Topic started by Shyam (@ nandi5.lsa.berkeley.edu) on Tue Jul 11 20:29:45 .
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Hello,
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Responses:
- From: mani (@ spider-wd082.proxy.aol.com)
on: Mon Jul 17 11:30:15 EDT 2000
Are the Alathur brothers from Kerala? Alathur is a city in Kerala...
- From: vj (@ daprx02.ext.nokia.com)
on: Mon Jul 17 14:30:31 EDT 2000
Yes.
Many giants in Carnatic have Kerala influence.
What can be this influence? Sopana Sangeetham?
Kathakali Sangeetham? Hindustani influence and
"bhAva" singing through Swathi?
In an interview Chembai said his favourite
musician was Ustad Amir Khan!
Semmangudi, KVN, Chembai, MSG, KJY, ... were
perhaps influenced by something very Keralite
in music. Another lesser known artist (Carnatic
and Hindustani) is Prof. Leela Omchery.
vj
- From: S (@ wwwgate1.motorola.com)
on: Mon Jul 17 23:31:41 EDT 2000
I know that there is one Alathur in Kerala. I do not think that Alathur bros were from this place in Kerala. Alathur Subba Iyer's ancestors were said to be from Andhra. Alathur Srinivasa Iyer and Sivasubramania Iyer ( Subbu Iyer ) were not really siblings. I have also heard a harmonium concert recording of their father Venkatesa Iyer. The Alathur brothers settled down in Trichy.
- From: Shyam (@ snfca060-1100.splitrock.net)
on: Mon Jul 17 23:58:26 EDT 2000
Dear S,
I do not understand, if they are not siblings, why do you say "their father"?
Also who was their guru?
- From: S (@ wwwgate1.motorola.com)
on: Tue Jul 18 02:12:00 EDT 2000
Good question Shyam ! By 'their father' I meant the father of Sivasubramania Iyer. Both of them ( Sivasub Iyer and Srinivasa Iyer ) were trained by Venkatesa Iyer in music and laya specialities. Subbayyar and Svasa Iyer were offered Sangeeta Kalanidhi in successive years ( 64 and 65 rsply ) - unfortunately, Subbayyar passed away before Svasa Iyer recd the title. In many of their concert rcdgs, I find an elaborate 4 kalai pallavi, or nadai pallavi. Lalgudi ( wherever he has accompanied them ) seems to have reproduced all their kanakkus effortlessly - a terrific combination IMHO Alathur, Lalgudi and PMI ! They also were experts in singing Thiruppugazh-s ; there is a recording of an exclusive Thiruppugazh concert - I believe there used to be a Thiruppugazh festival in Trichy. Their pathantaram of certain tyagaraja kritis such as marimarininne ( kaambhoji ) and many others is believed to be very authentic - Smt Mani Krishnaswamy in her Academy concert of 1998 also made a remark about their rendering before she rendered the same. Alathur B had a long association with Palghat Mani Iyer. They were also close to Palani SP, before there was some misunderstanding betn Palani and the brothers. More later...
- From: Nadopasaka (@ akppp16.buffnet.net)
on: Tue Jul 18 04:15:07 EDT 2000
I heard an electric ( but not shocking ) Saveri RTP 'hari moraa vina leda ? ' which later explored Begada, Athana etc by the Alathurs.
vj wrote >>> Yes. Many giants in Carnatic have Kerala influence. What can be this influence? Sopana Sangeetham? Kathakali Sangeetham? Hindustani influence and "bhAva" singing through Swathi? <<<
The almost single minded pursuit of restoring? the brightness of SwathiT, partly abetted by the Maharani, has all but neglected the other medieval and later Kerala composers/musicians. It is not easy to come across, for example, ParameswaraBhg's krities. In addition to the styles above, Harikatha may also have been influential.
- From: mani (@ spider-tf073.proxy.aol.com)
on: Tue Jul 18 12:12:48 EDT 2000
S,
I don't think they have ancestors from Andhra, the thing is, Alathur must have been their place where they were raised, because note that there are A LOT OF THAMIZHANS in KERALA, flooding the whole place, like Palakkad, Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram, etc. Also, there are thousands of Malayalee Iyers in addition to that, all brought on by the Thamizhans, lot of these carnatic musicians have Kerala heritage, look at Guruvayur Durai....
- From: mani (@ spider-tf073.proxy.aol.com)
on: Tue Jul 18 12:13:47 EDT 2000
Actually, they have performed many concerts in Alathur, my father was telling me, how he attended some of their concerts....
- From: Nadopasaka (@ akppp40.buffnet.net)
on: Tue Jul 18 18:05:47 EDT 2000
Mani, S, The bharat.com online bio-blurb on the Alathurs suggests that the title was given them by the percussion vidwan PSP and that they were aasthana vidwans for Travancore in Kerala. Of course this does not say anything about where they originated, rather where they acquired their title. The title manages to unify them as pseudo-brothers and is thus also significant. Most of the other pairs seem to be siblings.
