Sri T M Soundararajan is no more

[rbharath]

RIP TMS

[PUNARVASU]

TMS and PBS are together singing up there. I think there was one song they both sang together.
'peN onRu kaNDEn'.

[rajeshnat]

Condolences , incidentally tms has learnt carnatic music from Ariyakudi rajamani iyengar.

[rbharath]

i have heard his radio programs
indeed a great carnatic musician too.

TMS' alapanai of balahamsa and svarams are still ringing in my ears.

[SrinathK]

RIP TMS sir. 2013 has become a very hard and painful year for all music lovers as the Almighty seems intent on calling legend after legend of the last century back to heaven. I pray for his departed soul to find peace and the immortal music of the heavens.

[nadhasudha]

Condolences. RIP TMS Sir.

[Rsachi]

Arunagirinathar, a great movie with the singing star TMS in the lead
http://youtu.be/oL66h4eCs4U

[arasi]

kOil maNik kural (a temple bell-sounding voice). A vidvAn whose play back singing made him a star. Sivaji singing in TMS's voice was a match made in heaven.

Yes, quite a number of losses in the music world so far this year...

Condolences to his family.

[bilahari]

Bharath, balahamsa alapanai? Do you have a link?

Condolences to his near and dear. This is indeed turning out to be an exceptionally unfortunate year for music.

[gobilalitha]

Though he has sung over ten thousand songs, I have a special attachment for this song from AMBIKAPATHY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6Pt-dKwvwQ

[mahavishnu]

Sincere condolences.

[satyabalu]

* chinthanai cheai maname seidal -best exposition of Kalyani.
* His voice suits sivaji more latter truly expressing especially "Thazhu thazhytha kural"
* mullaimalar meley mokkum vandu poley.
* Nadiyil vilayadi kodiyil thalaiseevi valartha ilam thentraeyl" The song Sivaji had liked at best.
* in ragamalika (title I forget) "ganam veru katruverai ketpathe illai "in Punnagavarali.
* He can not be replaced.He will ever live in our hearts.

[vasanthakokilam]

Sad to hear the news. Condolences.

My bagyashri reference has always been that segment in Karpagavalli nin : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weyRdtfvpI4
I refer non-cm'ers to this song by TMS as a gateway to ragas.

My friend who is the biggest TMS fan I know, was passionate to sing like him and worked on it for many years. These days he sings his songs on stage and sometimes on TV. Long time back, he and I worked on the song 'kallellAm mANikka kallAguma......'. you all remember the little flourish TMS does at the 'ma....', it is not quite easy or straightforward to sing that excellent little flourish exactly like TMS with the right timbre, melody and rhythm. After several tries, he got it and I still remember our excitement at that. Even today, when he sings that song on stage and gets that little bit right, people get impressed.

[Rsachi]

VKM, You bring up a great point.
I started listening to TMS and P Susheela when I went to IIT in the sixties. I found that their songs were inescapable as they played from radios nonstop round the clock in buses, bus stands, roadside speakers and hostels. To unaccustomed ears unable to understand the words or the context, they were very irritating. But even then it was obvious that these voices and songs were a cultural treasure for the people.
There are more people in India loving old film songs than CM or HM. Although it is melancholic living in the past and being nostalgic about days that will never come back, I think that represents the core of culture for many of us. It was Rafi and Lata, Kishore and Asha, PBS and Janaki, TMS and PS, Yesudas, SPB and Rajkumar, Vani Jayaram....

TMS was MORE than a playback singer. He helped create, nurture and further the persona of the evergreen heroes. He made us dream. He was a GREAT cultural icon. He used his voice and musical gift to emote as well as sing with an incomparable panache.
RIP TMS.

[mahavishnu]

TMS was MORE than a playback singer. He helped create, nurture and further the persona of the evergreen heroes. He made us dream. He was a GREAT cultural icon. He used his voice and musical gift to emote as well as sing with an incomparable panache.

Well said, RSachi. I personally don't care much for popular culture and the fleeting whims that it brings. But somehow, as you say, TMS's music transcends all that. For me, this thiruppugazh of TMS pretty much captures it all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfvjAuw3D2w

[VK RAMAN]

A doyen in film music, he also excelled in Carnatic and devotional music. TMS means Sivaji Ganesan. My favorite: pullanguzhal kodutta. TMS music will remain immortal to generations to come. Our generation will miss him.

