Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan (2 March 1935 – 8 September 2008) was an

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

violinist and music composer.

Early life

Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan was born on 2 March 1935 and was trained by his father, Ramaswamy Sastry. He was the brother of Kunnakudi Subbalakshmi.

Career

The violin was his forte. He was known for his dexterity and subtlety in handling the violin, he catered not only to the music scholar but also to the layman. His play reflected his own different moods and the demands of his audience with whom he established and enjoyed a good rapport. He dwelled with ease and competence in the high as well as the low octaves. At the age of 12, he accompanied great stalwarts like

Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar (19 May 1890 – 23 January 1967), popularly known as ''Ariyakudi'', was a Carnatic music vocalist, born in Ariyakudi, a town in the present-day Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu. Ariyakudi developed a unique style of ...

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 a ...

and

Maharajapuram Santhanam Maharajapuram Santhanam, (20 May 1928-24 June 1992) was an Indian Carnatic music vocalist. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1989. He was born in Sirunangur, a village in the state of Tamil Nadu. He followed the foo ...

in concerts. He also performed with

Nadaswaram The Nagaswaram (nādḥasvaram) is a double reed wind instrument from South India. It is used as a traditional classical instrument in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala. This instrument is "among the world's loudes ...

vidwans like T.N.Rajarathinam Pillai and Thiruvenkadu Subramania Pillai. He stopped accompanying vocal artistes in 1976 to concentrate more on solo concerts. He was famous for his fingering techniques on the violin. His interest in new attempts and innovations led him to work with veteran

thavil A ''thavil'' (Tamil:தவில்) or ''tavil'' is a barrel-shaped percussion instrument from Tamil Nadu. It is also widely used in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu and Telangana States of South India. It is used in temple, folk ...

vidwan Valayapatti_A._R._Subramaniam. They performed over 3,000 shows together. Vaidyanathan had deep faith in the therapeutic merits of music.

Film music

He also made a significant contribution to Tamil devotional music. A. P. Nagarajan giving him his first break in the movie ''Vaa Raja Vaa''. He had several hits such as ''Agathiyar'' in which "Sirkazhi govindarajan" Acted as Agathiyar. And ''Raja Raja Chozhan'', for which he scored music, were also phenomenal hits. Vaidyanathan made a special appearance in the 2005 Tamil movie

Anniyan ''Anniyan'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language psychological action thriller film written and directed by S. Shankar and produced by V. Ravichandran of Aascar Films. The plot centres on a disillusioned everyman whose frustration at what he se ...

directed by Shankar, on the

Tyagaraja 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 Tiruvaiy ...

festival sequence for the song ''Iyengaaru Veetu'' which is a recreation of the real festival. He had guest appearances in many other films. He tried his hand at film production with a feature film in Tamil ''Thodi Ragam'', with

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 ...

in the lead, which failed to enthuse the audience.

Discography

Their works include music for the following movies:

Awards

He was awarded the prestigious "

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

" title by the

Indian government The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

, ''

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 o ...

'' award,

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, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1993, and the ''Karnataka Isaignani award''. He has also won ''Best Music Director'' awards for his background scores for films. He received the '' Sangeetha Kalasikhamani'' award given by "The Indian Fine Arts Society" in 1996. He also received the

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil ( Tamil Movie Industry) feature films. Both Ilaiyaraaja and A. R. Rahman have won this award for ...

for the film

Thirumalai Thenkumari ''Thirumalai Thenkumari'' () is a 1970 Indian Tamil-language road film written and directed by A. P. Nagarajan. Inspired by the 1969 film '' If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium'', it features an ensemble cast consisting of Sivakumar, Kumari P ...

in 1970 and the

Tamil Nadu State Film Honorary Award The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Honorary Award given by the ''Tamil Nadu State Government'' as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil cinema personalities who contributed in developing the Tamil cinema in India. Arignar A ...

- Raja Sando Award in 2000.

Other associations

Vaidyanathan, had a long association with the

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 ...

. An able administrator, Vaidyanathan served as Secretary of the Tamil Nadu ''Iyal Isai Nadaga Mandram''. As the Secretary of ''Thyagabrahma Sabha'',

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, Vet ...

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the ...

district, he conducted the

for several years. He also served as president of the Raga Research Centre.

References

External links

Interview with Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaidyanathan, Kunnakudi 1935 births 2008 deaths Indian violinists Carnatic instrumentalists Carnatic violinists Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Tamil musicians Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners People from Tirunelveli district Tamil film score composers Kannada film score composers 20th-century violinists 20th-century Indian musicians