K.V.Narayanaswamy

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 15 Mar 2006, 08:22

Here is another composition of Swarna Venkatesh Dikshitar. If I can judge on the basis of an n of 4, he seems to be an ardent Shiva Bhakta like GKB...any info on this composer would be appreciated. There is a short one paragraph info that I found that was too general.

http://rapidshare.de/files/15532065/Om_ ... _.MP3.html

Lyrics:
Om namashivaaya
raagam: hindOLam
20 naTabhairavi janya
Aa: S G2 M1 D1 N2 S
Av: S N2 D1 M1 G2 S

taaLam: tishra Eka
Composer: Swarna VenkaTEsha Dikshitar
Language: Sankrit

pallavi

Om namashivAya shivaguru nandanAya OmkAra vAsAya OjasvinE namaha
(Om)

anupallavi

shrI nAtha vidyAdi susEvitAya siddhAnta tatvAya shrI shankarAya
(Om)

caraNam

muktva haraNAya mOkSa pradAya mUrkhAdi vandya mukha cidvilAsAya
shOkAdi haraNAya surEshvarAya sAnanda abhirAma purEshvarAya
(Om)

I hope someone will have some of his other compositions.
Ravi

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 23 Apr 2006, 23:39

KVN with Chalakudi Narayanaswamy and Mavelikkara Krishnankutty Nair

Radhakrishnan · Post by **Radhakrishnan** » 25 Apr 2006, 18:19

Swarna Venkatesha Deekshitar's Kandavarku kanavilum,from an AIR concert,with MSG and UKS
http://rapidshare.de/files/18895393/kvn.mp3.html

Tejasvi · Post by **Tejasvi** » 07 Aug 2006, 19:34

HI friends i heard KVN sing PAKKALA nilabadi with RNS. man, d way he sings niraval n swarams is beyond genius. wat do u think?

Tejasvi · Post by **Tejasvi** » 07 Aug 2006, 19:39

hi! how 2 download from RAPIDSHARE.i'm new. any bucks to spend????/

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 07 Aug 2006, 22:15

wonder who is this KVN

Is he the same one as the guy singing here ??
http://rapidshare.de/files/28531885/nir ... nswamy.mp3

I've always known him as Neraval Narayanaswamy !!

BTW to download from rapidshare
click on the link
scroll down to the bottom of the page
click on free
and wait for instructions....

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 07 Aug 2006, 23:22

Tejasvi, by any chance, are you typing your messages from your cell phone

y d SMS style pstg?

CSS · Post by **CSS** » 18 Aug 2006, 00:03

Wouldn't it be nice if Sri KVN's son, KN Viswanathan can throw some light / anecdotes on his father's music ? To those who may not know, KNV is also blessed with a great voice like his father !!

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 20 Aug 2006, 19:23

a 86 minute lecdem by kvn

http://quickdump.com/files/1088161648.html

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 20 Aug 2006, 20:45

coolkarniji, thanks for that lecdem upload..

CSS, I wonder if anyone who knows Shri KN Viswanathan can invite him to share his thoughts here.

CSS · Post by **CSS** » 21 Aug 2006, 19:08

I have seen Sri KVN teach his son various varnams in 1968-69. And he was a task master when it came to his son - very strict. His daughter, Anuradha was a toddler at that time, less than a year old. I think Sri KNV is in Madras, but I have no links with him. He too has a very good voice, like his father. I wish someone could invite him to share some of his personal knowledge/ anecdotes about his father.

Sometimes, I am nagged by a doubt whether such 'trivia' have a place in fora such as these, but then, such titbits do provide another perspective of the artiste to the rasika, besides just his music.

kumaran.nadesan · Post by **kumaran.nadesan** » 05 Oct 2006, 07:03

Does anyone have KVN's rendition of eppO varuvArO?

Radhakrishnan · Post by **Radhakrishnan** » 05 Oct 2006, 07:59

kumaran.nadesan wrote:Does anyone have KVN's rendition of eppO varuvArO?

