Salem G Desikan

Carnatic Musicians
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Ramnath Iyer
Posts: 72
Joined: 19 Nov 2007, 13:33

Post by Ramnath Iyer »

would like to find more information and any recordings of this artist please. This is what I found from the garland.

SALEM G. DESIKAN - VOCO-VAINIKA.............(July 7, 1926 - March 18, 1986)
Born of D.Gopalachar, Advocate, Salem, a patriot who relinquished his practice to support national struggle, G.Desikan had his musical training under Sister Lakshmi, a disciple of Salem Doraiswami Ayyangar. He made his debut performance at Devakottai in his twelfth year. Desikan had made intensive study of the music and styles of eminent vidwans of Carnatic and Hindustani music and was practically a self-made vidwan having moulded his vidwat by sheer observation and dedicated practice. His voice was melodious, attractive and praise-worthy. His services were availed of by Annamalai University to tune songs in Tamil as part of the efforts to popularise Tamil Isai. He was a great admirer of the styles of eminent vocalists of the time and of the Nagaswara maestro, T.N.Rajarathinam and inspired by them, used to bring out flashes of their styles at his concerts, which exuded lakshana and lakshya graces.

Desikan founded the Sangita Samrakshana Sabha, Salem along with his friends. He had trained many including Jayalakshmi Ramachandran, Neela and Eachangudi N.Ramamurti Bhagavatar. He had given a large number of concerts (vocal and veena) for All India Radio and sabhas. Padma Desikan, his wife, is a veena player. Desikan was also manufacturing veenas according to specifications.
Honours and titles :
Gana Kala Chandra by Tiger Varadachariar
Gana Kala Paripurna by T.N.Rajarathinam
Sangita Samrat at Bangalore

gobilalitha
Posts: 2056
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 07:12

Post by gobilalitha »

Though he had the potentials to become a toprankihg musician. he did not rise to such a position,theother examples being sattur Subramaniam, Thanjavur LakshminarayanaBhagavathar, Salem DChellam iyengar because the topmost positions were unassailably occupied by GIANTS LIKEGNB,MMI,CHEMBAI,SEMMANGUDI,to mention a few..Hailing from Salem, I knew him personlly.,very fond of cricket, used to talk about BRADMAN .Merchant,HAZARE AND OTHERS ..gobilalitha

pgaiyar
Posts: 113
Joined: 27 Jan 2007, 07:59

Post by pgaiyar »

Can anyone upload Salem Desikan sir's music here please?.

Regards

Guru

ajit
Posts: 149
Joined: 06 Jul 2005, 02:42

Post by ajit »

I know that many vidwans today have a lot of admiration for his music and talk highly of his vidwat.
It would be great if anybody uploads his music.

ajit.

Ramnath Iyer
Posts: 72
Joined: 19 Nov 2007, 13:33

Post by Ramnath Iyer »

Gobilalitha,
nice to know you knew Sri Desikan personally. Just last weekend I met a disciple of his who spoke so highly of his music. This kindled my interest to discuss his music, and also to listen to any clipping.
His disciple mentioned the following to me:
- Sri Desikan started his career with a big bang with lots of concerts and earned well for a while until he settled the debts his father had left behind (his father was a freedom fighter who went to jail often and was unable to support the family and they ran into huge debts).
- on his not reaching the top artist ranks, he would say to the disciple, "appavoda kadanaiellam adaichavudane porunda unakkunnu aandavan thalaila thatti okkathivachutan".
- apparently his veena style was very traditional and with lot of 'azhutham'.

eagerly waiting for any audios.......
Ramnath

gobilalitha
Posts: 2056
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 07:12

Post by gobilalitha »

Only the archivesof AIR will have the recordings,there are no gramaphone records, the gramaphone companies were after legendary musicians only gobilalitha

bala747
Posts: 314
Joined: 20 Mar 2006, 12:56

Post by bala747 »

I have a concert of Salem Desikar in my archives somewhere. I think it was shared a LONG time ago by sri Raju Asokan. I'll see if I can find it again.

Mahalakshmi
Posts: 145
Joined: 20 Feb 2008, 17:28

Post by Mahalakshmi »

I'm from Salem. My aunt and my elder sister learnt vocal and veena from Sri Desikan for many yrs. I remember when I was very small, 4 or 5 yrs old, used to accompany my sister (Rukmani) to her class. Desikan mama used to give me red colored candies stored in a old horlicks bottle kept on a kutty chuvar. His house was very small and dark. He used to store the veenas on the wall, one above the other, using angles. His teeth always appeared reddish due to pawn chewing.
My aunt (Geeta atthai) fondly remembers that Desikan mama and LGJ are very close friends. Many of LGJ's works were tuned by mama and immediately taught to his students in front of Sri LGJ.

