Prof. TRS SIR PASSED AWAY

mns · Post by **mns** » 04 Oct 2013, 18:39

Prof. TRS SIR PASSED AWAY

Today Afternoon

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 04 Oct 2013, 18:55

Shocked. Was he ailing? What a great loss!
Heart felt condolence to his family and myriads of shishyas...

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 04 Oct 2013, 18:55

yet another great loss for music community.2013 has been really very tragic for rasikas.May his soul rest in peace.
Prof TRS gave a wonderful tribute speech on Sri Lalgudi arranged by Madam Charulata mami.

Ashwin · Post by **Ashwin** » 04 Oct 2013, 19:07

I am so saddened by this. He was a great man, a great teacher. No other words.

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 04 Oct 2013, 19:08

Sincere condolences to the family and disciples.

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 04 Oct 2013, 19:09

A great musician, very cogent in his approach to music.
May his soul rest in peace!

(HNB, is there a link to his Lalgudi tribute please?)

venkatpv · Post by **venkatpv** » 04 Oct 2013, 19:21

Incredibly sad.

hnbhagavan · Post by **hnbhagavan** » 04 Oct 2013, 19:26

Sri R Sachi,

Here is the link TRS tributes to Lalgudi

http://charulathamani.blogspot.com/2013 ... raman.html

PUNARVASU · Post by **PUNARVASU** » 04 Oct 2013, 19:44

A great loss to the CM world. Condolences to the family and his students.

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 04 Oct 2013, 19:58

I am shocked.He delivered the Key Note address recently on August 4 @ my father's centenary celebrations@KGS,Chennai.He and our family have been close for over 4 decades.(Read my father's review of TRS concert in 1973 in Mumbai in the book KSM Reminiscences. He was a great scholar always willing to guide young students of music in their areas of interest. Very interesting conversationalist ,raconteur(not gossip),gave respect to elder musicians wherever due and forthright in his dissents if he differed.
My father gave him a much-needed boost in the Mid Sixties inMumbai @ the Goregaon Music Sabha in Mumbai and he gave an excellent account of himself.

Despite suffering from a stroke a couple of years ago his mind was a s sharp as ever. he lived in Anna Nagar but would not miss a single function in Mylapore or Mambalam or Adyar.His Pallavi demos are legendary and he can legitimately take credit for demystifying the rigors of the Pallavi.

MSG,LGJ and now TRS-- aGreat loss to the Music Fraternity and to his hordes of rasikas(myself included).

Heartfelt condolences to the family.

May his soul rest in peace!!

kssr · Post by **kssr** » 04 Oct 2013, 20:00

I have a DVD where he teaches a few javalis. Amazing dedication as a teacher and fantastic knowledge. The carnatic world will miss him greatly.

Sreeni Rajarao · Post by **Sreeni Rajarao** » 04 Oct 2013, 20:08

Sorry to hear this!
I have enjoyed listening to many dAsara pada-s that he has tuned and sung. Thanks to Varsha's generosity, I have a few of them in my collection.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 04 Oct 2013, 20:25

So sorry to hear about this. Heartfelt condolences to the family! May his soul rest in peace.

thanjavooran · Post by **thanjavooran** » 04 Oct 2013, 20:30

Very sorry to hear the sad news. Condolences to t he family members and disciples

venkatakailasam · Post by **venkatakailasam** » 04 Oct 2013, 20:35

" T. R. Subramanyam, or TRS as he is more popularly known amongst most music loving rasikas is a vidwan with uncommon traits. He is unconventional in the sense, that he is a daredevil willing to explore new avenues, regardless of whether his new ideas are accepted or not. He may not start his concert with a traditional varnam or a kriti on Ganesha. On one occasion, the opening item of his concert was a javali in Kapi ragam!

TRS is scholarly and original in his approach to learning new kritis. Though TRS is a multilinguist, until he is confident of the meaning of song- whether the kriti is in Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit or Tamil, he will not attempt to sing it. Before presenting a new kriti at a concert he pays particular attention to learn the correct words of the sahitya and the correct pronunciation of each word. When TRS renders a kriti, each sangati is rendered with clarity allowing the listener to pick up the words of the song"
- eAmbalam

http://rasayanakarnatic.wordpress.com/tr-subramaniam/

Rohin · Post by **Rohin** » 04 Oct 2013, 21:24

This brings me great sadness. Ashwin and I have been fortunate to learn under the doyen from a young age. May his soul rest in peace. His family, disciples, fans and the musical fraternity will all mourn this great loss.