Sorry for the poor recording quality

http://rapidshare.de/files/35538752/kvn ... o.mp3.html

kumaran.nadesan · Post by **kumaran.nadesan** » 05 Oct 2006, 17:28

Thanks for the effort Radhakrishnan, it's greatly appreciated

It's one of my favourite GKB compositions! Another wonderful rendition that I've managed to find is by Trivandrum RS Mani, which is available for download from http://www.sangeethapriya.org/~rasika/T ... unpuri.mp3. It is very heartfelt.

mahesh_narayan · Post by **mahesh_narayan** » 05 Oct 2006, 20:17

Coolkarni Sir,
Thanks a lot for the bhairavi piece. What a majestic neraval !!! I think Balagopala is the best bhairavi ever created. KVN Sir singing it always gives me 'puLakAnkitam'. Do you know who the mridangist is? Doesn't sound like Raghu Sir (though there are some similar patterns) or UKS Sir.

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 12 Oct 2006, 22:20

KVN use to sing a sanskrit song on Lord Dattatreya, I will be thankful, if any one has this recording to kindly post it in rapidshare.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 12 Oct 2006, 22:43

You mean the one in Ranjani? My favorite too.

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 13 Oct 2006, 07:01

I have heard only once in a TV proagramme of KVN. I don't remeber Ragam. As we worship Lord Dattatreya at home, we love to have this composition. Also there are very few compositions on Lord Dattatreya.

ignoramus · Post by **ignoramus** » 13 Oct 2006, 07:22

this is available as a commercial recording, i think

mnsriram · Post by **mnsriram** » 13 Oct 2006, 15:12

dattatrEyA trimurti rUpA - gaNapati sachidAnanda swAmijI

http://www.medieval.org/music/world/cds/koe063.html

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 13 Oct 2006, 22:35

Many Thanks to ignoramus & mssriram

Ragjay · Post by **Ragjay** » 15 Oct 2006, 16:20

I am a great fan of KVN..I had the privilege of hearing him regularly from1968.I have quite a few concerts which are in limited circulation which I shall upload for sharing with the group' Ragjay

Radhakrishnan · Post by **Radhakrishnan** » 16 Oct 2006, 07:30

Ragjay welcome to the forum.

--Link removed, pls dont share full concerts: Admin--

shall u/l the second concert later

Radhakrishnan · Post by **Radhakrishnan** » 14 Nov 2006, 20:30

November 15th is KVNâ€™s birthday.

Two special tracks on that occasion:
karuna cheyvAn in srI with MSG/Ramabhadran(chembai used to sing this in yadukula kambOji)
selected this song for various reasons;
I am just back from guruvAyUr temple.
EkAdasi is on December 1st this year and MSG is the recipient of this years chembai award, will receive the award on 16th at guruvAyUr and chembai music festival commences with his solo

trade mark sruthi suddham,correct diction of this beautiful malayAlam composition of irayiMan thampi.Feast to ears..
.
http://rapidshare.com/files/3133696/kvn_karuna.mp3.html

Second track is also on krishna, swAti piece, smarasadA mAnasa(incidentally,this is from a concert held at anantha padmanAbha swami temple,thiruvanathapuram, with lalgudi/mani iyer)

http://rapidshare.com/files/3135353/kvn ... i.mp3.html

meena · Post by **meena** » 15 Nov 2006, 09:28

Deleted

ignoramus · Post by **ignoramus** » 15 Nov 2006, 15:54

the main page shows 1923 -2001 as the KVN era, while the sangeethamshare site shows Apr 2002 as his date of passing away. Is there a mismatch ?

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 15 Nov 2006, 16:25

I was just going to request the Admins to put up KVN's image at the Intro screen - and there it is already! Thank you, thank you.

meena · Post by **meena** » 16 Nov 2006, 01:11

ignoramus
thanks for bringing it to our attention, has been corrected.

toufiq · Post by **toufiq** » 17 Dec 2006, 09:38

i just discovered this forum.i met kvn mama in berkeley in 1974 bob browns center for world music.i followed him to india the following year.my association with kvn mama lasted from 1974 till his last visit to los angeles in 2000. i have a great many fond memories.

manakkalsriram · Post by **manakkalsriram** » 17 Dec 2006, 10:18

KVN was not only a geat artist but he was also a child at heart. Just a few days before his death, he had taken part in the thiruvaiyaru thyagaraja festival. He sang a sukhi evaro which still lingers even now in my heart. After the programme, I could not control myself and went and told him that Saint Thyagaraja had composed this song keeping you in mind. ( such is the sugam and sowkyam in his music). My words touched him so much that he suddenly turned into a child and took hold of my hands and did not leave it for a few minutes. Another example of a great artist with a childlike and humble heart.

manakkalsriram · Post by **manakkalsriram** » 17 Dec 2006, 13:59

Sorry, in my previous message I made a mistake. The song was Intha sowkyamu and not suki evaro. This song is truly meant for his voice and style.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 17 Dec 2006, 23:44

Sriram, what a lovely anecdote.