Mahalakshmi
Posts: 145
Joined: 20 Feb 2008, 17:28

Post by Mahalakshmi »

Pls bala747, can u send the audiofile to srimahal2002@yahoo.com?

pgaiyar
Posts: 113
Joined: 27 Jan 2007, 07:59

Post by pgaiyar »

To : Bala747

Kindlu/Please upload Salem G Desikan's concert.

Regards-Wishes

Guru
12-Oct-08

mahavishnu
Posts: 3341
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 21:56

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by mahavishnu »

My interest in Sri Desikan's music has increased exponentially following a conversation I had with Ajit at the rasikas meeting in December. Following that, I have been talking to a number of people (including some senior vidwans) about Sri Desikan. Every person I have spoken seems to rave about his music, vidwat and knowledge. I have never heard his music and now I am extremely curious.

So, I thought I would resurrect this thread and see if there is anyone out there with recordings of this amazing musician and tunesmith.

salem s neela
Posts: 3
Joined: 20 Sep 2010, 09:16

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by salem s neela »

This is Salem S Neela's niece on behalf of her. My aunt Salem S Neela is a vidhwan disciple Sri Desikan mama, almost a xerox copy of his music, one would say. Salem Desikan's music can be had from www.salemsabha.org which caters to the music lovers, to about vidhwans of salem. It is a website for salem music. His daughter Vijaya has a collection of his music.

mahavishnu
Posts: 3341
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 21:56

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by mahavishnu »

Thank you for your kind post and responding to our request.The Salem sabha seems like a wonderful organization that has adapted to the internet age very well. It is very nice to showcase the music of Salem this way.

I passed through Salem on my last visit to India. Our family deity is in "Chinna tirupati" adjacent to Salem. Had I known earlier, I would have stopped by to learn more about the great archived resources preserved by the Sabha. I will browse through the nicely put together website now.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by rajeshnat »

salem s neela
This is just beautiful.I clicked at Our calendar . Google calendar is there and you have live data I see two artists lined up on Feb onwards to Dec 2011. If you could bring in musicians who travel to coimbatore quite frequently also into salem ,there will be more oppurtunities in salem for musicians too. Keep it going. I will look at other links and put few more posts later . Also there is a lovely left side panel which does a count down to no of days left for the forthcoming concert.

May I suggest you take the calendar to other areas in that belt like gobi,erode etc(coimbatore also does not have a calendar yet and a site like yours)

venkatakailasam
Posts: 4170
Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 19:16

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by venkatakailasam »

salem s neela:

If I am not mistaken Salem S Neela is the daughter of Auditor Shri sankara Iyer. When I was doing my CA Appernticeship with Shri P Natarajan
of Salem, I personally know him through Shri Sivaraman and Shri TR Sundaram who were his juniors. It was long back between 1955-1960 after which I left Salem and spent almost 40years in north when I lost contacts with most of the friends at Salem where I did my degree.. We lived in Maravaneri Extension while Shri Sankara Iyer was at Mettu street. My sisters learnt music with Salem D Chellam Iyengar. shri. Chellam used to speak very highly of shri Desigan in spite of their professional rivalry.

Can you please confirm?

Some of shri Gn Desigan's clips are at these links.

http://www.sangeethamshare.org/vijayago ... kan-Vocal/
http://www.sangeethamshare.org/svasu/UP ... N.Desikan/
http://www.sangeethapriya.org/Downloads/gndesikan/

I am not clear whether GN desigan and G Desigan are same?

Both shri.Chellam Iyengar and shri Desigan had common Guru- Shri Doraiswamy Iyengar father of Chellam Iyengar and a disciple of Poochi Iyengar.

venkatakailasam

salem s neela
Posts: 3
Joined: 20 Sep 2010, 09:16

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by salem s neela »

Salem G Desikan and Sri G N Desikan are different. The above clips are not the ones of Sri G Desikan. Reg. Salem S Neela, u r right. My aunt is Sri Sankara Iyer's daughter. Nice to see your memories of Salem.

venkatakailasam
Posts: 4170
Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 19:16

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by venkatakailasam »

In my blog 'e'-swara at http://myblogkumara.blogspot.com/

I have posted at 'Artists from my place Salem' two clips of Salem G Desikan recorded from Air years back.
kindly see.
Have you got any recordings of your concert? And also that of Salem Dr. S jayalakshmi.
If you have can you share ?

venkatakailasam

venkatakailasam
Posts: 4170
Joined: 07 Feb 2010, 19:16

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by venkatakailasam »

Some of his songs are here...

