Vocalist, veena player, teacher and composer Thanjavur V. Sankara Iyer died in Tirunelveli on Thursday. He was 98.
Sankara Iyer was probably one of the few musicians who remained a link between glorious years of Carnatic music, which flourished on the banks of the Cauvery and subsequent generations of talent. He had a childlike enthusiasm when it came to teaching music and used to sing endlessly. A bachelor, he lived with his nephew R. Chandrasekaran in Tirunelveli for 15 years after suffering a stroke.
“Whenever a young musician called on him, he would first ask his name. Then he would ask him to sing and would promptly join him. He would go on explaining the nuances of the raga and the keerthana and he never asked money from any student,” recalled
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A colourful raconteur, he would narrate the anecdotes behind his compositions. He once explained why he included
Though born in Thogaimalai near Tiruchi and had his initial training under his grandfather Krishna Iyer, Thanjavur became inseparable from his name after he lived with his sister’s family there for many years. It was there he met and came under the influence of great musicians such as Palghat Mani Iyer, Papa Venkataramaiah, Mahalingam Pillai and T.K. Murthy.
It was during his Thanjavur days that he met
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He came under the tutelage of Sattur Krishna Iyengar in Chennai and later joined the Sangita Bhushanam course in Annamalai University where Krishna Iyer taught in the music department. His other teachers were Tiger Varadachariar, T.K. Rangachari, Tiruppambaram Swaminatha Pillai, and Thanjavur Ponnaiah Pillai. He learnt veena from Gomathysankara Iyer and K.S. Narayanaswamy. After completing his course, he worked as a teacher in Devakottai Music School and later, the Shanmukhananda Sabha Music School in Mumbai, where he worked for several years.
He started composing songs at a young age and never used his name as mudra like other composers. “Late T.K. Govinda Rao told me that he used to sing rama namame in desh without knowing its author,” said Mr. Subramanian.
His songs such as Mahadeva Siva Sambo (Revathi) and Muruga Thirmal Maruga (Harikamboji) were popularised by late M.L. Vasantha Kumari and D.K. Jayaraman. “He composed Mahadeva in Revathi to give a keerthi soaked fully in Carnatic elements. He was of the opinion that earlier Revathi raga had a tinge of Hindustani,” explained Mr Subramanian.
He is also the author of the ever young Nalinikanthi composition Nathajana Palini .
The Music Academy conferred the Sangita Kala Acharya on him in 1996. He won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2011.