Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Carnatic composers (other than performing vidwans)
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ravi2006
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Joined: 01 Dec 2006, 12:09

Post by ravi2006 »

I thought I might start a thread on Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer, one of the most famous of the post-trinity composers. I also have a specific query. PSI was renowned for his exposition of Begada to the extent of being known as 'Begada Subrahmanya Iyer', and composed an Ata Tala varnam 'Marachitlindede' in this raga. Has anyone here ever heard this varnam?

This topic came to my mind after reading a translation of Mysore Vasudevachar's memoirs, in which he relates how, when he began his gurukulavasa under PSI, this varnam was his first lesson. "For about three months thereafter he did not take up any new lesson. He made me sing the same varnam day after day in slow tempo then in medium and finally in fast tempo..."

I just thought it would be a pity if this varnam in Patnam's favourite raga, which he obviously took such pains to teach, had simply sunk into oblivion.

jayaram
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Post by jayaram »

The great maestro Titte Krishna Iyengar is supposed to have sung this varnam. I have a few tapes of his singing, I will check to see if this piece is included.

prashant
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Post by prashant »

Among Vidwans performing today, the grand old gentleman Sri SR Janakiraman sings this varnam; so does Sanjay Subrahmanyan. I have also heard bits of this in a lec-dem on varnams by Smt. Vedavalli.

Some of Patnam's krithis are just wonderful: varamulOsagi in kIravANi, endukiDu Capalamu in mandAri, both his sAvEri krithis [enta nErCina and the seldom-heard but beautiful eTu namminA] and the grand, Dikshitar-esque sri panCanadISa in sahAnA which Sanjay has dug up and popularized.

satyabalu
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Favourites of Patnam Subramania Iyer

Post by satyabalu »

* Heard that "Begada"was his popular Raga. Any historic facts on this or about his compositions on this raga?
*Also understand raga "Kadana kuthugalam"was invented by him.Again I wish to know on this fact/compositions of PSI.
*Who is considered to have learnt /brought out more of his kritis.?Going by the sishya parampara it should be Poochi Srinivasa iyengar...Sri.Sankara Sivan...Sri. Ramnad Krishnan..I am open for correction.
Last edited by satyabalu on 11 Jun 2011, 22:22, edited 1 time in total.

vs_manjunath
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Re: Favourites of Patnam Subramania Iyer

Post by vs_manjunath »

kuthuhalam, i think and not kuthugalam.

venkata makhi
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Re: Favourites of Patnam Subramania Iyer

Post by venkata makhi »

I believe Mysore Vasudevacharya is a desciple of Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer. He composed 'nIkEla daya rAdu' in kadana kutUhalam following PSI's style. This kriti has a beautiful chitta swaram too !!

Ramasubramanian M.K
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Re: Favourites of Patnam Subramania Iyer

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

YES! The story I heard regarding the Kadana Kuduhalam --- PS happened to be walking by Fort St. George on the Marina Beach and heard the Band playing a western tune from which PS is supposed to have drawn inspiration!! by the way the Chittaswaram in Raghu Vamsa Sudha was composed by his contemporary Thiruvaiyaru
PS had four disciples Tiger Varadachariar,Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar,Mysore Vasudevachar,Sarabha sastry(Flute). He was a contemporary of Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer who was a Giant in his own right. PS was a disciple of Saint Thyagaraja's prime disciple(who was also distantly related to the saint) namely Manambuchavadi VenkataSubbier.
I became known as Begada Subramania Iyer for his exquisite rendering of begada before the Ruler of Mysore over 3 days--first day an elaboration of the raga,tana on the second day and pallavi,swara etc on the third day. Acc. to Dr.S.Ramanathan the musicologist,PS was noted for his inimitable Madhyama Kala(Tana) singing and Neraval. He has composed Thillanas in Khamas(Adi),Begada(Rupakam), and Sindhubhairavi(Desadi).