Ethanai kodi....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRw7DTPipEU

Azhwaar paasuram, Raagamalika ....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D-hbJUR11Y

Kannanai .....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIkVks69Ank

Kaakkai ChiraginilE ....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G9h7FLqhX0...

Asai Konden Vande - Adi ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h-qN5uDd24

Pavanaja ....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiKPck5SGNo

I thank Shri sapthagireesan..for providing links through my mail...

Sapthagiri
Posts: 20
Joined: 04 Aug 2012, 16:18

Re: Upload on you tube Salem G Desikan's music

Post by Sapthagiri »

gobilalitha wrote:Though he had the potentials to become a toprankihg musician. he did not rise to such a position,theother examples being sattur Subramaniam, Thanjavur LakshminarayanaBhagavathar, Salem DChellam iyengar because the topmost positions were unassailably occupied by GIANTS LIKEGNB,MMI,CHEMBAI,SEMMANGUDI,to mention a few..Hailing from Salem, I knew him personlly.,very fond of cricket, used to talk about BRADMAN .Merchant,HAZARE AND OTHERS ..gobilalitha
---
I am a new member and could log in only today-August 04,2012
I am a family friend of Salem G Desikan. He was also my Sister Nirmala's Guru.
In 1980 when I visited Salem, My daughter Aparna (then 9 years) was learning Hindustani Classical, as we stayed in North. Desikan heard her singing Durga and encouraged her. Reminiscent of that occasion, myself and My Daughter have uploaded sri Desikan's rendering of following songs on youtube, for the first time-Ethanaikodi(Durga);Asaikonden vande(Gopika Thilakam);Kannanai Kandadhundo;Azhwar Pasuram(Ragamalikas);Pavanaja(Kurinji) and Sri Rama Namame (Desh) to start with. We hope you would be happy to listen to them-
Just Google-Type the words-youtube Salem G Desikan--Regards-
A.N.Sapthagireesan(Giri-for Salemites-Age 74-resident at Thane(w)-camping in Florida till Oct 2012)

Sapthagiri
Posts: 20
Joined: 04 Aug 2012, 16:18

Re:

Post by Sapthagiri »

pgaiyar wrote:Can anyone upload Salem Desikan sir's music here please?.

Regards

Guru
We have uploaded Ganakalachandra Salem G Desikan's following renderings on you tube, which may be accessed on google by typing the words,--youtube-Salem G Desikan--
The songs are :-Ethanaikodi Inbam -Durga; Asai Konden Vande -Gopikathilakam;Kannanai;Azhwar Pasuram(Ragamalikas);Kakkai Chiraginile-Maand; Sri Rama Namame (Desh).
A N Sapthagireesan--August 04,2012

Sapthagiri
Posts: 20
Joined: 04 Aug 2012, 16:18

Re: Salem G Desikan's music on youtube

Post by Sapthagiri »

pgaiyar wrote:Can anyone upload Salem Desikan sir's music here please?.

Regards

Guru
August 04,2012
You may listen to Salem G Desikan on you tube --just type--Salem G Desikan--
The songs are-Ethanai kodi Inbam;Asai Konden Vande;Kannanai Kandadhundo;kakkai Chiraginile;Azhwar Pasuram;Rama Namame Thudhi-
Pavanaja-
A.N.Sapthagireesan Aug 04,2012

Sapthagiri
Posts: 20
Joined: 04 Aug 2012, 16:18

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Sapthagiri »

mahavishnu wrote:My interest in Sri Desikan's music has increased exponentially following a conversation I had with Ajit at the rasikas meeting in December. Following that, I have been talking to a number of people (including some senior vidwans) about Sri Desikan. Every person I have spoken seems to rave about his music, vidwat and knowledge. I have never heard his music and now I am extremely curious.

