Tanjore Ranganathan (13 March 1925 – 22 December 1987) was an Indian American Carnatic musician specializing in percussion instruments, particularly the ''

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 ...

'', having studied under Palani Subramaniam Pillai. Ranganathan began performing professionally in 1938. At the California Institute of the Arts and Wesleyan University he taught many non-Indians Carnatic music, including

Robert E. Brown Robert Edward "Bob" Brown (18 April 1927 – 29 November 2005) was an American ethnomusicologist who is credited with coining the term " world music". He was also well known for his recordings of music from Indonesia. Many of these recording ...

, John Bergamo,

Jon B. Higgins Jon Borthwick Higgins (September 18, 1939 – December 7, 1984), also known in India as Higgins Bhagavatar, was an American musician, scholar, and teacher known principally for his rare skill as a non-Indian in the field of Carnatic music. ...

, Douglas Knight, David Nelson, Royal Hartigan, David Moss, Glenn "Rusty" Gillette, and Craig Woodson. He began teaching at Wesleyan in 1963, becoming that university's first Artist in Residence in Music. Ranganathan's younger brother was the

Carnatic flute The ''venu'' (Sanskrit: ; /मुरळि; ''muraļi'') is one of the ancient transverse flutes of Indian classical music. It is an aerophone typically made from bamboo, that is a side blown wind instrument. It continues to be in use in the ...

player and vocalist T. Viswanathan (1927-2002). The two recorded the music for the

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...

documentary film ''

Bala Bala may refer to: Places India *Bala, India, a village in Allahabad, India * Bala, Ahor, a village in the Jalore district of Rajasthan * Bala, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India Romania * Bala, Mehedinți, a commune in Mehedinţi ...

'' (1976), about their elder sister, the '' bharatanatyam'' dancer Balasaraswati. The American composer

Henry Cowell Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher and teacher. Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 202 ...

composed the mridangam part in his ''

Madras Symphony The ''Madras Symphony'' is a symphony by American composer Henry Cowell, the 13th of the 20 he finished. It was composed in 1958. It was composed after Cowell's return from Madras, where he had studied Indian classical music. The five movements of ...

'' especially for T. Ranganathan. Ranganathan died after a long illness, at the age of 62. He was survived by his wife Edwina, and sons Suddhama and Arun.

References

External links

T. Ranganathan page
by David Nelson

from ''The New York Times''

References

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See also