the BIG FIVE who mattered...

violinlover · Post by **violinlover** » 23 Jul 2007, 09:22

this topic will be dealing with carnatic music styles in violin. the way we play the violin today is very different from the the way it was played some 60 years ago. of course they were great stalwarts but their style of playing was more like harmonium way of playing. but this changed with the arrival of five great violin vidwans whom i respectfully refer to as the 'BIG FIVE' of carnatic violin. they are

1) lalgudi.G.Jayaraman
2) M.Chandrasekharan
3)M.S.Gopalakrishnan
4)T.N.Krishnan
5)V.V.Subrahmanyam

with the arrival of these five mahavidwans, the style of playing the violin changed. the violin began to sound more like vocal music and five distinct styles were created. today whoever plays the violin follow either one of these styles or a combination of these. the violin was given more importance as an accompanying instrument. lalgudi mama is an artiste above par and his solo recitals kept( and keep) people spell-bounded.
MC mama is a great violinist whose style is a beautiful blend of nadaswaram, vocal and veena. his accompaniment is something youngsters like me should try to emulate.
MSG mama's swara shuddham and practice and total bow control are what mark his style whereas TNK mama dwells on sowkhyam and his recitals are full of tranquility.
VVS mama is a great musician and his accompaniment for MS amma is totally spell binding. i am too young to comment on these great men but the urge to write about them has forced me to do that. please feel free to include your thoughts too if you feel i have missed out something( i know i definitely have because you can keep talking about them forever without getting tired.each of their concerts is memorable)
the heartening thing is that their styles are definitely being carried forward by their devoted shishyas and sons and daughters.

violinlover

maniomani · Post by **maniomani** » 23 Jul 2007, 10:01

It appears that the revolution in violin accompaniment started with Trichy Kandasway Pillai whose accompaniment was dominating the entire Carnatic music world. Papa Vekatramaiah was also very much respected by the rasikas because of his ability in bringing out the sahitya in the best manner. Dwaram Venkataswamy Nayudu had a unique 'Sowkhyan' in handling the instrument. He was considered the best violinist before the trio TNK, MSG & LALGUDI arrived on the scene. TNK was a craze as 'Master Krishnan'. His rendering was more near to vocal music than others earlier than him. Lalgudi who was equally good soon followed. This is what I think, lacking historical records. MSG almost swallowed the main musician with his matchless prowess on the violin. The way in which Lalgudi and TNK accompanied the vocalist matching phrase with phrase brought great enjoyment to the listeners. Even though MSG's Carnatic is exemplary the habit of introducing Hindustani shades in Carnatic music restricted his popularity.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 23 Jul 2007, 10:16

Dr Mysore Manjunath has written a thesis on violin styles in Carnatic music (from Mysore University). In it he has analysed the style of several leading past and present artistes.

venravi · Post by **venravi** » 23 Jul 2007, 10:40

Trichy Kandasway Pillai -- He's Malaikottai Govindaswamy Pillai Guru of Papa Venkatramaiah.

nattaikuranji · Post by **nattaikuranji** » 10 Aug 2007, 16:35

Dr. M. Lalitha (of the Duo - M. Nandini) has written a thesis `A Comparative study of the violin techniques in Western Classical and South Indian Classical Music' (University of Madras) and this has been published as a book in 2004. She has analysed the different styles in Violin playing and has also included an exhaustive list of more than 450 violinists along with the names of their teachers and students in South Indian Classical Music and similarly in the Western Classical Music too.