Doreswamy Iyengar, an eminent musician that 21st century saw, was the ‘first’ in many things -- he was the youngest musician appointed by the royal court of Mysuru, first Kannadiga and vainika to perform for the National programme of All India Radio (AIR) and more (from an obituary published in Frontline).
He held jugalbandis with internationally renowned sarod artistes, Ali Akbar Khan and Amjad Ali Khan, accompanied vocalists like Mallikarjun Mansur and won the heart of celebrated musicians like mridangist Palghat Mani Iyer.
The young Dore grew up in a family steeped in music and was surrounded by vidwans and talented friends in Mysuru. He was a contemporary of the cartoonist R.K. Laxman and a friend to his brother, the famous novelist, R.K. Narayan. He accompanied the legendary violinist, Chowdiah in most of his concerts. Speaking of Doreswamy’s long association with Chowdiah, his son and disciple, D. Balakrishna recalls: “Chowdiah had immense admiration for my father. Chowdiah gave so much space to him (who was much junior to him) during concerts that sometimes he almost became a music conductor -- just playing the pallavi or indicating the next raga to be picked. ‘Nadeeli, nadeeli ’ (go on...) he used to say, letting my father play the whole kirtana. During one of those moments, he once turned towards the audience and said: ‘you know, Doreswamy is like Anjaneya of Ramayana. He doesn’t know so much gold lies within him. So someone needs to nudge him to bring out his hidden talent.’ I was a ten-year-old then. But the audience’s cheers and laughter are still clear in my memory.” It was more than a professional collaboration between them. “For instance, Chowdiah used to pack breakfast from Mysuru for my father who would board the train at Bengaluru station.”
ADVERTISEMENT
During his days at AIR, Bengaluru, he set to tune poems of many Kannada poets like G.S. Shivarudrappa, Lakshminarayana Bhatta etc. “He was asked to become the music producer of AIR during B.V. Keskar’s tenure as the Minister for Information and Broadcasting. He produced
Balakrishna, also an accomplished veena artiste, started learning the instrument at the age of 13. “After my father saw me trying the instrument as a teenager, he finally decided to teach me.”
Doreswamy as a guru wanted his disciples to practice immensely. “He was not strict but a little impatient when it came to teaching,” he quips.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Although a purist, he listened to western music and Fritz Kreisler was one of his favourites. As a teenager he had passed Trinity College music exams.” informs Balakrishna, adding, Mysuru maharajas were great visionaries who gave impetus to training of the highest order.
***
As this year marks the birth centenary of Doreswamy Iyengar, prestigious sabhas across Karnataka hold music programmes in his memory. Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha holds a veena concert by D. Balakrishna at Indiranagar Sabha, Purandara Bhavana, HAL II stage, Bengaluru on November 23, 5.30 p.m. He will be accompanied by K.V. Prasad on the mridanga and Raghavendra Prakash on the ghata. Prior to the concert, there will be reading of excerpts from his biography, Veeneya Neralinalli, presented by N. Raghu, Assistant Director, AIR, Bengaluru.