Shri KVN's rendition of Varugalamo in Manji, from a concert I was lucky to attend just 2 months before his passing away, will stay in my heart forever. It almost seemed like he had a premonition...

The concert started a bit late that evening, because the mridangist KV Prasad was getting some award at the academy. I took the opportunity to speak to Shri KVN, and told him (in my full Palghat accent!) how much my father loved his music. He simply grabbed my extended hand and smiled.

manakkalsriram · Post by **manakkalsriram** » 18 Dec 2006, 22:36

Jayaram,
I am not surprised at all. Who will not hold your hand and extend a hearty welcome to a nice gentleman like you. KVN Sir is no exception. The song you had mentioned is 'Varugalomo Iyya'. He would have certainly told 'Varungal Jayaram'. The song is really a touching one, especially with KVN. This song is one of the hits of my father also. A scintillating composition of Gopalakrishna Bharati (nandanar Charitram). My father in his early days has acted as Nandan with Kalakad Ramnarayana Iyer in the drama(full of songs) Nandanar Charitram which was a super hit in those days. He has also given a exclusive demonstration of nandanar Charitram with Critic Subbudu on the harmonium and myself on the mridangam in the Indian Fine arts Society during the December Festival during the 80's. Just these memories came into my mind when you had mentioned Varugalamo.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 19 Dec 2006, 19:40

Sriram - thank you for those kind words.
I also cannot forget how I held on to your dad at the London underground escalator!

manakkalsriram · Post by **manakkalsriram** » 19 Dec 2006, 20:10

Really jayaram, even now I feel shivering. I cannot never forget that. It needed an extraordinary will and presence of mind to hold my father at the right time. You did it. Just like how anjaneya brought the mountain itself for saving lakshmana, your love and regard for my father had saved him.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 19 Dec 2006, 21:10

Yes, that was some experience!

But the bonus for me was that I got to hug one of my all-time favourite musicians! Not too many people can claim to have had that bhaagyam.

Both he and KVN felt very fragile to the touch - wonder if this is the same for other musicians too. Perhaps the music makes them so sensitive...

Radhakrishnan · Post by **Radhakrishnan** » 31 Mar 2007, 20:32

5th death anniversary of KVN(April1)
somebody known for keeping perfect sruti alignment.
Experts from an interview where the master himself talks about tuning tambura and sruti.