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 04 Oct 2013, 21:24

venkatakailasam wrote:
TRS is scholarly and original in his approach to learning new kritis. Though TRS is a multilinguist, until he is confident of the meaning of song- whether the kriti is in Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit or Tamil, he will not attempt to sing it. Before presenting a new kriti at a concert he pays particular attention to learn the correct words of the sahitya and the correct pronunciation of each word. When TRS renders a kriti, each sangati is rendered with clarity allowing the listener to pick up the words of the song

TRS loved to tell this tale of his early days in Andhra.

He had invited a neighbor and sang for him a few Thyagaraja krithis. At the end of the session, the neighbor remarked that he would have enjoyed the songs even more had they been in Telugu!

That is when TRS realized how badly Telugu krithis were being mangled by Tamil musicians. He hired himself a Telugu teacher and learnt Telugu properly.

Incidentally, even this morning he was trying to arrange concerts during the December Season for his organization, Music Education Trust (MET). MET has sponsored so many upcoming artists as well as those who do not get chances even in non-mainstream sabhas.

His loss would be felt keenly by the community of rasikas, music students and musicians.

RIP.

Rsachi · Post by **Rsachi** » 04 Oct 2013, 21:33

Harimau,
When TRS performed in Parvathi, he learnt a Kannada poem just before the concert and rendered it beautifully, with right diction and great raga bhava to his own tune.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 04 Oct 2013, 21:40

Shocked to hear this. My sincere condolences. I don't think CM can bear such colossal losses in quick succession.

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 04 Oct 2013, 21:44

What a loss! Sincere condolences.

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 04 Oct 2013, 21:53

A huge loss to the Carnatic Music world. Condolences ..

VK RAMAN · Post by **VK RAMAN** » 04 Oct 2013, 22:17

A huge loss indeed for music world. May his soul rest in peace

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 04 Oct 2013, 22:46

Yes, CM's loss.
Harimau says that hours before the end came, he was busy making plans for his december concerts.

Giving opportunities to lesser known and upcoming musicians and encouraging them was his wont. In how many such concerts have I seen him! We better not complain about the traffic, I would think--imagine his making it to so many concerts, coming all the way from Annanagar!

So, he wasn't ailing, it seems.

Condolences to his family and family of countless students and rasikAs.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 04 Oct 2013, 23:02

I never knew him, but he was such a familiar face. He must have taken a great deal of trouble to travel: going to a concert, one would see him more often than not. Just in recent weeks I became aware of his bright yellow Nano car, with a driver who seemed equally cheerful.

Condolences to his family, students, friends

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 05 Oct 2013, 02:35

Oh.. very sad to hear the news. A great loss to the CM community indeed. So much come to my mind to write about him, but all inadequate to describe his greatness, scholarship and how much he was part of CM for so many decades. Condolences to everyone near and dear to him.

jayachAmarAja · Post by **jayachAmarAja** » 05 Oct 2013, 02:38

A great vidwan, rasika, and patron, who encouraged many an upcoming musician. Condolences to his family, friends and well-wishers..

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 05 Oct 2013, 03:17

Another great loss to music. He really had a brilliant, analytical musical mind. I really enjoy his DVDs on manodharma aspects.

msakella · Post by **msakella** » 05 Oct 2013, 03:45

A true-teacher and the only true-Sangitakalanidhi who truthfully served the society until his last breathe and whom the society remembers him for ever unlike any other musician on earth. Hats off to him. amsharma

varsha · Post by **varsha** » 05 Oct 2013, 04:48

This one hurts very badly .Just like MSG-LLG-Ranjini Hebbar.I now understand the wisdom of the saying ...
To learn to live without some of the things we have loved , is an indispensable part of happiness .
He shall always be a Nadopasaka to my mind .No other musician fascinated me as much as TRS for a hundred different reasons ..
https://archive.org/details/EleyManameR ... ubramaniam
kAlana dUthara kAligE biddarE
nAzhegE niluvarE ........
mandiya mAthige endigu marugada .....
---------
I can see him demystifying pallavis for the dwarapalakas of the pearly gates ....

maduraimini · Post by **maduraimini** » 05 Oct 2013, 06:41

Very sorry to hear about Prof. TRS. Sympathies to his near and dear.

balakk · Post by **balakk** » 05 Oct 2013, 06:52

Sincere condolences. A legendary vidwan, great scholar and passionate teacher all rolled into one. He will be deeply missed.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 05 Oct 2013, 09:37

I went to TRS mamA's home at annanagar east . His last rites will be done tomorrow (Oct 06th, 2013).
His home address is L17 26th street , Annanagar East , Chennai -102. When you come from kilpauk area towards chintamani , you keep going straight almost till the end before you hit New Avadi road , one road before that towards the right is 26th street, after you turn right his house is in the junction of the first cut in the right side . The street is just opposite to Hope Rehabilitation center. TRS mAmA finished his bi weekly classes at Music Academy yesterday , Oct 04th ,complained of breathlessness and then he passed away.