So, I thought I would resurrect this thread and see if there is anyone out there with recordings of this amazing musician and tunesmith.
Dear Shri Mahavishnu,
I am a new member to this forum as I could log in only today (AUG 04,2012)
I had earlier gone through the exchange of messages regarding Salem G Desikan but could not become member of the new forum due to some technical problem..Mr Ramakrishnan of admin@rasikas.org kindly solved the problem.
As I happen to be a family friend of Salem G Desikan, I was eager to inform the members of this forum the good news that we have been able to upload Ganakalachandra Salem G Desikan's six renderings on you tube to start with.You may access on google by typing the words
--you tube Salem G Desikan--
I was able to inform shri Venkatakailasam as soon as we could upload the music and it is nice he has already been able to give the links above.
I had also sent e mails to following:
secretary@salemsabha.org; sangeethapriya@googlegroups.com; gsco.shankar.kr@gmail.com; teeveegeeo82002@gmail.com; dvp@salemsabha.org; thatha.rangachari@gmail.com; yessel@gmail.com; and hariharan.vaidayanathan@gmail.com of arvindsdad.blogspot.com.

We have an idea of creating a separate blogspot entirely dedicated to Music of Salem G Desikan
Regards/A.N.Sapthagireesan/Sau Aparna Arcot--August 04, 2012

satyabalu
Posts: 915
Joined: 28 Mar 2010, 11:07

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by satyabalu »

What a Briga laden saariram?
Is it set tuned in Durga?

Ethanai kodi....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRw7DTPipEU

Sapthagiri
Posts: 20
Joined: 04 Aug 2012, 16:18

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Sapthagiri »

Dear Satyabalu,
Due to constraint on time duration on you tube, we could upload short songs initially.However, Sri desikan's rendition of Ragas bringing out their essence,could be appreciated in the Azhwar paasuram, his originality in Gopikathilakam and sahithyam with feeling in Kannanai.
Sri Desikan's holistic attainments as a Sangeetha vidwaan would be evident when we upload his concerts.
Regards
A N Sapthagireesan/Sau Aparna Arcot

mahavishnu
Posts: 3341
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 21:56

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by mahavishnu »

Sri Sapthagireesan avl. Thank you. thank you for the wonderful uploads.

I found the viruttam/pasuram to be extraordinary. The brighas in dhanyasi are of the calibre that I have only heard in GNB's records. And as the description says, the mohanam was very reminiscent of the Maharapuram school.

Is the violinist on it Sri Lalgudi?

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by rajeshnat »

On behalf of Shri Sapthagireesan and shri Venkatakailasam who forgot to put the link for this ramanAmame -Desh -TSI Beauty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBoa-cDkgoE

Very nice sareeraam ,brigas are sparkling and there is also sowkhyam. If possible can we have a krithi where he sings neraval and swaras please

Sapthagiri
Posts: 20
Joined: 04 Aug 2012, 16:18

Re:

Post by Sapthagiri »

ajit wrote:I know that many vidwans today have a lot of admiration for his music and talk highly of his vidwat.
It would be great if anybody uploads his music.

ajit.
Dear Shri Ajit,
Kindly access g mail and type the words-youtube Salem G Desikan- to view six of his renderings we have uploaded.Regards
ANSapthagireesan/Sau AparnaArcot

Sapthagiri
Posts: 20
Joined: 04 Aug 2012, 16:18

Re:

Post by Sapthagiri »

Ramnath Iyer wrote:Gobilalitha,
nice to know you knew Sri Desikan personally. Just last weekend I met a disciple of his who spoke so highly of his music. This kindled my interest to discuss his music, and also to listen to any clipping.
His disciple mentioned the following to me:
- Sri Desikan started his career with a big bang with lots of concerts and earned well for a while until he settled the debts his father had left behind (his father was a freedom fighter who went to jail often and was unable to support the family and they ran into huge debts).
- on his not reaching the top artist ranks, he would say to the disciple, "appavoda kadanaiellam adaichavudane porunda unakkunnu aandavan thalaila thatti okkathivachutan".
- apparently his veena style was very traditional and with lot of 'azhutham'.

eagerly waiting for any audios.......
Ramnath
Dear Sri Ramnath Iyer,
Happy to inform that we have uploaded Seven renderings of Salem G Desikan on google youtube--Just type the words-youtube Salem G Desikan - Regards- ANSapthagireesan/Sau Aparna Arcot

Sapthagiri
Posts: 20
Joined: 04 Aug 2012, 16:18

Re:Uploading Salem G Desikan's music on internet

Post by Sapthagiri »

