This program covers three hidden vaggeyakaras, Sri Manambuchavadi Venkata Subbayya, Sri Subbaraaya Sastri and Sri Dharmapuri Subaraya Iyer.
1. Sri Akumadagula (Manambuchavadi) Venkata Subbayya:
lived between 1803 and 1862, belongs to Telugu Mulukunadu Sect. Five of Venkatasubbaiyya’s students, sri Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer, sri Patnam Subramania Iyer, sri Sarabha Sastri, sri Tyagaraja (the grandson of the great composer Tyagaraja) and sri Fiddle Venkoba Rao later went on to become famous composers/musicians of merit. Furthermore, he also taught sri Susarla Dakshinamurty Sastri who took Tyagaraja’s compositions to Andhra. Venkatasubbaiyya’s compositions had the mudra Venkatesa.
Dr BMK has sung some of them (i.e., through the recordings that have survived over the period of time ). For example, his renditions in the rAgAs ‘kutUhalam’ and ‘pratApa chintAmaNi’ are noteworthy. This rendition is an excerpt from a live concert of 1963, in which both M S Gopalakrishnan, T V Gopalakrishnan accompany BMK. BMK lives through his invaluable contribution to the heritage of music, takes us through his lineage of masters (guru parampara) and remains as an outstanding gateway to Saint Tyagaraja.
2. Sri Subbaraya Sastri: (1803-1862)
Born in Tanjavur in 1803 as the second son of Sri Shyama Sastri, he listened to great music at home and at the Bangaru Kamakshi temple. He studied music from his father, who later sent him to Tyagaraja to study music at Tiruvaiyar. Tyagaraja had great reverence for Shyama Sastri and gladly took Subbaraya Sastri as his disciple. Subbaraya Sastri became one of Tyagaraja’s favorite students.
Subbaraya Sastri also took an interest in and learned Hindustani music from Marahtta musicians like Meru Goswami, a musician of the Tanjavur palace, and from Ramadas Swami who was a recluse and who lived in Tiruvidaimarudur near Kumbakonam (Gopalakrishna Bharati also learnt Hindustani music from Ramadas Swami) and who. popularized Hindustani music in Tanjavur. In addition, Subbaraya Sastri was an expert at playing the violin – he was invited to be Asthana vidwan of the Udayarpalayam samasthAnam (succeeding Ghanam Krishna Iyer) which had given protection to the arcakAs who brought the Kamakshi idol from Kanchipuram. There was a temple for the Goddess at Udayarpalayam and the Rajas of that place were devotees and music lovers. At Udayarpalayam, Subbaraya Sastri found the peace and encouragement to pursue his musical work. He was, like his father, a great bhakta of the Goddess. Subbaraya Sastri composed most of his kritis in praise of the Mother Goddess. He hardly composed about twenty kritis. Yet he is renowned because his compositions have great rAga bhAvA, deep devotion and present the intricate depths of music. He adopted as his mudrA the term, kumAra, possibly because he was born under the star krithikA but more likely because he wanted to emphasise that he was the son of Shyama Sastri. He was a constant pilgrim and visited many sacred shrines in the south.
Contd………
3. Dharmapuri Subbaraaya Aiyyar
A 19th century composer (pre-Trinity), Dharmapuri Subbarayar hailed from Dharmapuri, Tamilnadu, and composed in Telugu. He is the most notable composer of the Jaavali form, of which he is the universally acclaimed master. Most of the music he composed, therefore, dealt with sringaara rasa, or romantic and even erotic love, and all were of the jaavali form. Many of his compositions were composed in the home of Veena Dhanam, whose music he admired, and who learned around 60 javalis from him. It is said that he may have composed the poignant javali “Sakhiprana” at her home, grief-stricken at his inability to save her from bankruptcy. Smara sundaranguni (paras) was also written out of respect for her. This close contact with Veena Dhanam as well as T. Balasaraswati influenced dance as much as music, especially abhinaya. Subbarayar was also employed by the Yenadi Sisters. T Shankaran, in one of his articles, writes that he kept a notebook at his bedside near the pillow to write down the javalis that came to mind, but his wife is said to have fervently prayed to the diety at Tiruchengodu that her children should not take after their father!
Javalis like Parulanna mata (Kapi), Sakhiprana (Jhunjooti), vaaNi pondu (kaanaDaa), caarumati (kaanaDaa), Muttavadura Mohananga (saavEri), Ethanaichonalum (saavEri), ni Pondu Chalu (kaanaDaa), Narimani (Khamas), praana sakutitu (chenchurutti), Idi niku (bEgaDa) and Emandune muddu (Saindhavi) are among his compositions.
Mudra: Dharmapuri