Purity of sruti and purity of note positions on the scale seem to be the two chief causalities in Carnatic music today, probably because of the demand for spectacular music and the lack of time and patience on the part of musicians, both young and not so young. What can be done to remedy the situation ?
Yes, sruti suddham and swarasthana suddham are two areas in which we have slipped badly in Carnatic music. Sruti is probably the most important thing to a musician. For getting sruti gnanam, there's no better method than tambura-playing. But the alignment of a tambura is a technically difficult task for a new learners. Such people can use electronic sruti boxes, which are easy to handle, or even the plain old-fashioned sruti box with bellows. Staying perfectly in sruti and practicing-that's all there is to good music.
There are many overtones in the sound of a tambura. Therefore there is need for one to be finicky about the wires to be used in the tambura. While I was teaching in college, I used to devote one whole class-period to train my students in this. I would say everyone should know how to handle a tambura and align its sruti. Just as a mridangam vidwan attends to his mridangam and keeps it correctly tuned and serviced, the vocalist should regard the tambura as his instrument and keep it perfectly aligned and neat. The tambura and sruti are what make the music possible.
I had once been to AIR-Bangalore where I met this tambura artist--I'm sorry I don't remember his name. It was a joy listen to the sound of his tambura, such was the flawless perfection with which he had both maintained it and tuned it. He said to me: "This [keeping perfect sruti] means much more to me than just a job."
On another occasion, a disciple of Pandit Jasraj strummed the tambura for me at a radio recital in Bombay. After finding what my sruti was, he got the tambura aligned in less than two minutes. It was absolutely miraculous, even divine. I confessed to him: I can't do it so superbly or so quickly. I kept watching him to try and understand the secret of mastery over the instrument. At the end of the recital, he complimented me on my singing but I told him that a lot of credit for it belonged to him and his tambura expertise. Later I wrote to AIR-Bombay commending the supreme quality of this tambura artist and telling them they were lucky to have such a gifted person on their staff.
I must also mention this boy who was among those I was teaching when I was in America. He wanted to be a tambura player only. Really! He said to me: "Teach me to handle tambura perfectly. That'll do for me." I said I would do that gladly and I taught him for a month. He perfected the art by constant practice and could derive immense pleasure merely playing the tambura and listening to its drone in perfect alignment with sruti.
One of my dreams--up to now unfulfilled, alas! -- is a each of us should have a first-grade tambura, beautifully tuned and perfectly aligned and, every day, we should go to sleep and get up in the morning listening to the tambura sruti for a few minutes!
I shouldn't lose this opportunity to say that we need to improve the lot of the artisans who make tamburas. Many of us are concerned with sruti and the tambura but not about those who make the instrument. There are government-aided institutions and fairly large commercial establishments producing tamburas and other instruments but a large number the producers are private individuals. They should be well supported with finance and materials. Good jackwood and other tree wood which can be used for making tamburas should be given to them in sufficient quantity and their craft must be sustained and encouraged in other ways as well.
As regards swarasthana suddham, there is nothing else that will help a musician to achieve it except practice. When we were in San Diego a year or two ago, we stayed with an Indian compatriot --Ananthan-- in his house. He told us about an experience he had when Bhimsen Joshi and his party were similarly staying with him earlier on. As he narrated it, Panditji was occupying a room in the basement. Every morning he did riaz from four to six. He did sadhakam only in the mandhra stayi [lower register], staying long in each swarasthana, all the time perfectly aligned to sruti. Anantha would listen to Joshi Saheb for the entire two hours as he practiced 'aakaram' and 'eekaram'. Now, how can a musician stray from sruti or the correct swara position if he is so painstaking?

Two tracks from an AIR concert with MSG/UKS
brOvabhAramA raghurAmA and sEshAcala nAyakam

http://rapidshare.com/files/23669072/kv ... i.mp3.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/23672110/kv ... i.mp3.html

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 01 Apr 2007, 21:15

Thanks for sheshachala nayakam u/l

gb · Post by gb » 22 Apr 2007, 19:46

Hi,
anyone have the dhathathreya - Ranjani - mchapu. which is one of his masterpiece..

Lakshman · Post by **Lakshman** » 22 Apr 2007, 20:16

It is available here:
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/c ... /artist.3/

gb · Post by gb » 22 Apr 2007, 20:21

thanks once again..

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 01 Dec 2007, 19:37

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-Ca6hfEHz8

pek.namboodiri · Post by **pek.namboodiri** » 01 Dec 2007, 20:21

Any body interested in Sopana sangeetham of kerala?

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 01 Dec 2007, 21:07

pek.namboodiri : yes, please post if you can.

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 01 Dec 2007, 22:03

ragam-talam wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-Ca6hfEHz8

Thanks for this link info abt daTTatreya.

The violinist is Thirupparkadal S Veeraraghavan. This info can be added to Video details of the artists, which appears on the right side of the video.

matterwaves · Post by **matterwaves** » 02 Dec 2007, 04:57

Please excuse me for my ignorance.. I have heard very little of KVN's music. But from whatever little i have heard, I felt it was very 'light'. One of the concerts i downloaded, KVN has sung Kharaharapriya.For the first couple of mins, I wasnt even convinced that Im listening to kharaharapriya. I should probably listen to some better concerts, when he was in in prime.. Any pointers in thhat direction pleae?

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 02 Dec 2007, 07:17

matterwaves wrote:Please excuse me for my ignorance.. I have heard very little of KVN's music. But from whatever little i have heard, I felt it was very 'light'. One of the concerts i downloaded,

I think you are confusing a weak voice for light music.

arvindt · Post by **arvindt** » 02 Dec 2007, 08:23

I should probably listen to some better concerts, when he was in in prime..