Incidentally today morning i went to TRS mamA's house with my periappa(my delhi periappa) who was TRS mAma's friend for about 50 years . My periappa told me that in 1960 or 1961 he came to delhi , his home was next to Prof TRS at karolBagh , then later he moved to North campus in Delhi University. Incidentally my periappa told for many years they in delhi never knew his greatness as he was a local artist and it took many years for them to collectively appreciate TRS mAmA as much as his other contemporaries . Also my periappa told a lot of things about shri TRS's wife Smt kanaga (who passed away before shri TRS ), she was a great pillar of support.

shri TRS daughter Smt Vijaya said Few days back mama's recording was played in AIR , it was a bilahari pallavi and about 5 people who heard his music called his home and went gA gA, that precisely is the greatness of his music- they notice and get that intense feeling to say how great his music was. I asked TRS mAma's sister what does TR stands for , she said Thiruvidaimarudur Rajagopalan, rajagopalan is TRS mamA's appA . Thiruvidaimarudhur produced a great musician (flute mAli) .

TRS mAmA , You are such a very very original musician who calibrated my expectation of what a carnatic concert has to be . I have told you many a times to you in person , I felt like saying it again You are as great as any of the other great musicians that you go gA gA. All will miss you as a performer, co-rasika, guru and as a wonderful human being.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 05 Oct 2013, 09:45

The hindu mentions Prof TRS Demise
http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday ... 201759.ece

gardabha_gana · Post by **gardabha_gana** » 05 Oct 2013, 11:47

Very very sad. Deep condolences.

raghavt · Post by **raghavt** » 05 Oct 2013, 13:01

A great loss

venkatakailasam · Post by **venkatakailasam** » 05 Oct 2013, 15:38

Here is an absorbing RTP in raga Bilahari...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q7bnioRUVs

One of the cases where MA has erred in not conferring SK...

E swara trs 002 Shri. TR Subramanyam RTP Natakuranji MahatmaGandhi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvoDNaoGqso

pattamaa · Post by **pattamaa** » 05 Oct 2013, 18:06

Rajesh, great tribute. So nice of you to visit him in reason for a last look.

Great artist and simple personality and familiar figure in concert halls..

Condolences to near and dear.

pvs · Post by **pvs** » 05 Oct 2013, 18:25

Sincere condolences. He approached music as a scientist and artist simultaneously; a true genius. His swaras and ragas were out of the world; now he is ...

radha bhaskar · Post by **radha bhaskar** » 05 Oct 2013, 21:32

TRS sir's demise in indeed a great loss. It is hard to find a person like him - a fund of knowledge but so simple and down to earth. I remember quite a few of my Music appreciation programs where he would come and sit as audience and listen intently. Honestly, I would be taken aback and wonder what a genius like him would get to know from an ordinary person like me. But at the end, he would say, " I am always a student of music and there is so much to learn from everyone." As a person, he would have a word of praise for everyone and always appreciate good things. may his soul rest in peace!

satyabalu · Post by **satyabalu** » 05 Oct 2013, 22:19

His role as Judge in Music competition used to be unique making the young participants to feel at ease to bring out their true stuff ,transforming it as a training session.
He will definitely make it whenever he was invited for Pancharatnam ,when you hand over a cover as a token he would ask "what is there to DIs Cover.?"
He was in the habit of staying till the end of the programme he attended.
He was active till end.

chitravina ravikiran · Post by **chitravina ravikiran** » 06 Oct 2013, 02:53

I got to know about this only a few hours ago... I pray for his soul. By way of tribute, I am sharing an article I wrote for his souvenir in 2006 (only the last para has been added now).
=======================================================
Few people have brought to the Indian music field as much innovative spirit, intellectual merit and more than all these, a positive attitude as Prof T R Subramaniam has done for several decades. His story reveals that he has not only done different things but also done things with a difference. Right from the beginning, he carved a special path for himself, one that several others are following today.

Prof TRS has made wonderful use of the gifts he possessed – an analytical and objective brain, exposure to several great styles, creativity and strong laya sense. He combined these to create a style of his own that wafted into the music field in a refreshing manner. It goes without saying that his approach and all too well known musicianship have accorded him a great status today. I want to dwell upon certain other equally important facets and contributions of his in this article.