[maduraimini]

Very sorry to hear about TMS. I loved his music. When he sang for Sivaji, you would think it was Sivaji himself singing. His songs from Pasa Malar, Baga Pirivinai, Paar Magale Paar and many more were unforgettable. It is sad news for his fans- but his songs are immortal. Condolences to his family.

[rajeshnat]

His guru is ariyakudi rajamani iyengar (not the popular ARI), mistake corrected in post id 241907
I see his name as Thuguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Sounderarajan( in wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._M._Soundararajan). His father is having an iyengar name, I know he is having sowrashtrian madurai roots . But he always puts vivudhi pattai (sacred ash), just curious how did he sport that look.

VK
Karpagavalli nin is also a great gateway for those uninitiated to CM.

[rajeshnat]

TMS (incidentally has the carnatic trinitiy as his initials) is singing seethapathE in kamAs . Trichy sankaran is accompanying him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h--sHLpguvA

bharath
I am awaiting for TMS balahamsa tooo

[smala]

Watch TMS live in action for the famous Paatum Naane...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gKLJzRLdV0


On his having Iyengar in his name - he must be the only Iyengar to sport Bhasmam and pattai.
A sacrilege?

[rbharath]

rajeshnat and bilahari,
that was a radio concert broadcast that i remember from years ago. i dont have a recording. and i dont know, if one exists either. however, memories do

[rshankar]

Sincere condolences! May his soul RIP!!

[mahavishnu]

TMS (incidentally has the carnatic trinitiy as his initials) is singing seethapathE in kamAs . Trichy sankaran is accompanying him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h--sHLpguvA

Rajesh, I am fairly certain that is not Trichy Sankaran.

[arasi]

Harimau,
Yes, paTT(u) nUlkArargaL is how they were known.
Since some vaiSyAs also wear pUNUl, I don't think their wearing one would have mattered that much.

Amazing, how saurAshtrAs made Madurai their home and made tamizh their language, though the tamizh they spoke at home blended with saurAshtrA was something which was alien to the tamizh intonation!
TMS's tamizh 'sings'

We only have to see ourselves, those of us who have migrated from India to see how much we have changed and adapted ourselves to our new countries, whether we are conscious of it or not--whether we acknowledge them or not.

It must have been extremely difficult for the saurAshtRAs to adjust to tamizh nADu ways. And yet, how they integrated, making MInakshi their ishTa daivam!
They have kept their identity (and community) intact though, through all these years...

[arasi]

Sachi,
How true!
There being just one jAti--that of musicians, man-made divisions of castes matter not.
And there are those who hold on to the superiority of their own sub-caste as superior within the narrow division!

inda niRam siRidenRum, idu ETRadenRum sollalAmO?--Subramanya BhArathi.
Is it acceptable to say one varNa (color) is superior to the other?

[thanjavooran]

My deepest condolences to his family members.
Thanjavooran
27 05 2013

[cienu]

End of an era.. Condolences.

[rshankar]

A lovely duet with sIrgAzhi Sri Govindarajan - from approximately ~14.42 in this link - wonderfully clever lyrics in a rAgamAlikA. Which movie was this in, and can someone post a link to just this song?

[VK RAMAN]

Let us honor and respect the deceased and the bereaved family and rasikas. Why degenerate our discussion into caste system in the middle of mourning or glorifying the life of the deceased.

[Pratyaksham Bala]

A lovely duet with sIrgAzhi Sri Govindarajan - from approximately ~14.42 in this link - wonderfully clever lyrics in a rAgamAlikA. Which movie was this in, and can someone post a link to just this song?

Tamil movie 'Agattiyar' 1972.
http://bhakthipadalgal.blogspot.in/2011 ... enmp4.html

[ganeshkant]

A great singer who can justify all genres viz.classical,folk,western...I am yet to find a play back singer who is as intelligent and capable as TMS.MSV has endorsed this point at many places.He was indispensable during his hey days.MGR couldn't sustain his tiff with him when he found that other singers couldn't even come near TMS though he tried hard to find a replacement. A very individualistic singer who kept his head always high and never compromised for anything.

[rshankar]

Tamil movie 'Agattiyar' 1972.http://bhakthipadalgal.blogspot.in/2011 ... enmp4.html

Thank you!

[sankark]

Kalyani & Kabhi Kabhi http://youtu.be/SzxVaAj7Y_Y

[vasanthakokilam]

Quite funny. I did not know this till now.