Ramasubramanian M.K
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Re: Favourites of Patnam Subramania Iyer

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

Sorry!! Hit the wrong button and sent an incomplete response!!!
The Raghu vamsa Sudha Chittaswaram was composed by PS's contemporary Thiruvaiyaru Subramania Iyer.,

Although PS followed the Trinity,he was bold to innovate in his own way --example in the Navaragamalika Varnam(Valachi Vachi),in the Sriragam bit, he has used the Pa Da Ni Ma Ri Ga Ri Sa--the use of Dhaivatam in Sriraga is supposed to be very rare--Thygaraja in his Pancha ratna Piece Entharo or Nama Kusuma kriti, he has eschewed the Alpa Dhaivatha Prayogam completely adhering to the "strict grammar" of those days.

mohan
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Re: Favourites of Patnam Subramania Iyer

Post by mohan »

Ramasubramanian M.K wrote: example in the Navaragamalika Varnam(Valachi Vachi),in the Sriragam bit, he has used the Pa Da Ni Ma Ri Ga Ri Sa--the use of Dhaivatam in Sriraga is supposed to be very rare
I have heard MDR (grand disciple of Patnam via Tiger) singing that phrase as P N N P M R G R S. I wonder if it is just MDR's adherence to grammar or something he learnt from his guru?

RaviSri
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Re: Favourites of Patnam Subramania Iyer

Post by RaviSri »

It is P D N P M R G R S. Venkatamakshi's mELa sampradAya gives S N P D N P M R G R S as the avarOhaNam of srI. Dikshitar hs sparingly used the dhaivata in his srI rAga kritis. Thyagaraja does not use the dhaivata.

Patnam came to Madras in order to teach the Salem sisters. He used to attend Venna Dhanammal's concerts. Subsequently he began teaching Dhanammal's eldest daughter Rajalakshmi who in turn taught seveal Patnam songs to her nieces Brinda and Muktha. Ramnad Krishnan's repertoire of Patnam songs is entirely derived from Brinda-Muktha. The latter two also sang a lot of Patnam songs in concerts.

uday_shankar
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Re: Favourites of Patnam Subramania Iyer

Post by uday_shankar »

Ramasubramanian M.K wrote:PS's contemporary Thiruvaiyaru Subramania Iyer
Mkr sir, Thiruvaiyaru Subramania Iyer is Patnam's original name before it became an established norm to call him "Patnam" Subramania Iyer due to his frequent and long stays in Madras. There's no separate Thiruvaiyaru Subramania Iyer. V Sriram has dug into this.
http://www.thehindu.com/arts/history-an ... 623014.ece

Ramasubramanian M.K
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Re: Favourites of Patnam Subramania Iyer

Post by Ramasubramanian M.K »

Uday,I quote from "A GARLAND(BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF CARNATIC COMPOSERS AND MUSICIANS" BY N.RAJAGOPALAN(popularly known in Chennai cicles as "Garland "Rajagopalan; In page 341 of the above volume he writes:

"His(Patnam's) advice was available to one and all. Tiruvayaru Subramanya Ayyar a wizard in reckoning complicated calaculations and rendering pallavis in Six talas simulataneously surprised Patnam Subramania Ayyar as he was about to take oil and reeled out a complcated pallavi and asked him to identify the tala ---a Quiz. Patnam gave him the answer and advised him to stop confronting musicians with inconvenient questions and terrorising them as it was not the proper way to music. Truw Greatness is Ever Humble!!!"--end of quote.

Either Garland Rajagopalan is wrong or Sriram is wrong --either way it is no sweat off my back!! I like all three of them Patnam,Rajagopalan,Sriram.

Uday,when are u coming to the US? Or as is your wont are u already here!!!!!

vasanthakokilam
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by vasanthakokilam »

The two threads on Patnam merged.

Karaharapriya
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by Karaharapriya »

Does anyone know of a book of Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer's compositions with notation?