Freshness: Prof TRS has also aimed to be fresh in everything he does, be it singing alapanas or swaras or composing new pallavis for his concerts. This is something that very few artistes strive for, often being content in their comfort zones. However, Prof TRS’ desire for freshness is not a product of peer performance or public expectation; it is born more out of an internal compulsion, he just can’t help being fresh! This is something that I can personally relate to.

Inquisitive Approach: Forever a person with an inquisitive mind, he has always set out to observe, analyse and draw intelligent inferences. He also has a large heart that enables him to share his thoughts and experiences with his students and anybody else that is interested.

Approach to compositions: Being a composer himself, Prof TRS has always striven to do justice to the works of other composers. His awareness of the lyrics and spirit of the works have enabled him to appreciate them and execute them better, something that he has striven to inculcate among his students.

Courage and objectivity: Another remarkable trait in him is his courage to speak his mind and act according to his convictions. This is what true character is about. Surely, his education has had a role in prompting critical studies of musicians and music, a must for any field to be healthy. By getting emotional about things close to heart, one may scarcely pay heed to perspectives other than one’s own, something that Prof TRS has often cautioned against. The important thing to remember is that even in his most critical analysis, he has displayed only objectivity, never malice.

True artiste: This brings to another wonderful side of Prof TRS, a true artiste, who is first a true rasika and student of the art. He has a remarkably open mind and genuine admiration for talent and the broad heart to go out of his way to spot and encourage people with abilities. Very few people will feel secure enough in their own abilities to do this. That Prof TRS has done this for so many years in several cities demonstrates his true love for the art, his confidence, his energy and goodwill towards artistes.

On a personal note, he was a very good friend of my father’s from 1950s (whom he used to call as the Superman of RTP), was the first to invite me to Delhi for a chitravina concert (in 1980/81), regularly brought promising violinists from Delhi to my attention even when they were in their teens (including Delhi Sunderrajan and Akkarai Shubhalakshmi) was absolutely, objectively appreciative about Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi’s greatness when I first shared some of his rare masterpieces with him (immediately sending several of his prominent disciples to me to learn them from me) and he encouraged many of my disciples in various ways. I had the honour to share the stage with him on numerous seminars, discussions and conferences. An irreparable loss indeed...

satyabalu · Post by **satyabalu** » 06 Oct 2013, 09:15

May I have the list of his compositions.? I wish his disciples to popularise them.

vidya raja · Post by **vidya raja** » 06 Oct 2013, 13:00

My Deep Heartfelt condolences. Very saddened by the loss to the music fraternity.

varsha · Post by **varsha** » 06 Oct 2013, 17:31

:-ss
Sabheyalleee Arithavarirabeku ....
https://archive.org/details/ThalabekuTh ... ubramaniam
De Profundis
------
“To deny one's own experiences is to put a lie into the lips of one's own life. It is no less than a denial of the soul.”
--
“The final mystery is oneself. When one has weighed the sun in the balance, and measured the steps of the moon, and mapped out the seven heavens star by star, there still remains oneself. Who can calculate the orbit of his own soul?”
---
“Nature....she will hang the night stars so that I may walk abroad in the darkness without stumbling, and send word the wind over my footprints so that none may track me to my hurt: she will cleanse me in great waters, and with bitter herbs make me whole.”
----
“The great things of life are what they seem to be, and for that reason, strange as it may sound to you, are often difficult to interpret. But the little things of life are symbols. We receive our bitter lessons most easily through them.”
---
“In the strangely simple economy of the world people only get what they give, and to those who have not enough imagination to penetrate the mere outward of things and feel pity, what pity can be given save that of scorn?”
---
“God made the world just as much for me as for any one else.”
----
“Every single human being should be the fulfilment of a prophecy: for every human being should be the realisation of some ideal, either in the mind of God or in the mind of man.”
--------------------
De Profundis. Indeed !!!!!

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 07 Oct 2013, 02:06

Note: I have quarantined the phd thesis related posts. We can bring them back later on in a separate thread at a later time if there is interest. Thanks for your understanding.

VRV · Post by **VRV** » 07 Oct 2013, 12:04

Such a great loss to CM. My heartfelt condolences.