Ramnath Iyer wrote:Gobilalitha,
nice to know you knew Sri Desikan personally. Just last weekend I met a disciple of his who spoke so highly of his music. This kindled my interest to discuss his music, and also to listen to any clipping.
His disciple mentioned the following to me:
- Sri Desikan started his career with a big bang with lots of concerts and earned well for a while until he settled the debts his father had left behind (his father was a freedom fighter who went to jail often and was unable to support the family and they ran into huge debts).
- on his not reaching the top artist ranks, he would say to the disciple, "appavoda kadanaiellam adaichavudane porunda unakkunnu aandavan thalaila thatti okkathivachutan".
- apparently his veena style was very traditional and with lot of 'azhutham'.

eagerly waiting for any audios.......
Ramnath
Dear Shri Ramnath Iyer
As family friends of Ganakalachandra(late)Salem G Desikan and as his fans, it gives us immense pleasure to inform you that Seven of his renderings have been uploaded for the listening pleasure of the Sangeetha Rasikas, for the first time on youtube, which can be heard by typing the words --youtube Salem G Desikan- 1-Ethanaikodi;2-Aasai Konden Vande;3-Kannanai Kandadhundo;4-Kakkai Chiraginile;5-Azhwar Pasuram;6-Rama Namame Thudhi Maname;7-Pavanaja---This is a beginning. We have an idea of dedicating a separate blogspot for his music.
Best Wishes--ANSapthagireesan(74) and Sau Aparna Arcot

Sapthagiri
Posts: 20
Joined: 04 Aug 2012, 16:18

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Sapthagiri »

Dear Shri Rajeshnath,
I feel grateful for your kind feedback; I am also very happy that you liked the music of this great musician sung and recorded over half a century ago. These words are worth all the trouble and efforts taken by Late Desikan's eldest daughter Sau Vijayalakshmi Srinivasan and her husband Sri R Srinivasan and Many of Sri Desikan's admirers,particularly Sri.S.Venkatachari (Chartered Acctt-Mumbai) who personally converted the analog music on old tapes into Digital format. Myself and my daughter Sau Aparna have only taken the initiative to upload a few songs on the you tube.
We have a few complete music concerts and quite a few renderings. Since many recordings were taped from the AIR broadcasts on Short wave, the quality is suffering and we are working out how best to eliminate noise. We are in the process of creating a separate blogspot dedicated entirely to Ganakalachandra Salem G Desikan in the coming weeks and I shall communicte with you as soon as it is done.
Regards
ANSapthagireesan/Sau Aparna Arcot--Aug.07, 2012

Ramaswamy Kannan
Posts: 2
Joined: 27 Aug 2012, 04:42

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Ramaswamy Kannan »

I am happy to join this being SGD's nephew. I have the previlage of having listened to many of his performances including his Veena concert at the Music Academy Chennai. He was noted for his handling Mohana Raga which earned a pet name MOHANA DESIKAN. His house in the morning used to be music class and in the afternoon used to be music sadas along with cards. I have personally been in the company of greats like Veena Balachandar, Dr. BMK, Yesudas, LGJ, Namagiripettai, AKC, Sheik, Yazhppanam Dakshinamoorthy, to name a few. He never used to miss a test match at Chepauk. A man of great oratorial capacity in English. Uncompromising reverence for Saint Thyagaraja, so on and so forth. Veenas made personally by him have travelled all over the globe. He had visited USSR under lecture demonstration of carnatic music sponsored by Govt of India with LGJ and Flute Ramani.
He had so much attachment for Salem which made him to turn down the offer to become the principal of music college in Singapore and refrained from moving to Madras for greener pastures. A noble heart, childish mind and a rasika by himself that he was content with what he has achieved without knowing his potential.
I would like to hear many of his concerts uploaded in the Youtube for the benifit and pleasure of Carnatic music lovers

Sapthagiri
Posts: 20
Joined: 04 Aug 2012, 16:18

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Sapthagiri »

Dear Sri Ramaswami Kannan,
Very happy to see your message;A hearty welcome to you on this forum. My e mail id is <sapthagireesan@gmail.com> and I shall be happy to be in touch with you. I shall be grateful to you if you can e mail me some photographs of SGD as I would like to use them while uploading his music on internet.Sau Vijayalakshmi S (eldest daughter) and Sri R Srinivasan(son in law) of SGD , have informed me that they do not have his photos and have lost them after shifting from Salem.Awaiting your kind response and with regards, ANSapthagireesan

Ramaswamy Kannan
Posts: 2
Joined: 27 Aug 2012, 04:42

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Ramaswamy Kannan »

