Oothukadu venkatasubbaiyer biography channel

But his favourite deity seems to be Krishna, on whom he has composed several songs. P P Narayanaswami. Galaxy of Composers. Pre-trinity composers home. Galaxy of composers home. There are a few who are trying to verify this further at this point in time, but until definite proof is established, we can take this date as the conventional one.

Venkata Kavi was a great personality, an innovator who contributed a lot to Carnatic music. He was a complete master of music in all senses of the term, having total command over melody, rhythm and lyrics besides being fluent in Sanskrit and Tamil. He was proficient in a variety of musical forms such as kriti, javali, tillana and kavadi chindu.

He also composed several types of kritis apart from the usual style of pallavi, anupallavi and charanam with the tune of the last few lines coinciding with that of the anupallavi. In Venkata Kavi's compositions, we find several songs with madhyama kala passages, some with more than one charana but with the same tune, others with multiple charanas in different tunes, some with just a samashti charana, some with gati bhedam and so on.

He used talas and themes that few other Carnatic composers have used before or since. It is hardly surprising that Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi, also referred to as Oothukkadu Venkatasubbayyar accomplished so much. Legend has it that he had his musical insights from Lord Krishna himself, in the Kalinga Nartana temple in Oothukkadu, which was then known as Dhenusvasapuram.

Early years:. Venkata Kavi was born to Ramachandran and Kamalanarayani and was very interested in music and culture from a very early age. His brother Krishna Iyer had already established himself as a wonderful singer and won rewards from the King of Tanjavur. Legend has it that Venkata Kavi was very keen on learning music formally and approached Krishna yogi, a great artiste of his times.

But when Krishna yogi declined to teach him for reasons best known to himself, a disappointed Venkata Kavi went back home, where he was advised to seek the grace of the Lord Himself. The intensity of his prayers were answered by the Lord. In the anupallavi, he declares:. Paramayogayagam vedam padittilen Padittadu pol nadittilen Parvai onrile vilainda bhagyamidu Yarkkumidu aridanadu parimala sad guru padaravinda komalam.

Meaning: "I have never studied the scriptures or yoga nor pretended to have done so. I received my whole fortune in the benevolent glance of my guru. Venkata Kavi composed at least 14 songs only on the greatness of Guru. A few of them seem to suggest that he may also have had another human guru. However, external information on this aspect is not readily available at this point in time.

The greatest evidence of his musical pedigree is his compositions. His works reveal his high quality musicianship. There are several references to good musical approach, practices and even technical terms of ornamentation like aahatam and pratyaagatam. Venkata Kavi believed that music had to be blended with bhakti in order to shine. Need more be said of great minds thinking alike?

It will be best to study every facet of his musicianship separately - melody, rhythm, lyrics, themes etc, but then, volumes can be written about each one of them. Let me attempt to give a glimpse…. Given these pointers, Venkata kavi's period could be estimated to be between [6]. Based on the period, he could have been a contemporary of poets like Mari Muthaiah Pillai and Arunachala Kavirayar.

In October 29,his birthday event Jayanti was celebrated. He has composed 11 kirthanams in Sanskrit language titled 'Nava varna Keerthanam'. Of his compositions, have been tabulated of which 3 are Tillanas, are Sanskrit kirthanas and are Tamil kirthanas. His compositions include many 'Madhyama Kala' Medium Tempo kirthanas. Venkata Subbaiar has composed as many as kirthanas on Lord Krishna.

Below are the distribution of compositions on other deities. After the period of Trinity of Carnatic Music starting with Tyagaraja, Carnatic concerts predominantly used Telugu kirthanas owing to which compositions of Venkata Kavi were not widely known. Nadhaswara vidwan Rudhrapasupathi from Tanjore learnt his kirthanas and popularized them by playing them regularly.

