Mysore Vasudevachar

Mysore Vasudevachar (May 28, 1865 - May 17, 1961) was a renowned composer of Carnatic music compositions as also an accomplished 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, Itihasa, Purana, Sahitya et al... having studied at the Maharaja Sanskrit college in Mysore. He then went on to learn from the famous composer cum musician Patnam Subramania Iyer and imbibed the music of not only his Guru but also other great maestros of the Thanjavur delta. Vasudevachar eventually became the chief court musician(Asthana Vidwan) 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(lyric) aspects of his compositions. This aspect of his training undoubtedly helped Vasudevachar as a composer. Vasudevachar belonged to the direct line of Thyagaraja's disciples. The lineage is as follows:

Tyagaraja
    I
Manambuchavadi Venkatasubba Iyer
    I
Patnam Subramania Iyer
    I  
Mysore Vasudevachar. 
    

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, Mamavatu Sri Saraswati in Hindolam, "Bhajare Re Manasa" in "Abheri" and "Ra Ra Rajeevalochana Rama" in Mohanam. He published a large number of his compositions in the book Vasudeva Kirtana Manjari. His compositions in Telugu have such sweetness and lilt, and beautifully blend with the tune of the raga as do the Sanskrit compositions, which are mellifluous. His songs reflect his mastery over Sanskrit language and show his erudition and scholarship in Sanskrit literature. In his Telugu compositions, one can see the deep insight he had into the language. He considered his insight into Telugu as a gift from Thyagaraja (Thyagaraja's bhiksha). Unlike the Dasa kuta songs, his compositions don't have any Dvaita undertones but many have the words "Paramapurusha Vasudeva" or "Vasudeva" which means the supreme Vasudeva/Lord Vishnu which incidentally is also his mudra or signature. True to his Vaishnava heritage and the Thyagaraja shishya parampara to which he belonged, most of his compositions are in praise of Lord Rama his favourite deity. In addition to Kritis and Keertanas, he also composed Varnams, Thillanas, Javalis and slokas. His admiration for the trinity of Carnatic music specially Thyagaraja resulted in "Srimadadi Thyagaraja Guruvaram" in Kalyani, "Shri Ramachandra"(a ragamalika)and two other ragamalikas in praise of Muthuswamy Dikshithar and Shyama Sastri. Vasudevachar's compositions are thus like sugar candy which gives one instant pleasure and yet lingers on in the mind and heart long after.

He is also credited with two writings in Kannada, one of them an autobiography called Nenapugalu (meaning "memories") and Na 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 thanks to Rukmini Devi he agreed to shift to Kalakshetra. He became the chief musician in Kalakshetra and helped in setting the Ramayana to music. He died in the year 1961 at the ripe old age of 96. He lived a simple and austere life devoted to the study of Sanskrit and music.

S. Rajaram, his grandson worked at Kalakshetra eventually taking charge of the institution at Rukmini Devi's request. Vasudevachar had composed the music for only the first four kandas and it was left to Rajaram to finish the work. An accomplished musician and Sanskrit scholar, he remains amongst the few musicians, the sole repository of Vasudevachar's compositions.

S. Krishnamoorthy, his other grandson worked at All India Radio(A.I.R) and has translated his grandfather's memoirs into English. He's also published a memoir of his own.

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
• [1] Interview with S. Rajaram.
• [2] A profile of this maestro.