Try this concert: http://www.sangeethapriya.org/~murthy/1 ... -Kambhoji/

and see if you still believe this to be "light" music or a "weak voice"!!! His clear, open voice in the higher octave
and impeccable sruti suddham (IMHO the best ever of any carnatic musician I have heard, along with MMI) are still the envy of
most carnatic musicians!

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 02 Dec 2007, 08:57

KVN â€˜ s Music is a kind of Music that can mean different things to the same person at different stages in his life.
A few hours before his death My dad took leave of me â€“ as though boarding a train to a new Place â€“ with the query â€œ Do you think I have done enough good in this world to be privileged to hear KVN and DKJ in the next world ?
And he was a kind of a person who found something wonderful in each and every artist.

I did not realise this then , but after two weeks of commotion (at my hometown) that follows a Passing away I returned to my Flat ,to see the House full of 6 months worth of Medical reports and Bills .I started to shred them to pieces , to get the agony out of my system and then I casually switched on the Tape recorder and played the last track he had recorded for me from AIR.
http://rapidshare.com/files/73690219/Pu ... ervani.mp3
And the Music that reverberated in my room , put everything in such fine perspective.
KVNâ€™s music preferably with a Second rung Violinist and Palghat Raghu ,has been a balm that has soothed me through many tumultous years.
And the reference to the voice perplexes me on a different count too.
In the lower ranges , I think KVNâ€™s voice was one of the truest of Voices.
http://rapidshare.com/files/73691375/KV ... y_Appa.mp3
Since you say you are still in early days with KVN , I can only quote Oscar wilde in this context.

Art finds her own perfection within and not outside of, herself.. She is not to be judged by any external standards of resemblance. She is a veil, rather than a mirror. She has flowers that no forests know of, birds that no woodland possesses. She makes and unmakes many worlds, and can draw the moon from heaven with a scarlet threadâ€¦â€¦
From The Decay of Lying

Flowers that no Forests know of, Birds that no Woodland possesses
http://rapidshare.com/files/73695588/Ba ... airavi.mp3
Sums up KVN for me.

vs_manjunath · Post by **vs_manjunath** » 02 Dec 2007, 13:11

Coolji- Nice to know that your Dad was possessed by music of both KVN & DKJ. I also belong to this category. What a lovely comparison, a simily like that of Kalidasa, you have quoted from Oscar Wilde- " Flowers that no Forests Know Of, Birds that no woodland possesses " sums up KVN for you.

I prefer to write the following para abt Plaghat KV Narayanaswamy taken from Prasar Bharathi Audio release:

"Born on 15th November 1923 in Palghat, Kerala.
Learnt music under grandfather Narayana Bhagavathar, later under Palghat TS Mani Iyer and maestro Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar.

KVN was one of the four main artistes in the festival of India conducted at Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles in 1967 with an audience of more than 12,000. He shared the platforms with shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan,maestros like Ali Akbar Khan nad Pandit Ravishankar.

He was honoured with Padmashree in 1976 and sangeethakalanidhi by Music Acdemy.

KVN having a very good padanthara was noted for his raga rendition enriched with Manodharma and Bhava. He was most noted for his Nereval singing. He was endowed with a keen sense of laya gnanam. He had a penchant for singing traditional Tamil songs of Post and Pre Thyagaraja periods."

To appreciate and enjoy KVN's music one has to listen Sri Subramanyaya Namasthe in Kamboji; Bala Gopala in Bhairavi; Sri Venugopala in Kurunji( all MD's Compositions); Shyama Shastri's - Bhairavi Swarajathi/ Ninne Namminanu in Todi/Poorvi Kalyani song; Manasu Swadheena Mainaya in Shankarabharanam;Many Thaygaraja Madhyama kala Songs like Smarane Sukham in Janaranjani, Garudadhwani Song; Intha Soukhya Manine in Kapi etc etc; Ninne Nammithinayya In Simhendra Madhyamam & Sri Chamundeshwari in Bilahari ( both are Mysore Vasudevacharya's compositions) ; Shivakamasundari in Mukhari; Kandu Dhanya Nadena Udupi Krishna na in Behag; Jagadodharana of Purandara Dasa so on so forth. of course, Dattatreya in Ranjani( set to music by himself).

I request some one else to touch upon his RTP's and rendition of tamil songs.

I would be happy if this motivates some one to appreciate more abt KVN's music.