I have posted about Sri.P.N. Raghava Rao memorial day program under the "Music & Festivals". Enclosed his biography which was released to press. Appended his rendering of Lavanya Rama as a rapid share file.
A Great Torch Bearer of Chaste Carnatic Classical Music
Sri. P.N. Raghava Rao
Born in June 1920, Sri. P. N. Raghava Rao hailed from a musical family. P.N stands for Polur Natai and the entire family carried these initials. One of his forefathers who worked as a Dewan during the regime of the Nawab of Arcot was conferred the title of "Rao’ for his great singing talent. Asked whether he wanted property or title, the choice was a title as the family tradition would be passed down through the generations. Raghava Rao’s father Sri. Venkat Rao (who was a building contractor by profession) used to sing Sahana ragam for three hours everyday to the family deity. The entire family used to sing. Two of his elder sisters were artistes at All India Radio, Chennai. One of his sisters Smt. Sharada Shankar is a veena artiste besides having pursued vocal music.
Raghava Rao’s formative years in music learning was from Sri. Kittamani Iyer whom he referred as ‘Anna’. His growing up days during his twenties and thirties was with his contemporary, the great Sri. Ramnad Krishnan who was also his neighbour in Mylapore. He was always surrounded by connoisseurs of music. Great artistes and composers of the likes of Brindamma & Mukthamma,
Sri. S. Ramanathan, Sri. K.V. Narayanaswamy, Sri. Tanjore Sankara Iyer, Sri. Spencer Venugopal,
Sri. Voleti Venkateswaralu, Sri. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer used to visit his home and exchange musical notes. Every Friday, Raghava Rao used to participate in ‘Sathsangeetham’ or ‘Chamber Concerts’ at the late Hindu music critic Sri. N.M.Narayanan’s home who was also his good friend. There also used to be a lot of chamber music concerts at his ancestral home in Mylapore. He was an ‘A’ artiste at AIR, Chennai and has also performed at the Music Academy.
He was instrumental in starting Thyagaraja Vidvath Samajam at Mylapore and was a Treasurer for this Sabha for nearly 15 years. Sathsangeetha Sabha at Mylapore, a music Organisation started on a voluntary basis was also initiated by him along with Spencer Venugopal sir. Several music yesteryear stalwarts like Sri. Papanasam Sivan and Brindamma & Muktamma have sung at this forum.
He has groomed several students who have performed and are currently performing like
Sri. A. Padmanabhan, Smt. Nirmala Sounderajan, Late Sri. A. Sundaresan, Smt. Subhashini Parthasarthy, Sri. Rajan & Smt. Rita Rajan, Smt. Vijayalakshmi Rajaram, to name a few. Even reputed and famed artistes like Sri. L. Sankar, Sri. L. Subramaniam & Sri. L. Vaidyanathan,
Sri. T.M.Thyagarajan, Sri. P.S. Narayanaswamy, Smt. Aruna Sairam used to learn rare krithis from him.
His style of singing was very distinct in its creative approach and was stylistic. The hallmark was his ragam delineation and songs that were filled with rakthi and feeling. He had a vast repertoire of songs that included rare keerthanams and close to 100 varnams. He believed in continuous learning. He used to derive a lot of satisfaction from his own singing. Besides the variety, he interspersed it with varied talams and a vibgyor of ragams that included rare ones.
He was inspired by Brindamma & Muktamma and Ramnad Krishnan’s style and used to listen to a lot of Aamir Khan, a great Hindusthani classical vocalist over his home gramophone. Raghava Rao used to love Sri. Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer’s singing and would discuss his concerts at length with
Sri. Narasimhan (of Asthika Samajam, Thirvanmiyur) outside Carnatica Studios, Mount Road.
Humility personified, he never went out to make a name for himself and was not at all particular about performances. His ultimate aim was to show the world the path towards the chaste classical form of music and a very rich form at that! His music was simple like him and was easy to relate to. He had a lot of friends both at office and in the music circles and was a person with a fine disposition. In fact, Raghava Rao used to be so close to Ramnad Krishnan that Sri. Ramanathan, his son cherishes memories through a lot of personal photographs of his parents with Raghava Rao. In fact, in one of Ramnad’s video, there is a mention of Sri. Raghava Rao. At Smt. Nirmala Sounderarajan’s house, he used to lead and conduct Sri Ramanavami and Thyagaraja Utsavam. Lot of music stalwarts like Brindamma used to accompany in the group singing.
Raghava Rao was a multifaceted person with a versatile personality. He used to work at the Post & Telegraphs department and used to read a lot of English fiction. He used to love watching all the classic English films in the theatre. Another keen passion was to pull his Bullet motorcycle apart and put it back together again. Once Sri. Ramanathan (Ramnad’s son) was mentioning that he made a mixie using an aeroplane wiper motor. He was a practitioner of yoga and in fact, used to subsequently teach yoga at the Nageshwara Rao Park, Mylapore.
Students talked about his teaching very highly. He would take great satisfaction in imparting teaching without any expectations. He would even go to student’s homes to teach.
He lived a full and rich life enjoying every aspect, predominantly with music engulfing a major portion of his life. He constantly lived, breathed and thought about good music.
The end came too soon for Sri. Raghava Rao having lived for just 60 years. He died suddenly in November 1980 of a cardiac arrest at Vellore where the family had gone to attend a family function. Very mystically it is his Panchami Thithi this month (28 years after his demise).
Even though the world of chaste soulful Carnatic Classical music in its purest form has lost a great ‘Mahanubhava’, his spirit continues to live on, acting as a great springboard of inspiration for the subsequent generation of musicians. He set high ideals paving the path for classicism in its pristine form and glory, besides setting a rippling effect with its continuous reverberation for several mentors to be inspired to bask in this glory and carry forward the rich tradition.
Today he is survived by his wife Smt. Bharati Raghava Rao and 2 sons. He also has one elder sister Smt. Sharada Shankar, who lives here in Mylapore.
We are remembering Sri. P. N. Raghava Rao on Nov. 15, 2008 (Saturday) at 6 P.M. at Naada Inbam, Raga Sudha Hall, Mylapore. The program will begin with offering tributes by great music stalwarts, students and his acquaintances followed by a concert by his niece Smt. Uma Money.
http://rapidshare.de/files/40846772/Rag ... a.mp3.html