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Alathur Brothers
Srinivasa Iyer (1911–1980) & Sivasubramania Iyer (1916–1965) were
Carnatic vocalists. The world of Carnatic music knows them as the star duo of the twentieth century.
They learnt under
Alathur Venkatesa Iyer
Alathur Venkatesa Iyer (1895–1958) was a teacher of Carnatic music. Venkatesa Iyer practised Carnatic music in the style of the composer Tyagaraja. Venkatesa Iyer later developed a unique style that is known as the "Alathur style" of rendering ...
, the father of Sivasubramania Iyer. They were not brothers by birth but were rather bound by the brotherhood of music. Srinivasa Iyer was born to Angarai Sankara Sroudigal and Lakshmi Ammal at Ariyalur village as one of 12 siblings.
They gave their first concert at
Thyagaraja Aradhana
Tyagaraja Aradhana is an annual ''aradhana'' (a Sanskrit term meaning act of glorifying God or a person) of Telugu saint composer Tyagaraja. The music festival is observed in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, primarily in Tiruvaiyar ...
festival in
Thiruvaiyaru
Thiruvaiyaru (also spelled as Tiruvaiyaru or Tiruvayyaru) is a panchayat town in Thanjavur District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Etymology
Thiruvaiyaru means ''Five Rivers around the city''. The Five Rivers are Vadavaar, Vennaar, Vett ...
in 1928. Following the grand tradition set by their guru, the duo excelled in the authentic version of Carnatic music bringing together its technicalities to develop a taste for this patantara in the audience, both the experts and the laymen, alike.
Combining the strengths of various aspects of Carnatic music, they established a style of music for themselves. Their music was the result of arduous training, conscious evolution of the Lakshya and
Lakshana
Lakshana ( sa, लक्षण ') – derived from the combination of words ''lakshya'' and ''kshana'' – means 'indication' or 'symptom'. It also means 'an auspicious mark', 'attribute' or 'quality'. In Tamil language, Lakshanam means "features" ...
aspects, unique to Carnatic music and inspiration drawn from many a colossus of bygone era in Carnatic music. Known to the world to have presented many a complicate "pallavi" replete with all its mathematical permutations and combinations of usages, they had mastered "Laya" at a young age, imbibing the art from their Guru. Not many know though that another stalwart of Carnatic music,
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Semmangudi Radhakrishna Srinivasa Iyer (25 July 1908 – 31 October 2003) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist. He was the youngest recipient of the Sangeetha Kalanidhi awarded by the Music Academy in 1947, a distinction he holds to this day ...
had once commented that the kind of "Jeevan" or life the brothers enthused in the very same compositions others sang on the concert platform was hard to enunciate and almost incomparable.
The finesse and authority with which they handled compositions like Vidulaku Mrokeda (Mayamalavagowla, Tyagaraja), Mari Mari Ninne (Kambhoji, Tyagaraja), Epapamu (Atana, Tyagaraja), Shantamu Lekha (Sama, Tyagaraja), Kalinarula (Kuntalavarali, Tyagaraja), Koniyadina (Kambhoji, Veena Kuppaiyer), Shree Matha Shiva (Begada, Muthuswami Dikshitar), Kanulara Kanti (Danyasi, Wallajahpet Venkatramana Bhagavatar) were essays into the very depths of the most authentic of Carnatic music.
Compositions in Tamil like Sivanai Ninaindhavar (Hindolam, Kavikunjara Bharathi) sparkled in their exposition. Exclusive
Tiruppugazh
Thiruppugal (Tamil: , ', IPA/Tamil: , meaning 'Holy Praise' or 'Divine Glory'), sometimes spelled Thiruppugazh, is a 15th-century anthology of Tamil religious songs dedicated to Lord Murugan, the son of Lord Shiva, written by the poet-saint ...
concerts were a regular with them.
The Alathur brothers performed with most of the star accompanists of the world of Carnatic music. On the violin, earlier they were accompanied by Thiruvalangadu Sundaresa Iyer,
Mayavaram V. R. Govindaraja Pillai
Mayavaram V. R. Govindaraja Pillai ( ta, மாயவரம் வி. ஆர். கோவிந்தராஜ பிள்ளை; 12 May 1912 – 11 February 1979) was a Carnatic violinist from Tamil Nadu, Southern India.
Early days
Born at ...
,
Kumbakonam Rajamanickam Pillai
Kumbakonam Rajamanickam Pillai ( ta, கும்பகோணம் ராஜமாணிக்கம் பிள்ளை), 5 August 1898 - 1970 was a Carnatic music violinist of Tamil Nadu, Southern India.
Bringing up
He was born in the small ...
, Mysore T. Chowdiah among others. Later T. N. Krishnan and Lalgudi G. Jayaraman accompanied them in most of their concerts while Kandadevi Azhagirisami accompanied them in a few.
In the earliest of their concerts, mostly in and around
Tiruchirapalli
Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...
, the veteran mridangam exponent, Pudukottai Dakshinamoorthy Pillai accompanied them. It was he who introduced Pazhani Subramania Pillai, son of Pazhani Muthiah Pillai, himself a close friend of
Alathur Venkatesa Iyer
Alathur Venkatesa Iyer (1895–1958) was a teacher of Carnatic music. Venkatesa Iyer practised Carnatic music in the style of the composer Tyagaraja. Venkatesa Iyer later developed a unique style that is known as the "Alathur style" of rendering ...
, to them. Their regular concerts in Tanjore and later in Madras had brought to them the Mridangam maestro Palghat Mani Iyer. From then onwards their concerts were either with Pazhani Subramania Pillai on the mridangam or an incomparable combination of Mani Iyer on the mridangam and Pillai on the Kanjira. It is said that the brothers were at their peak form essaying mind-boggling Pallavis with Lalgudi Jayaraman on the violin to provide answer to their exulting calculations and Mani Iyer and Pillai to take it further on to a different plane altogether with their solo versions, Thaniavardhanam.
From 1944 to 1968 the brothers were the court musicians for the
Maharajah
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king".
A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...
of
Travancore
The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...
. They were awarded the prestigious
Sangeetha Kalanidhi
Sangeetha Kalanidhi or Sangeeta Kalanidhi (Tamil: சங்கீத கலாநிதி, Sanskrit : संगीत-कला-निधि) (''sangeetha'' = music, ''kala'' = art, ''nidhi'' = treasure or ocean) is the title awarded yearly to ...
award in two consecutive years, 1964 and 1965.
References
External links
Alathur BrothersAlathur Brothersfew samples here available soures:musicindiaonline.com biographical sketch of the Alathur Brothers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brothers, Alathur
Male Carnatic singers
Carnatic singers