Dear Shri. Sapthagireesan,
May be I could get the same from some marriage album. I am positioned at Dubai. When I visit Chennai I would try for the same. Regards and thanks for your interest. Viji as we call knows me as Murali. Even people like Ramamoorthy Mama, Pichchkkannu mama etc know me only in that name. An interesing piece of info is that when i was doing my 8th std at Tiruppur, I sang Kaakkaichiraginile song tutored by SGD and won first prize. The interesting aspect about it is I am only a bathroom singer and he composed a tune for me in a simple manner while at the same time he was composing in a very different tune for Salem. S. Neela and I find that your upload is altogether in a different tune.
Regards
Ramaswamy. K

Sapthagiri
Posts: 20
Joined: 04 Aug 2012, 16:18

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Sapthagiri »

To Sri Ramaswami Kannan:
Glad to learn the news. You may be knowing that SGD used to compose music for Amateur Dramas held in Madras in the 1950s. This tune of Kakkai Chiraginile is one of them. Other songs thus tuned by him were: 'Nilavu Mugam Kaattinaan Velan'; "Paayum olli nee enakku, paarkkum vizhi naan unakku" (an enchanting Ragamalika); " Jaya Jaya swatantra Bhaaratha Bhoomi, Jana Naayaka Bhoomi;---
He used to sing Thiruppavai, Thiruvembavai songs much before I heard them sung by The Great Ariyakkudi and MLV through her Complete gramophone records set (Used to be played in temples during Margazhi month). His tune for "Andru Ivvulagam" was in Aarabhi; "Maayanai Mannu Vada Madurai Maindanai" was in Hamsanandi; "Kaadhaarkkuzhaiyaada Paimpoonkalam Aada" was in Karnataka Devagandhari(Bimplas) and "P(M)oyyaar thadam Poygai " in Thilang. I shall soon be uploading his renderings on my blogspot by stages. This is our little effort to perpeuate the memory of this great stalwart of Carnatic Musician from SALEM.
Sincerely,ANSapthagireesan

Sapthagiri
Posts: 20
Joined: 04 Aug 2012, 16:18

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Sapthagiri »

I wish to inform all fans of (Late) Salem G Desikan( Sarva Sri Ramnath Iyer,Gobilalitha,p g aiyar,ajit,bala747(Raju Asokan),Mahalakshmi,Mahavishnu,Rajeshnat- in this forum) and other Carnatic music lovers; that excerpts from some live concerts of Salem G Desikan are already uploaded in my blogspot---apkoilns.blogspot.com---More songs and renderings are also being uploaded by and by. Your kind feedback will be appreciated.
I also request members on this forum to e mail me photos or clippings of Sri Desikan to me for displaying them in the blog while uploading his songs.
Warm Regards--A N Sapthagireesan --<sapthagireesan@gmail.com>

Sapthagiri
Posts: 20
Joined: 04 Aug 2012, 16:18

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Sapthagiri »

Sapthagiri wrote:I wish to inform all fans of (Late) Salem G Desikan( Sarva Sri Ramnath Iyer,Gobilalitha,p g aiyar,ajit,bala747(Raju Asokan),Mahalakshmi,Mahavishnu,Rajeshnat- in this forum) and other Carnatic music lovers; that excerpts from some live concerts of Salem G Desikan are already uploaded in my blogspot---apkoilns.blogspot.com---More songs and renderings are also being uploaded by and by. Your kind feedback will be appreciated.
I also request members on this forum to e mail me photos or clippings of Sri Desikan to me for displaying them in the blog while uploading his songs.
Warm Regards--A N Sapthagireesan --<sapthagireesan@gmail.com>
UPDATE--August 31, 2013

Happy to inform that I have uploaded many more renderings of this great artiste in my blog apkoilns.blogspot.com--Notable among them the RTP-Nagumomu , Varavendum and Padmanabha pahi

Regards ANSapthagireesan

Purist
Posts: 430
Joined: 13 May 2008, 16:55

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Purist »

:-ss Thanks a lot Sapthagiri. SGD's renderings are classicism soaked. But for your postings we would have missed
knowing and listening to these gems. :ymapplause:

SrinathK
Posts: 2477
Joined: 13 Jan 2013, 16:10

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by SrinathK »

Wow, I just listened to that Azhwar paasuram and I was simply blown away by his voice and those brighas (my god, and I thought Abhishek Raghuram had set a modern trend in brighas) and his imagination. That hamsanandi was surreal. Where have these gems been hiding all these days :) ? I should transcribe that alapana when possible.

