I f the acclaimed violinist T.S. Tatachar were to be alive, he would be celebrating his 100th birthday. His son, T.T. Srinivasan, a reputed violinist himself, is organising the centenary celebrations of his father, on February 4 & 5, Malleswaram Sri Rama Mandira. Known popularly as the Radio-man for his 38-year association with All India Radio, Tatachar retired from AIR in 1977, and passed away in 2001, at the age of 84.
It was the radio crusader M.V. Gopalaswamy who invited T.S. Tatachar to join Mysore Akashavani. Gopalaswamy offered Tatachar a full-time job as a staff artiste and even Rs. 5 more than his salary at Akashavani, Madras.
Tatachar had earlier joined Akashavani Madras in 1940 at the behest of his neighbour, the ace violinist T. Chowdiah.
Born in 1917 at Pavagada in Tumkur district, Tatachar had an innate talent for music. He accompanied his father T. Srinivasachar, who was adept as a vocalist, but also played on the harmonium and violin. He later came under the tutelage of the legendary Rallapalli Ananthakrishna Sharma - a protege of Bidaram Krishnappa - an erudite scholar of Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit and Pali. Faculty at the Maharaja’s College at Mysore, he bore the greatest influence on Tatachar’s style, persona and thinking. “Being a student of such a towering, complete and rich personality, Tatachar imbibed ideals and traditional values that Sharma stood for, including his soft grace and dignified disposition that never displayed accomplishments,” says vocalist Dr. R.N. Tyagarajan of the Rudrapatnam Brothers, whom Tatachar accompanied on violin several times.
Tatachar was so passionate about his music that once, for his class at 5 a.m., he had reached his guru’s home at 2.20 a.m.! ““What makes you come here so early?” Sharma had enquired with affection, but of course, he did not disappoint his student. The class did happen.
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Vocalist R.K. Padmanabha observes that Tatachar was an important connection between the musical worlds of Madras and Mysore, something that Chowdiah had already set in motion. While his music never deviated from the traditional format, Padmanabha feels that this was also how the Tatachar school of playing the violin came to be.
“Tatachar had many opportunities to listen to stalwart musicians who were the guests of the Wadiyars. Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, GNB, Mysore Vasudevachar, Muthaiah Bhagavatar, T. Chowdiah, Madurai Mani Iyer, Musiri, Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer, Alathur Brothers, T.R. Mahalingam, Palladam Sanjeeva Rao, Tiger Varadachari amongst others helped him absorb from their styles,” says N.S. Krishnamurthy, former director of AIR. “His contemporaries at Madras AIR were R.K. Venkatrama Shastry and V. Sethuramaiah, disciples of T. Chowdiah. His style was influenced by several maestros, while the chief feature of his music being gamaka-oriented phrases,”adds Krishnamurthy.
Tatachar accompanied almost all the stalwarts, and with colleagues like Selva Pillai Iyengar, Doreswamy Iyengar, R.K. Srikantan and others, Tatachar was able to produce the best of programmes for AIR for nearly two decades, between the 50s and 70s. Tatachar's hand at accompanying visiting musicians and solo presentations earned him a good name. “He was adept at envisioning orchestras. He held together an ensemble of nearly 40 members,” remembers Krishnamurthy.
Tatachar, the musician always attired in impeccable white and a red name on his forehead, was an accomplished guru: he had over 50 students who are competent performers.
“He had a bank of notated kritis which he shared with most well-known musicians of that time,” says Devaki Murthy, wife of the late grandson of Mysore Vasudevacharya, S. Krishnamurthy. Devaki Murthy, author of the novel Upasane , which was made into a film, learnt nearly 100 kritis from Tatachar in seven years. “His ideas and teaching must be preserved for posterity,” she says.
Tatachar will always be remembered for large repertoire, his grace and humility.