Needamangalam Krishnamurthy Bhagavathar [10] who is from Venkata Kavi's lineage 6th generation from daughter of Kattu Krishna Iyer, brother of Venkata Kavi found Venkata Kavi's compositions from the Manuscripts, and contirbuted in compiling, publishing and singing them in his Kathakalakshepams. Kalyanasundaram, Rajagopalan and Muthukrishnan collectively known as Oottukkadu brothers who hail from another branch of the same lineage of Kattu Krishna Iyer's daughter, have been popularizing the oothukadu venkatasubbaiyer biographies channel of Venkata Kavi.

For instance, in the pallavi of his Aabhogi kriti, Mahashaya hrdayahe has composed three variations in the madhyamakaala passage as given below: [ 16 ]. Similar examples can be seen in pieces like Aganita mahima Gowla. Venkata Kavi was a master of finishes. In several songs, his endings are in interesting rhythmic patterns. For example, Bhuvanamoha in Dhanyasiwhere he has capped off the charanam with a pattern of 6 repeated 11 times, which is a wonderful way to get to half a beat landing which is the commencing point of the pallavi from the beat after 2 cycles of Adi tala.

The words are superbly woven in lilting Sanskrit:. There are many other instances of similar endings in krtis such as Alavadennalo in Pharas 5th charanam and Mummada vezhamugattu Vinayakan in Nattai. Venkata Kavi had deep scholarship in Sanskrit and Tamil. His fluency in Sanskrit rivalled that of his command of Tamil, a oothukadu venkatasubbaiyer biography channel not only on his erudition but also a pointer to his immense vocabulary- words such as kalamba arrowcharatha wanderingshileemukha bee are just a few examples out of hundreds seen in his works, which are especially unique in Carnatic literature.

His poetic ability to create unique scenarios or give singular twists to even common stories is seen in hundreds of songs such as Taye yashoda in raga Todiwhere the gopikas are complaining to Yashoda about her son Lord Krishna. This song has eight charanams stanzas and each one describes the pranks of Krishna very humorously. Not so well known is the reply by Krishna to every one of these charges in another piece, Illai illai in Mohanamalso with eight charanams.

This quality sets him apart even in his general compositions such as Chindittavar nenjil iruppadu Nattai. Venkata Kavi has composed on a wide range of themes. The most popular of his songs are on Lord Krishna but he has composed on a number of other deities as well, [ 21 ] such as VinayakaRadhaTyagaraja of TiruvarurKamakshiRamaKartikeya[ 22 ] NarasimhaAnjaneyaRanganathaSurya and other divine figures.

He has also composed on great sages such as Shuka Brahma Rishi, Jayadevaand Valmikion the greatness of Guru, and general philosophy and approach to God. His works contain references to AlvarsNayanmarsRamanujaTulasidas and many others revealing his knowledge of their works and contributions and his reverence towards them. As ofno other composer in India has created as many musical operas as Venkata Kavi has.

It is now well known that many popular songs on Krishna like Taye yashoda, Alaippayude kanna, Pal vadiyum mukham, Parvai onre podume and Pullai piravi tara venum are part of this opera. Venkata Kavi also composed an entire group of pieces covering Krishna's wedding with Radha. His other operas include:. Several songs from Ramayanam and Mahabharatam are missing but even the few songs which have been found showcase "his skills in giving original treatment of known episodes" as dancer Dr Vyjayantimala Bali states.

The composer also penned abridged versions of Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavatam [ citation needed ]. Venkata Kavi has composed krtis of similar structure that form sets or groups. The most notable ones are his Kamakshi Navavaranam and Saptaratna compositions especially the Anjaneya Saptaratna. He has also composed several shlokas such as Madhava panchakam[ 28 ] Nrsimha panchakamRanganatha Panchakam and so on.

These songs resemble the Pancharatna kritis of Tyagaraja, though Venkata Kavi is said to have lived much before Tyagaraja.

Oothukadu venkatasubbaiyer biography channel

The compositions are all in Adi tala, but the differences in melody, rhythm, and brilliant lyrical themes make each composition stand out. Though Venkata Kavi has composed a few more songs in the same style, they are not part of his Saptaratna set since they were composed as parts of other operatic works of his such as Bhagavatam. The Anjaneya Saptaratna krtis, eulogize Hanuman and all seven pieces are in Sanskrit.

These are:.