Coming to his life, I was just reading LGJ's biography and the next day his name comes up here. Quite a bit has been written about his long association with LGJ in "An incurable romantic" -- His association goes way back to the time when LGJ was a boy and musicians would come to Gopala Iyer's house, which was where LGJ was introduced to the art of accompanying many greats of the age. He played a very great role in LGJ's career both on and off the stage. Because apart from LGJ having played for him since his very earliest concerts, LGJ's wife Smt. Rajam was his student and it was he who had fixed up the arrangement. The rest made history for behind a great man there is a great woman.

Purist
Posts: 430
Joined: 13 May 2008, 16:55

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Purist »

I just heard Abheri (Nagumomu). I urge those interested to know what is manodharmam in music
to listen to this. Real class. (pl put up with the recording quality)

salem s neela
Posts: 3
Joined: 20 Sep 2010, 09:16

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by salem s neela »

Hi.
This is Salem S Neela's neice on her behalf. Its a long time and due to personal setbacks could not login to the forum. Happy to see that Sri Sapthagireesan has uploaded SGD mamas renderings in the you tube. As i see Sri Ramaswami Kannan, we have learnt the same tune of Kaakai chiraginile what mama has sung. And the practice of setting simple tunes to beginners, my athai Neela also follows. The same with Suttum vizhi sudarthaan also. Two different tunes to people of the same family. Kalyani Athai sings a different tune and Neela Athai a totally different one. Such was the genious of SGD.

Venkatrangan Gokul
Posts: 7
Joined: 11 Feb 2021, 23:53

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Venkatrangan Gokul »

Namaskaram,
My name is Venkatrangan Gokul.
I am Desikan Thatha's grandson. He expired 5 months before my birth. I have never seen him alive or his house.

Since my childhood, I have heard my mother, Radha speak very highly about my grandfather recalling memories from having spent more than 25 years with her father. She too is a gifted singer and Veena player just like her father. She too learnt music solely by sheer observation and passive listening, without any formal training. She has done many stage shows too.

The comments in this board have been a real eye opener for me about Desikan Thatha. I learnt a lot of new and inspirational things about him here. I also found his music uploaded on YouTube. These uploads are a real treasure.

Through these discussions, you have brought my grandfather and his days back to life. I can now introduce Desikan Thatha to my future children and grandchildren and proudly say what a great person he was. It is amazing to see a person being fondly remembered and his musical works cherished 35 years after his demise.

Reading about Gopalachar, my Kollu Thatha, here gave me goosebumps. It is even more motivating to know that my family was involved in the Indian Freedom Struggle.
On behalf of our family, we would like to sincerely thank everyone here for sharing all the information about Desikan Thatha and Gopala Thatha.
Based on the information available here and also from other sources, I have authored a detailed biographical note about him right from his childhood to his last days. I have also published some rare photos of his.

Below is the link to it:

https://www.quora.com/India-Who-are-the ... &srid=XqYZ

I have also published a note about Gopalachar Thatha.

Below is the link to it:
https://www.quora.com/Is-your-grand-fat ... &srid=XqYZ

These links don't need us to login to read them.

If any of you feel I have missed out on some information, please let me know here and I will add it there.

rajeshnat
Posts: 9906
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 08:04

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by rajeshnat »

Venkatrangan Gokul or Stay Natural
YOu have done an awesome job by collating all of that and putting in quora. YOur grandfather Salem Desikan is a brilliant singer thanks to one poster from salem sabha who introduced may be 8 to 10 years back with few recordings.Significant overlap with the doyen GNB. In the post in quora the particular letter written by the genius Veena Balachandar thanking your amma marriage invitation is a collectors item , i am assuming he styled with so much with the idea of Veena in his lead .


As you keep knowing more and more about your thatha share the nuggets here too.... While other websites are there people like me only prefer all content to be here in rasikas.org as 90 percent of greatest content is only here

Venkatrangan Gokul
Posts: 7
Joined: 11 Feb 2021, 23:53

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Venkatrangan Gokul »

Venkatrangan Gokul wrote: ↑18 Feb 2021, 06:04 Namaskaram,
My name is Venkatrangan Gokul.
I am Desikan Thatha's grandson. He expired 5 months before my birth. I have never seen him alive or his house.

Since my childhood, I have heard my mother, Radha speak very highly about my grandfather recalling memories from having spent more than 25 years with her father. She too is a gifted singer and Veena player just like her father. She too learnt music solely by sheer observation and passive listening, without any formal training. She has done many stage shows too.

The comments in this board have been a real eye opener for me about Desikan Thatha. I learnt a lot of new and inspirational things about him here. I also found his music uploaded on YouTube. These uploads are a real treasure.

