The following Post is part of a Series composed by Ashok Madhav garu, vaggeyakara.
Continuing our Series from last week, this week Part II features Carnatic Composers of Andhra since 1900.
Munuganti Venkata Rao Pantulu (1902-1964), from Kakinada, was precocious and was quick enough to grasp the intricacies of Carnatic music at a young age. He was a
popular performing artiste. He was known to be a dedicated music teacher and also for promotion of classical music in Kakinada area. Amongst his many disciples, Emani Shankara Sastri and Voleti Venkateshwarulu were prominent. He took to composing kritis at much later date. The following kriti, “Neeve gati Bhavanipati” is set in the rare raga-Pravrutti.
Mahendravada Bapanna Sastri (1905-1968) studied music under the tutelage of Regella Jagannatha Sastri and was a good concert artiste. He has composed several tana varnas, javalis and kritis. His compositions have appeared in his book “Kritimanjari”
Ogirala Veera Raghava Sharma (1908-1989) from Kovvuru has composed over 150 kritis. He being a devotee of Devi, many of his compositions are in praise of Parashakti. The following is on Devi too –“Sri Gayatri devi sanathani”- Valaji. He became a sanyasi when he turned 60 years of age.
Nori Nagabhushanam Pantulu (1905-1984) (Secunderabad) was a disciple of Hari Nagabhushanam. He served on the faculty of the Music College in Secunderabad. He
has composed varnas and swarajathis.
Mulukutla Sadashiva Sastry (Tenali) was known for his harikatha kaalashepams. His katha-kaalashepam on Ramadasu, Thyagaraja and Tumu Narasimha dasu was popular
amongst the masses. His kriti, “Rama dasam ashraye” in Ritigoula is appealing.
Patrayani Seetharamaiah (1900-1957) (Vizianagaram) was the son and disciple of Patrayani Venkata Narasimhaiah. He was a noted composer and has composed about 30 kritis. Two of his kritis, “Iha para saadhaname”-Smruti ranjani and “Naada nanda mura”- Mukhari are listed here.
Vinjamuri Varadaraja Ayyangar (1915-1991)(Guntur) was a student of Tiger Varadachari. He has tuned many compositions of Purandara Dasa, Annamacharya,
Sadashiva Brahmendra, Tumu Narasimha dasa and others. He himself was a composer of varnas, kritis, javalis and thillanas. His javali, “Kanti saigachesene” -Manirangu is well known.
Sripada Pinakapani (1913-2013)(Karnool) was a retired Professor of Medicine. He was also a musician of merit, besides being a composer of varnams and kritis. He has set tunes to several keerthanas of Annamcharya. Two examples are “Vandeham Jagatvallam” in Hamsadvani and “Vaade Venkatadri”-Vasantha. “Parama dayakari” -Varali is a representative of his own composition. He was honoured with the title of Sangeeta Kalanidhi from the Madras Music Academy in 1984.
Voleti Venkateswarulu, Srirangam Gopalaratnam, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy and Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana were his well known disciples.
Tadepalli Venkatasubramanya Sastri (1918-1989) was a noted scholar in Sanskrit and Telugu. He was a prolific composer-more than 600 kritis. Two of his kritis are mentioned. “Idi kadasaari”-Hamsanandi and “Advaitasaara”- Sourashtram. He took to sanyasa at his advanced age. His son, Dr. Tadepalli Lokanatha Sharma is a well known musician.
Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana (b.1928 ) from Hyderabad has been on the Music faculty of various Universities in Andhra. He has composed some kritis. His composition,” Srinivasa varadayaka”-Nattakuranji is heard sometimes.
Ch. Krishnamacharyulu (Vijayavada) (b.1929 ) is an eminent scholar in Telugu, a musicologist and a good composer of kritis. He developed the concept of ‘garbha kritis’, wherein the same lyrics of a kriti could be set for more than one tala structure. The following two kritis,. “Gouri sukumari”- Vasantha and “Maarajananim ashraye”- Natakapriya are mentioned here.
Because of Mangalampalli, Bala Murali Krishna ‘s(1930- ) own efforts, his compositions -varnams, kritis and thillanas are currently in use. Being a concert musician himself, he makes it a point to present his own compositions in his concerts. He is one of the few musicians, who has composed kritis in all 72 melakartha ragas. He is a recipient of the title, Sangeetha kalanidhi from the Madras Music Academy in 1975. Two examples of his kritis are “Vadamela”- Kokilapriya and “Shyamalambhike” in Mayamalavagoula.
Dr. Sree Ramachandra Murthi Sistla (1938- )is from Guntur District originally and now he is based in Ottawa, Canada. He is an engineer by profession. He has been a prolific composer of Telugu keerthanas. He is the author of Sriharidasa Sankirtanamulu, Sriharidasa Padamulu, Sri Vishnu Sahasranamamulu and Srihari Gitananda Lahari. His keerthanas are laden with bhakti and bhava and music for the lyrics is set by other musicians. “Nila megha shyamuni” in Sama and “Jeevan muktulamu” in Saranga are two keerthanas come to mind.
Komanduri Seshadri, (Secunderabad) (1949- )is a performing artiste and a Professor of music at a few Universities in Andhra. He has composed several kritis and
padyams. He has also composed a few ‘garbha kritis’. His two kritis are listed here: “Paramatmuni” in Kalyana vasantham and “Harihari ena rave” in Kedaram.
Dhenuvukonda Subba Rao (Ongole) is a versatile composer. Compositions of his, “Daivalalama”- Tilang and “Gajamukha deva”-Sri ragam are popular.
Mulugu Sivanandam or Mulugu Sivananda Sastri hails from Tenali. He has composed the following kriti, “Tyagaraja gurudevam”- Aarabhi besides a few more.
Paarupudi Chalamaiah from Rajamahendravaram has composed some 30 kritis or so. One example is, “Hey Kapaalini” in Behag.
T.N.C.V.Narayana charyulu(Guntur) was a vainika and musicologist. He has edited ‘Gandharva Vedamrutham’, ‘Annamacharya Swara kusumanjali’ and authored
‘Padmavati Nakshstra ragamalika’ and ‘Ranganatha Keerthanalu’. The following kriti is popular. “Tamasamu elanayya”-Bhavapriya.
S.S.Rajasekharam (Bapatla) is primarily a composer of varnams. Among his few kritis, “Sabha chesi muchata”- Kharaharapriya is more commonly rendered.
K.V.N.Sastry (Karnool) is a Sanskrit scholar, a violinist and a composer. One of his compositions mentioned here is “Bhajare Hanumantam”- Hindustani Kapi.
Pappu Someshwara Rao (Hyderabad) has been active in composing kritis. One example of his kriti is, “Bhargavam” in Bhairavi.
M.S.Balasubrahmanya Sharma (Ongole) has composer of kritis. The following is listed. “Saraswati namostutue” in Saraswati.
There are a few women composers like Gidugu Lakshmikantamma, Burra Suramamba, Kakuturi Padmavathi and Smt.Chandolu Raghava narayana sastri have made a mark.
It is gratifying to note that so many vaggeyakaras from Andhra have contributed significantly to the musical treasure of Carnatic music.
The author of this post, Ashok Madhav garu, is an accomplished Carnatic composer who has composed in all 72 Melakarta ragas. We thank him for his kind permission to reprint this piece, a version of which was originally published at at carnaticcorner.
Disclaimer: This article represents the opinions of the Author, and should not be considered a reflection of the views of the Andhra Cultural Portal. The Author is responsible for ensuring the factual veracity of the content, herein.