Lakshman
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by Lakshman »

There are two books that have only Patnam's songs-Patnam Subramania Iyer's apoorva sahityas and Rare compositions of Patnam Subramania Iyer.
I have collected his song lyrics from a number of other sources-Tanavarna tarangini, Kritimani malai, Adi sangita rasarnavam, Adi sangita ratnavali, Varnasagaram, Ganamrta varnamalika, Gita prabandha malai, Tanavarna kadal, Javalis, Karnataka sangitam and Sangita sudha.

varsha
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by varsha »

Last edited by varsha on 04 Nov 2016, 09:07, edited 2 times in total.

varsha
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by varsha »

https://archive.org/details/EpuduKrpa-Mukhari-Patnam
here is a lovely lesson of a lovely krithi of a lovely raga of a lovely composer.
Can someone direct me to concert versions of this song

narayara000
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by narayara000 »

varsha wrote: 02 Jul 2017, 10:42 Can someone direct me to concert versions of this song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7vjJDEr1Pw

From 1:06:27 to 1:53:39 in this concert by Baby Sreeram

varsha
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by varsha »

thank you !!!!!!!!!!

Pratyaksham Bala
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by Pratyaksham Bala »

This may be of interest !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfG7D4Y ... fG7D4YwZIA

And, this Instrumental by the Karnatic Band of HH Maharaja of Mysore :-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpSouG3cOVg

varsha
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by varsha »

thank you.thank you.

arasi
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by arasi »

Note: I just read Dr. Pasupathy's post in Musical Morsels # 696 and wanted to bring it to those who cannot read tamizh.

Interestingly, this is all about PaTnam as a vidwan. However, reading all the posts above, I thought it belongs
here??

How we miss MKR :(
It's good to see posts by old friends too here...
Last edited by arasi on 03 Jun 2022, 00:22, edited 1 time in total.

arasi
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by arasi »

From MUSICAL MORSELS
#696
PASUPATHIVUGAL

An article published in KALKI in 1942

PATNAM SUBRAMANIA IYER

(By T.K. Govindaiyer)

BrahmaSri Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar has been writing about carnatic musicians in Kalki for a while now which is praiseworthy. He has written about Patnam Subramania Iyer in one issue. I am adding some more interesting happenings in his life in this essay.

PaTnam is well-known for his voice of madhyama kAla brighAs, fully-formed ravai jAthis, beautifully constructed tiers of swarAs, tArA sequences arising from the nAbhi.

He was trained by his cousin Bharatham Ganapathi Shastry when he was young. Shastry was instrumental in drawing the child to the magic of music. Once as a child, he went to Chennai with him. There, PaTnam did not sing exactly as he was taught to, and it made Shastry angry and he hit his disciple. Once he calmed down, he called for the boy who was hiding behind a pillar.

"Subramania, where are you?" he kept calling. Spotting him, he exclaimed: if you stay hidden, how are you going to perform at tomorrow's sadas? Come out and sing it properly!
PaTnam recalled this incident often, and felt how it inspired him to sing better every time!

* * *

PaTnam was in the habit of singing no less than thirty Tyagaraja kritis every day before having a meal. He had a set plan for singing each day of the week pallavis, swarAs, tAnams, varNams etc. Around that time, he happened to hear the then famous vidwan Coimbatore Raghava Iyer who was an AstAna vidwAn at Travancore. His music had such weight with a voice emanating from the nAbhi. Having listened to him, PaTnam aimed to emulate him with such intensity. He resolved that if he couldn't succeed in it, he would take his life.
Last edited by arasi on 02 Jun 2022, 18:28, edited 2 times in total.

RSR
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by RSR »

p-23
https://s-pasupathy.blogspot.com/2022/05/2134-310.html
--
Madam, Please continue, at your own pace and convenience

arasi
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by arasi »

POST# 23 continued...

Then, in a village called KachukaTTu, he started practicing intensely. Arichandra river flows along the village. Each dawn, he immersed himself in the cold water and did his musical sAdhakam (practice). Adding to this, he sang every evening from the time the moon appeared on the sky until it set. On full moon days, he practiced all through the night. This continued because his goal was to sing like Coimbatore Raghavaiyer. At times when the brighAs didn't sound perfect, he would bang his head against a pillar or a stone structure. At long last, he gained the ability to sing like Raghavaiyer.
* * *

With such devotion and dedication to his goal, he attained a lofty place in the musical world. He could not be compared to others at all because he stood alone. The public lavished praise on him exclaiming: he's not a village singer but a PaTnam Subramanian(of the metropolis). All princedoms got wind of his music and invited him to their courts. He performed in Mysore, Travancore, Vijayanagaram, Ramanathapuram and elsewhere.
Last edited by arasi on 03 Jun 2022, 00:27, edited 1 time in total.

