INTRODUCTION: Subbarama Dikshitar in his preface to his Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini (SSP) mentions a number of personalities who played a major role in enabling him to complete the treatise. They are: The past rulers and members of the Royal family of Ettayapuram (profiled by Subbarama Dikshitar in his Vaggeyakara Caritamu – entries 67 to 71) [...]
Preface: Adiyapayya (Adippayya or Adiyappa Iyer/Ayya), whom Subbarama Dikshitar refers to in awe as a Margadarshi or trailblazer for the genre of tana varnas, shall forever be remembered just for his magnum opus, the Bhairavi ata tala varna “Viribhoni”. This varna has captured the imagination of both lay rasikas and the cognoscenti spanning across centuries. [...]
Introduction: Patrons have played a very great part in our past in fostering Carnatic Music. Composers and musicians have been sustained, patronized & honored by both the Royals as well as the aristocratic/business magnates of the last few centuries. They were one of the essential components of the musical ecosystem of India. Given the social [...]
Since the post I made on Pallavi Gopala Iyer, I came across a couple of more points which I thought should form part of the original post. I am adding this short post as a sequel to my original one here. WHO WAS PALLAVI GOPALA IYER? Per Prof Sambamoorthy and Dr B M Sundaram as [...]
INTRODUCTION: Pallavi Gopala Iyer is one of the composers from the pre-trinity period who adorned the Tanjore Court and was a vaggeyakara par excellence, in his own right. We do have accounts of him from Subbarama Dikshitar and also from manuscripts and references in the Sarasvathi Mahal Library of Tanjore and from Prof Sambamoorthy. Subbarama [...]
Read Part I of this post here.. The following is a list of articles and lecture demonstrations that KVR did during his life time: List of his articles/publications: Ramachandran K.V. (1938) – “The Melakarta – A Critique” – The Journal of the Music Academy IX, pp. 31-33, Madras, India. Ramachandran K.V. (1946) – “Gopala Nayaka” [...]
INTRODUCTION: K V Ramachandran (1898-1956) or KVR for short, was truly a colossus. His knowledge and contribution spanned the entire range of Indian fine arts including dance, music and literature. He was a feared critic of his days, a connoisseur of chaste music and a well-read man. My introduction to his name first, was via [...]
