraraghavayya Chaudari | Mridangam |
| Vinjamuri Varadaraja Iyengar | Vocal » |
| Kuppuswamy | Violin |
| VS Lakshminarayana | Mridangam |
| SV Ramana | Ghatam |
Program Items from Guntur Sangeetha Samajam - November 21, 1937
| # | Song | Ragam | Talam | Composer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neranammithini | Kanada (J-22) | Ata | Puchi Srinivasa Iyengar |
| 2 | Vathapi Ganapathim | Hamsadhwani (J-29) | Adi | Muthuswamy Dikshitar |
| 3 | Neelayathakshi | Mayamalavagowla (M-15) | Triputa | Shyama Sastri |
| 4 | Birana Varalu | Kalyani (M-65) | Rupaka | Shyama Sastri |
| 5 | Nee Chittamu | Dhanyasi (J-8) | Triputa | Thyagaraja |
| 6 | O' Jagadamba | Anandabhairavi (J-20) | Adi | Shyama Sastri |
| 7 | Seethamma Maayamma | Lalitha (J-15) | Rupaka | Thyagaraja |
| 8 | Maa Janaki | Kambhoji (J-28) | Adi | Thyagaraja |
| 9 | Sudha Maadhurya Bhashana | Sindhuramakriya (J-15) | Adi | Thyagaraja |
| 10 | Sri Muladhara | Sri (J-22) | Adi | Muthuswamy Dikshitar |
| 11 | Munnu Ravana | Thodi (M-8) | Jhempa | Thyagaraja |
| 12 | Ragam Tanam Pallavi | Sankarabharanam (M-29) | ||
| 13 | Ragamalika | |||
| 14 | Javali etc. / Mangalam |
Program Items from Thyagaraja Gana Sabha - Cocanada - October 4, 1940
| # | Song | Ragam | Talam | Composer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Viriboni | Bhairavi (M-20) | Ata | Pachimiriyam Adi Appayya |
| 2 | Vathapi Ganapathim | Hamsadhwani (J-29) | Adi | Muthuswamy Dikshitar |
| 3 | Ennaganu Rama Bhajana | Kamavardhini (M-51) | Rupaka | Ramadasu |
| 4 | Saadhinchene | Aarabhi (J-29) | Adi | Thyagaraja |
| 5 | Seethamma Maayamma | Lalitha (J-17) | Rupaka | Thyagaraja |
| 6 | Akshyalingavibho | Sankarabharanam (M-29) | Triputa | Muthuswamy Dikshitar |
| 7 | Etu Namminavo | Saveri (J-15) | Adi | Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer |
| 8 | Manasa Sancharare | Shyama (J-28) | Adi | Sadasiva Brahmendra |
| 9 | Tatvameruga Tarama | Garuda Dhwani (J-29) | Rupaka | Thyagaraja |
| 10 | Munnu Ravana | Thodi (M-8) | Jhempa | Thyagaraja |
| 11 | Micellaneous Songs/Mangalam |
Program Items from Hyderabad People's Cultural Assoc. - May 2, 1964
| # | Song | Ragam | Talam | Composer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neranammithini | Kanada (J-22) | Ata | Puchi Srinivasa Iyengar | |
| 2 | Appa Rama Bhakthi | Kama Vardhani (M-51) | Roopaka | Thyagaraja | |
| 3 | Rama Bhakthi | Suddha Bangala (J-22) | Adi | Thyagaraja | |
| 4 | Seshachala Nayakam | Varali (J-39) | Roopaka | Muthuswamy Deekshitar | |
| 5 | Narasimha Nannu | Bhilahari (J-29) | Triputa | Vinjamuri Varadaraja Iyengar | |
| 6 | Endaro Mahanubhavulu | Sri (J-22) | Adi | Thyagaraja | |
| 7 | Kaala Raatri Swaroopini | Urmika (J-57) | Adi | Muttayya Bhagavatar | |
| 8 | Naagagandhari | Naagagandhari (J-20) | Adi | Muthuswamy Deekshitar | |
| 9 | Ragam Tanam Pallavi | Bhairavi (M-20) | |||
| 10 | Slokam | Ragamalika () | |||
| 11 | Tillana | Hindolum (J-20) | Adi | Vinjamuri Varadaraja Iyengar | |
| 12 | Vangakkadal | Surati (J-28) | Roopaka | Andal Tiruppavai | |
| 13 | Mangalam |