arasi
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by arasi »

When he visited Mysore, the diwan held a concert at his residence. VINA Sambhaiah, the Asthana vidwAn (not an illustrious one) was on his way to the palace in his palanquin and heard music coming from a distance and was struck by the powerful voice. Getting off the palanquin, he hurried into the house to hear more and forgot himself in Patnam's singing. He wished a great future to the singer and gifted him amply.
* * *

At another time, both Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer and Patnam were scheduled to sing one after the other at the royal court. People wondered how PaTnam could pull it off, after a performance by the great Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan.
According to the palace dress code, PaTnam was dressed in a heavy, long kurta and with a turban. In them, the heavy-set PaTnam sweated profusely and felt very uncomfortable. Seeing this, the maharaja signalled that he could shed the official gear and sing. Patnam had a habit of snorting snuff (tobacco) and was reaching for the depleted stash tucked away at his waist. The maharaja sensed his plight and offered his own diamond studded golden snuff box to him, for keeps.

arasi
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by arasi »

PaTnam was ecstatic and for hours sang biyAgaDai (bEgaDa) starting with a grand AlApana. The maharaja was delighted. He not only gifted him lavishly but granted him a thousand rupees for every year to come!

PaTnam was an equally well-known composer. His kritis are the results of his extreme training in music. They glow with majestic brighAs. They have the mudrAs: varada, varada venkateSa or Adi at the end of each composition.

PaTnam passed away at his fiftieth year at Tiruvaiyaru on a dvAdaSi day in the month of ADi in KrishNa paksha. Though he is gone, his glory as a consummate musician will stay on until music does...

nAdopAsaka
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by nAdopAsaka »

With PSI, there at once comes to mind the 3 “manas” gems..

manasu-karugadEmi , manasA-vrtA and manasuna nEra..

PSI unquestionably one of the giants of post-trinity era.

manasu-karugadEmi - hamsadhwani

MDR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0fU3SDonO0

salem godAvari – a quaint recording made in 1905 ! according to the link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_yt_7A0hWs

manasA-vrtA garvam – AbhOgi

PSI repeats the manasa phrase several times in this kriti..

TS kalyAnarAman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnwJq1nNkXM

K. gAyatri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIBsIrii6lI

manasuna nEra - bEgada

sattur A subr.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM9rBVhCqRw

And since this is the “bEgada Subr.I", the other kriti cannot be overlooked !

abhimAna mennadu - bEgada

fittingly rAmnAd K does the honors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRgbmHmr9H0

arasi
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by arasi »

Thank you for all the 'manasu' kritis. Quite a collection there.
Now, 'ravai' in the voice, I can understand. ravai puraLugiRadu goes the expression. What is ravai jAti? How many kinds are there?

nAdopAsaka
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by nAdopAsaka »

I discovered after I posted, some prior postings that indicate MDR and rAmnAd K are in the PSI student lineage. (Perhaps even salem godAvari ?)

The "snuff snorting habit" noted in 1942 article for PSI doesn't seem too healthy.

Is "ravai" like a tremble (aka tremolo) or quaver ?

Maybe the snuff contributes to this ??

arasi
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Re: Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer

Post by arasi »

Well, awful as the habit was, it was before the unwelcome cigarettes entered the scene. Either they chewed tobacco or used mUkkup poDi (nasal powder). Ari also had the habit like some other musicians.

No, snuff had nothing to do with ravai, a charming feature in singing. I have no proper words to explain it. GNB for instance had this asset to his voice: ravai puraLugiRa sArIram. A sweet gurgle is the way I can manage to describe it. I bet others will come up with the right expression. There must be different kinds or ravai. Otherwise, why does he say ravai jAti (kind, sort)? ravai (semolina has grit, grits too!). So, in a sweet smooth voice, that additional quality of an agreeable grit?

Oh, as for the old plates which are so charming to listen to, I didn't find Godavari's very pleasing...:(

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