Madras A. Kannan was a

Mridangam The mridangam is a percussion instrument of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion instrument. A related instrument is the ...

exponent from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Due to his outstanding performances in the field of percussion, he is often called as the ''Mrudanga Samrat'' which literally means "Emperor of Mridangam". He received several awards including Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Kalaimamani.

Biography

A. Kannan was born in 1920 in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(now Chennai) in Tamil Nadu. At the age of six, he learned Mridangam from Peetambara Desai. Later he became a disciple of Thanjavur Ramadas Rao. Although he studied

Veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.< ...

and

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

with Mridangam, he established himself only in Mridangam. His father Adhimoolam who played a major role in grooming him, was instrumental in making him concentrate only in mridangam. At the age of 12, he recited the Mridangam in front of Maharaja Krishna Rajendra Wadiyar at the Mysore Palace. In 1981, he was appointed as a state artiste by Tamil Nadu government. Kannan has worked as a staff artist at

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

, Chennai and has also taught at the College of Music,

Annamalai University , logo = CampusmapofAU.jpg , image = Annamalai University logo.png , image_size = 225px , motto = "With Courage and Faith" , established = , type ...

and various private institutions. He has performed in various stages and provided extensive training to students, including sixth-generation students from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Kannan, who stands out in the Carnatic music scene with his innovative style and rhythmic skills has many published recordings with famous Carnatic singers and instrumentalists from the country. He has played with noted carnatic musicians including Tiger Varadachariar, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Chembai,

M. Balamuralikrishna Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (6 July 1930 – 22 November 2016) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer, and character actor. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in ...

G. N. Balasubramaniam Gudalur Narayanaswamy Balasubramaniam (6 January 1910 – 1 May 1965), popularly known as GNB, was an Indian Carnatic singer. He innovated the art through emphasis on ''laya ''control and reducing the ''gamakas'' which eventually made Carnatic ...

, Madurai Mani Iyer,

Dandapani Desikar M M Dandapani Desikar (August 27, 1908 – June 26, 1972) was a Carnatic vocalist, actor and composer. 'Isai Arasu' Dandapani Desikar was born in Tiruchengattangudi, near Nannilam in Madras Presidency. He got training from Manicka Desikar and Kum ...

, Sirkazhi Govindarajan,

S. Somasundaram Madurai S. Somasundaram, popularly also called Madurai Somu (born S. Paramasivam; 9 February 1919 – 9 December 1989) was a Carnatic music vocalist. He learnt music from Sesha Bhagavatar, Abhirama Sastri and Chittoor Subramanyam Pillai. He sta ...

T. N. Seshagopalan Madurai Thirumalai Nambi Seshagopalan (born, 5 September 1948) is a noted Carnatic singer, musician and composer. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 2006. As well as being a master of the veena and harmonium, he is ...

U. Srinivas Uppalapu Srinivas (28 February 1969 – 19 September 2014) was an Indian mandolin player in Carnatic classical music and composer. Because he was a child prodigy, he was sometimes called the Mozart of classical Indian music. He was awarded the ...

N. Ravikiran Narasimhan Ravikiran (born 12 February 1967) is an Indian slide instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, and orator, who created the concept of melharmony. He is the son of gottuvadhyam player Chitravina Narasimhan and the grandson of Narayan Iye ...

, Sriram Parthasarathy and

Parur Sundaram Iyer Parur Sundaram Iyer (1891—1974) was an Indian violinist from Kerala who had mastered both the streams of Indian Classical Music, his native Carnatic style and Hindustani. Iyer received the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award in 1972. Playin ...

. He was a regular participant in the

Mysore Dasara Mysore Dasara is the ''Nadahabba'' (state festival) of the state of Karnataka in India. It is a 10-day festival, starting with nine nights called Navaratri and the last day being Vijayadashami. The festival is observed on the tenth day in the ...

Music Festival. Until 2017, Kannan used to attend concerts and later withdrew from concerts due to health issues. He died at the age of 99 on 2019 April 01, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Awards and honors

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of ...

1971 *

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

2004

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kannan, Madras A. 1920 births 2019 deaths Mridangam players Carnatic instrumentalists Indian male classical musicians Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Indian Tamil people People from Chennai district