Mysore Vasudevachar

Mysore Vasudevachar (May 28, 1865 - May 17, 1961) was a composer of Carnatic music and a famous singer.

Vasudevachar was born in Mysore and started learning music from Veena Padmanabhiah, the chief musician of the Mysore court. He also mastered Sanskrit and allied fields such as Kavya, Tarka, Vyakarana, Nataka and Sahitya. He then went on to learn from the famous composer Patnam Subramania Iyer and imbibed the music of not only his Guru but also other great maestros of the Tanjore delta. Vasudevachar eventually became the chief court musician at the Mysore court. He was known for his madhyama-kala tanam singing which he learnt from his Guru. Patnam Subramania Iyer often requested his sishya "Vasu" to help him with the Sahitya aspects of his compositions. This stimulated Vasudevachar's creative ability.

Vasudevachar's compositions (numbering over 200) were mostly in Telugu and Sanskrit. Some of his most popular kritis include Brochevarevarura in Khamas raga, Devadideva in Sunadavinodini and Mamavatu Sri Saraswati in Hindolam. He published a large number of his compositions in the book Vasudeva Kirtana Manjari. His compositions in Telugu have a sweetness and lilt and beautifully blend with the tune of the raga. His Sanskrit compositions are mellifluous. His mastery over Sanskrit language and literature shows in his songs. He considired his insight into Telugu as a gift of Thyagaraja. To sum up, Vasudevachar's compositions are like sugar candy which gives one instant pleasure and yet lingers on in the mind and heart.

He is also credited with two writings in Kannada, one of them an autobiography called Nenapugalu (meaning "memories") and Nha Kanda Kalavidaru (meaning "The musicians I have met") in which he wrote the biographies of many well known musicians.

Mysore Vasudevachar also taught in Rukmini Devi's Kalakshetra, (founded in 1936). He was already quite old by then, but because of persuasion by Rukmini Devi, agreed to shift to Kalakshetra. He became the chief musician in Kalakshetra and helped in composition and choreography for the dances that Rukmini Devi selected for performances. He passed away in the year 1960 at the ripe old of 95.

S. Rajaram, his grandson worked at Kalakshetra eventually taking charge of the institution at Rukmini Devi's request. An accomplished musician who like his grandfather studied Sanskrit, today he remains amongst the few musicians the sole repository of Vasudevachar's compositions.

See also

• List of Carnatic composers

References

• Pranesh, Meera Rajaram (2003), Musical Composers during Wodeyar Dynasty (1638-1947 A.D.), Vee Emm Publications, Bangalore
• Musical Nirvana biography