Through these discussions, you have brought my grandfather and his days back to life. I can now introduce Desikan Thatha to my future children and grandchildren and proudly say what a great person he was. It is amazing to see a person being fondly remembered and his musical works cherished 35 years after his demise.

Reading about Gopalachar, my Kollu Thatha, here gave me goosebumps. It is even more motivating to know that my family was involved in the Indian Freedom Struggle.
On behalf of our family, we would like to sincerely thank everyone here for sharing all the information about Desikan Thatha and Gopala Thatha.
Based on the information available here and also from other sources, I have authored a detailed biographical note about him right from his childhood to his last days. I have also published some rare photos of his.

Below is the link to it:

https://www.quora.com/India-Who-are-the ... &srid=XqYZ

I have also published a note about Gopalachar Thatha.

Below is the link to it:
https://www.quora.com/Is-your-grand-fat ... &srid=XqYZ

These links don't need us to login to read them.

If any of you feel I have missed out on some information, please let me know here and I will add it there.
Note (Added on 12 March 2021):
Due to a Technical Glitch on Quora, the link to the writeup on Desikan Thatha is not working. It is displaying an error message 'Page Not Found'. I am working with the website people on restoring it. As a work around, please click on second link, link to Writeup on Gopalachar Thatha. Inside that, It has a link to reach Desikan Thatha's writeup. We can click that and read Desikan Thatha's writeup. Alternatively, I am also working on publishing the content on another website and will share the link here when published.

Venkatrangan Gokul
Posts: 7
Joined: 11 Feb 2021, 23:53

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Venkatrangan Gokul »

Today, 7th July 2021, Wednesday marks the 95th Jayanthi (Birth Anniversary) of Salem Desikan Thatha.

Celebrating the greatness of an artist who produced expert music and inspired many.

Celebrating #DesikanJayanthi

πŸ™πŸ™

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by RSR »

@Venkatrangan Gokul

The blog by Sri.APKoil N.SapthaGireesan

https://apkoilns.blogspot.com/2013/

Sri.Sapthagireesan is a veteran and very kind person. He has a great collection of vintage 78 rpm records and has been kind to share many of NCV and DKP records with me.

He is an avid admirer of ( late) Sri.Salem Desikan and is a family friend of the renowned musician.

There are quite a good number of songs by Sri.Desikan ( mediafire links--hopefully all of them work). Also a full concert recording.

Kindly explore and share.
and try to upload ( with due credit to Sri.APKNS)

Venkatrangan Gokul
Posts: 7
Joined: 11 Feb 2021, 23:53

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Venkatrangan Gokul »

@RSR

Yes, I am in regular touch with Giri Mama.

His collection is indeed rare and a treasure for future generations.

Venkatrangan Gokul
Posts: 7
Joined: 11 Feb 2021, 23:53

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Venkatrangan Gokul »

Today is the 36th Punyathithi of Salem Thatha.

Remembering the great soul πŸ™ today.

Venkatrangan Gokul
Posts: 7
Joined: 11 Feb 2021, 23:53

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Venkatrangan Gokul »

Today is 96th #DesikanJayanthi
(Birth Anniversary of my Grandfather). πŸ™πŸ™

Here are pictures (in below Instagram link) from Salethil Tiruvaiyaru organised by 60+ year old Salem Sangeetha Vidwath Sabha in May 2022.
(The Sabha was founded by my GRANDFATHER, Music Legend Salem G Desikan in 1958.)

The mega 4 - Day event had this concert dias exclusively dedicated and named after my Thatha.

This proves that
Humanity and soulful music have no death. They continue to live in people's minds forever.

As I uncover more about his life, he continues to inspire me to live better.
.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CftF-ENLOyL ... MyMTA2M2Y=

Venkatrangan Gokul
Posts: 7
Joined: 11 Feb 2021, 23:53

Re: Salem G Desikan

Post by Venkatrangan Gokul »

In view of the Praana Pratishtha 🚩 of Shree Ramar in Ayodhya temple πŸ›• on Monday, 22nd of January 2024,

Sharing an excellent rendering by my Thaatha, Ganakalachandra (late)
Salem G Desikan.
A song asking our mind to recite πŸ•‰ Shree Rama Naama for Well being.

Sincere Nandrigal πŸ™ to Sapthgireesan Maama for this content.

Jai Shri Raama ! πŸ™

https://youtu.be/cBoa-cDkgoE?si=BsDvN0vqI8h3M758
.

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