Vinod Venkataraman

Deekshita.V · Post by **Deekshita.V** » 07 Oct 2013, 12:44

As a disciple, it is a great loss to me .
On 3 rd Oct, He taught me "Dasarathe Pahimam" in Bilahari (Mysore Vasudevachariarar) . Then i started singing his Misra sivaranjani varnam for correction , he said let me hear the remaining in the next class (when will i get next class from him ?) He got ready and i asked him " enna mama, surprisa inniku enn Veshi kattindu varel ? "( TRS Mama usually wear pant ) He replied "seriaya thane irruku ? ". He dropped me at Madaveli and went to attended a concert.
On 4 th, He took class at Music academy in the morning and game back home by 12 noon. At 3.30 pm he was dressed (pant and Shirt) up and ready to visit Mylapore to attend concert. While walking through the his house Veranda, He had a massive attack and Gasping for breath , His daughter and Grand son took him to nearby Nursing home ,where CPR was done and at 4.15 pm he collapsed. (A true Karma Yogi ,till his end, was thinking and breathing only music)
On 6 th Morning, His Disciples sang (with tears rolling from eyes) the Krithis taught by him and paid homage to the great Guru.
His Last Rights were performed on 6 th Morning by his son Raja.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 07 Oct 2013, 15:44

TRS MamA was a real real rasika always looking insightfully and seeing/hearing till the end upto mangalam how a musician delivers his/her concert . Many dignataries will sit next to him in the first half of a concert , and many a times he will be sitting all alone in the first few rows towards the end . Just a bit of random chronological order of where and when i saw TRS mAmA in concerts

# The last time I saw TRS mAma was in the pallavi darbAr concert where Abhishek sang in Aug 2013. He grew bit more older as he was having a walking stick.

# While musicians/rasikas walk out towards the middle of any concert , I have seen him once in swamy's hall where for KV Ramanujam flute he was coming in during sub main end and he stayed till the end.

# Once I spoke him about Trichur Brothers after NGS mini and told TRS mAma "Unga Kathu passanga pakkam nalla veesudhu(YOur touches are very much there )". TRS mAmA quipped something like no no no they have their musical spark.

# The concert at his Music Education trust where Dr Radha venkatachalam sang . mAma was very attentive and really putting taalam for the pallavi.

# Once after a OVK concert of Suryaprakash , mAma told veetukku pOlam nenaicheN utkArA vetchutayE pA when the concert ended around 09 :45 at PS high school. Appreciating chitraveena ravikiran for his extraordinary musical intellect in bringing OVK in the speech prior where TRS and Ravikiran shared the dias .

# A very touchy thing was when Deekshita sang an exclusive GNB composition concert . While many were congragulating Deekshita , prof TRS went to Deekshita mother and praised the mother .

# TRS mAma speaking in a manakkal rangarAjan felicitation at SPSS- roughly a year or two back . He could not sit for the Abhishek's pallavi that followed as it was very very late start

# TRS mAmA sitting for V Shankaranarayanan concert at ragasudha a year or two back.

# Lecdems of GNB at IFA and many more places . One could hear how much he liked GNB?

# With respect to rasikas event ,TRS sat thru a rasikas concert at shri Nageshwaran's house (for a PB srirangachari ) where he remarked "I am a great seeker of oceanic experience of CM I want to become a forum member, how do I become?"."

# Another rasikas event was when TRS mAma gave a lecture of "status of telugu in concerts" at our rasikas meet (in DVMK house)where K gayathri sang a concert.

# The very first time I recognized TRS mAma in concert circles at chennai was in 2005 . The concert was by padma seshadri sisters . I vaguely recollect a koteeshwara iyer main krithi in lathangi and they sang very rare numbers . I remember distinctly one was a krithi by nadopasana srinivasan. TRS mAmA talked briefly about the sisters.

# Talking about mAmA dress which the previous post was covered , I can think of his grey pant and a contrasting Red Shirt with a vivudhi and a small poTTu - it showed perhaps his pallavi + swararAgamAliga combination .

On a side note , TRS mAmA must have heard every musician and I have just recollected a miniscule subset of where I and TRS mAmA was in the audience.

Deekshita.V · Post by **Deekshita.V** » 07 Oct 2013, 17:23

By God's grace, I had a great opportunity to learn 18 of the GNB krithis from TRS Mama. As Mr.Rajesh mentioned , He prepared me to perform Three such exclusive GNB composition concerts without repetition. Mama perceived GNB krithi and taught (how GNB would Have sung his own krithi )

satyabalu · Post by **satyabalu** » 07 Oct 2013, 23:24

Deekshitha! Why not you popularise his compositions? I remember having listened to one of his Varnams.You can also upload some rendered by you &other disciples.It will be a fitting Homage.