- From: S (@ wwwgate31.motorola.com)
on: Tue Jul 18 23:27:45 EDT 2000
Mani, Nadopasaka,
Alathur Subbayyar did have telugu origins, and his son Sri Thyagarajan now lives in Tiruchy. There is an Alathur in TN too - pbly near Tanjavur - shall post info on this subsequently. The brothers had settled down in Trichy. Mani, there is no doubt that there r a lot of tamils in palghat, trichur etc. Alathur bros also gave quite a few concerts in kerala, and they were regular performers of their times in the navaratri sangeetotsavam too.
- From: S (@ wwwgate31.motorola.com)
on: Tue Jul 18 23:59:56 EDT 2000
>>>title was given them by the percussion vidwan PSP<<< Nado, saw the article - small correction - the title was given by Pudukkotai Dakshinamurthy Pillai.
Also, the other 'brother' Sinivasa Iyer was from Angarai near Trichy. I am providing the link to the article that Nado has earlier referred to.
http://www.bharath.com/music/html/Carvoc/Pages/Alathur.html
- From: mani (@ spider-wi013.proxy.aol.com)
on: Wed Jul 19 00:05:58 EDT 2000
I know they are Thamizh background, I guess they settled in Kerala.....I doubt any "Andhra" heritage...
- From: S (@ wwwgate2.motorola.com)
on: Wed Jul 19 00:25:15 EDT 2000
>>>I know they are Thamizh background, I guess they settled in Kerala.....I doubt any "Andhra" heritage...<<< Mani, they settled down in Trichy. Rgd the telugu forefathers of Subbayyar, I remember having heard it from his son Sri Thyagarajan. Venkatesa Iyer, Subbayyar etc belong to sishya parampara of tyAgarAja, and Sri Thyagarajan still conducts a yearly pooja, utsavam etc in memory of St Thyagaraja.
- From: Shyam (@ snfca020-0208.splitrock.net)
on: Wed Jul 19 00:28:13 EDT 2000
This is from the in lay card of the HMV AIR release of the bros concert from April 8th 1963.
"Sivasubramniya Iyer and Srinivasa Iyer, known to the music world as the Alathur brothers, were a celebrated singing duo in carnatic music for many decades. They were not real brothers in life, but they combined so well in concerts that one could not be thought of without the other. Both of them belonged to the direct lineage of Sri. Thyagaraja. They made their debut during the Thyagaraja aradhana and sang together till they were separated by death. Their version of krithis were the most authentic with all the sangatis traditionally handed down byt eminent teachers. But the bros will be remembered more for their command over laya and the intricate pallavis they used to handle with ease. They were closely associated wih Pudukottai Dakshinamurthy Pillai, Pazhani Subramaniya Pillai and Palakkad Mani Iyer, the last named vidwan having been their accompanist on the mridangam for most of the time. The brothers synchronized well and possessed a wide repertoire of krithis."
- From: Manikandan (@ spider-wg081.proxy.aol.com)
on: Wed Jul 19 21:21:41 EDT 2000
S,
Their names don't sound Telugu though, usually a Telugu name would have "u" at the end, or something like that!
- From: Nadopasaka (@ akppp66.buffnet.net)
on: Thu Jul 20 03:19:47 EDT 2000
perhaps Alathur becomes Alathuru ?? Anyway, it seems that the oddity/novelty of their duet at the time was recognized in that they used the unconventional 'harmonium' accompaniment at first from their 'father'.
- From: Nadopasaka (@ akppp53.buffnet.net)
on: Sun Jul 23 15:15:30 EDT 2000
It is not clear who the Alathurs students were, or if these students also sang in pairs ?
It will be interesting to find students of the duet style performers, not just Alathurs ?
- From: Ranjith (@ )
on: Mon Dec 18 09:59:54
Alathur bros.were from Alathur, a village in Tamil Nadu and they were not brothers in relationship(disciples of the same guru). Sri Sivasubramanyam Iyer died in the 60s and Srinivasa Iyer died in the 80s.
- From: G. Subrahmanian (@ pcp200390pcs.trentn01.nj.comcast.net)
on: Sun Apr 27 09:24:44
Alathur is a village between Tanjavur & Tiruchy.Sri Venkatesa Iyer was in the direct lineage of Sri Thyagraja. He hailed from one of the Telugu families, like that of Sri Thyagraja,settled for long in Tamil Nadu and became part & parcel of Tamil culture, enriched by & enriching it.Sivasubramanyam Iyer, his son & Srinivasa Iyer, whose mother tongue was Tamil, were his disciples. (My father who lived in Tiruchy was a personal acquaintence of Venkatesaiyer & Sivasubramanya Iyer.)
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