Mysore Vasudevachar

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Mysore Vasudevacharya
Carnatic
Occupation(s)Composer, lyricist, instrumentalist
Instrument(s)Vocals

Mysore Vasudevacharya (28 May 1865 – 17 May 1961) was an Indian musician and composer of Carnatic music compositions who belonged to the direct line of Thyagaraja's disciples. Vasudevachar's compositions (numbering over 200) were mostly in Telugu and Sanskrit. Some of his most popular kritis include

Pantuvarali, Bhajare Re Manasa in Abheri and Ra Ra Rajeevalochana Rama in Mohanam
.
Sangeetha Kalanidhi award did not exist. But everybody who presided over the annual conference in the 1930s was later conferred the award. He was a recipient of the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan.[2]

He is credited with two writings in Kannada, one of them an autobiography called Nenapugalu (memories) and Na Kanda Kalavidaru (the musicians I have met) in which he wrote the biographies of many well known musicians. Mysore Vasudevachar also taught in

Kalakshetra
, (founded in 1936). He was already quite old by then, but thanks to Rukmini Devi he agreed to shift to Kalakshetra. He became the chief musician in Kalakshetra and helped in setting the Ramayana to music. He died in 1961 at the age of 96. He lived a simple and austere life devoted to the study of Sanskrit and music.

S. Rajaram, his grandson, worked at Kalakshetra, eventually taking charge of the institution at Rukmini Devi's request. Vasudevachar had composed the music for only the first four kandas and it was left to Rajaram to finish the work. An accomplished musician and Sanskrit scholar, he was amongst the few musicians, the sole repository of Vasudevacharya's compositions. S. Krishnamurthy (1922–2015), his other grandson worked at All India Radio and translated his Vasudevachar's memoirs into English.[3] He has also published a memoir of his own.

Early life

Vasudevacharya was born in an orthodox

Madhwa Brahmin
family in Mysore and started learning music from Veena Padmanabhiah, the chief musician of the Mysore court. He also mastered Sanskrit and allied fields such as Kavya, Vyakarana, Nataka, Alankaram, Tarka, Itihasa, Purana having studied at the Maharaja Sanskrit college in Mysore while learning music privately. [4]

He then went on to learn from the famous composer-musician Patnam Subramania Iyer supported by the Maharaja's generous stipend and imbibed the music of not only his Guru but also other great maestros of the Thanjavur-Cauvery delta. Vasudevacharya eventually became the chief court musician (Asthana Vidwan) at the Mysore court. He was known for his madhyama-kala tanam singing which he learnt from his Guru. Patnam Subramania Iyer often requested his sishya "Vasu" to help him with the sahitya (lyric) aspects of his compositions. This aspect of his training undoubtedly helped Vasudevacharya as a composer. He was adept in all the aspects of Carnatic music especially Ragam Alapanam, Tanam, Neraval and Kalpanaswaram.[5]

Career

He published a large number of his compositions in the book Vasudeva Kirtana Manjari. His compositions in Telugu have such sweetness and lilt, and beautifully blend with the tune of the raga as do the Sanskrit compositions, which are mellifluous. His songs reflect his mastery of Sanskrit and show his erudition and scholarship in Sanskrit literature. He considered his insight into Telugu as a gift from Thyagaraja (Thyagaraja's bhiksha). Unlike the Dasa kuta songs, his compositions don't have any Dvaita undertones but many have the words "Paramapurusha Vasudeva" or "Vasudeva" which means the supreme Vasudeva/Lord Vishnu which incidentally is also his mudra or signature.[6]

True to his Vaishnava heritage and the Thyagaraja shishya parampara to which he belonged, most of his compositions are in praise of Lord Rama. In addition to

Shyama Sastri
. Vasudevachar's compositions are thus like sugar candy which gives one instant pleasure and yet lingers on in the mind and heart long after. [7]

Compositions

Composition Raga Tala Type Language Audio Links
Nannubrova rada Madhyamavati Adi Telugu
Mama hrudaye Reetigowla Kanda Jati Tripura tala
Sanskrit
Marachitive Purvikalyani Adi Telugu
Pranamamyaham
Gowla
 Adi
Sanskrit
Bhajana Seyarada Sriramuni Dharmavati Rupaka Telugu

Vairamangalam Lakshminarayanan (Part 1)[8]
Vairamangalam Lakshminarayanan (Part 2)[9]

Broche Varevaru ra Khamas (raga) Adi Telugu

K J Yesudas[10][11]
MS Subbulakshmi[12]
Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna[13]
Bombay Sisters[14]
G. N. Balasubramaniam[15]

Vanajaksha- Varnam Mandari Adi Telugu
Lambodaramavalambe Kambhoji Tupamaros Telugu
Girija ramana natajana sharana Gambhiranata Adi Sanskrit

Vani Sateesh[16]

Gokula Nilaya Abheri Adi Sanskrit

TM Krishna[17]

Mamavatu sri sarasvati Hindolam Adi Sanskrit

Priya Sisters[18]
Sudha Raghunathan[19]

Mari Mari Vaccuna Manava Janma Kambhoji Adi Telugu
Nikela Daya Radu Ramachandra Kadana Kutuhalam Adi Telugu
Nimishamaina Sri Ramayana Rada Sama Adi Telugu
Ninne Nammitinayya Sri Rama Simhendramadhyamam Misra chapu Telugu
Ra Ra Rajeeva Lochana Mohanam Adi Telugu
vara lakshmi namostute
Gowrimanohari
 Rupaka Sanskrit
Sri Chamundeshvari Bilahari Adi Sanskrit
Devi Kamalalaye
Garudadhwani
 Adi Sanskrit
Shankari Ninne
Kamavardhini
 Misra Chapu Sanskrit
Bhajare Re Manasa Abheri Adi Sanskrit S Sowmya[20]

References

  1. OCLC 854725751
    .
  2. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  3. ^ Govind, Ranjani (5 December 2015). "Carnatic musician S. Krishnamurthy passes away". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  4. ^ "Mysore Vasudevachar". musicalnirvana.com.
  5. ^ Chandaraju, Aruna (11 April 2008). "A slice of musical history". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 14 April 2008.
  6. ^ Ramnarayan, Gowri (20 April 2001). "Magic of the Mysore musician". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 13 December 2003.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ Ramnarayan, Gowri (5 June 2009). "Rare composer". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009.
  8. ^ bhajana sEya rAdA - dharmavati - rUpakam (I). Kumaran Nadesan. 12 November 2006. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2022 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ bhajana sEya rAdA - dharmavati - rUpakam (II). Kumaran Nadesan. 13 November 2006. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2022 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
  11. ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
  12. ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
  13. ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
  14. ^ Bombay Sisters - Brochevaru Evarura. Ram Prasad. 27 January 2010. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ Brochevarevarura - G.N.Balasubramaniam. INRECO Tamil Film Evergreen Nostalgic Songs. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2022 – via YouTube.
  16. ^ Vani Sateesh - Girija Ramana - Carnatic Classical Vocal. Viswanath Shivaswamy. 19 May 2010. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2022 – via YouTube.
  17. ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
  18. ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
  19. ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
  20. ^ Bhajare Re Manasa - S. Sowmya. Kosmik Music. 28 May 2017. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2022 – via YouTube.

See also

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