Sri R.R.Keshavamurthy passed away

Miscellaneous topics on Carnatic music
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ramakriya
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Post by ramakriya »

The Wizard of Violin, Vidwan Sri R R Keshavamurthy passed away on Monday night. He was 90.

Well known for his 7-srtinged Violin, he has penned several books on music.

May his soul rest in peace.

-Ramakriya

You can read this link in Kannada:

http://thatskannada.oneindia.in/news/20 ... urthy.html

drshrikaanth
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Post by drshrikaanth »

avara Atmakke SAnti dorakali.
It is indeed a great loss. He was a great scholar. His contribution to CM is monumental. I wish he had lived longer and penned more books.

arasi
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Post by arasi »

A man of learning and vidwat. Another loss to CM. Hope his sishyAs keep his music alive...

drshrikaanth
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Post by drshrikaanth »

Click on the link to see the nAda bhIShma

http://www.ourkarnataka.com/dasara/dasa ... otos_4.htm

drshrikaanth
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Post by drshrikaanth »

A tribute to this maestro in The Hindu

http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/25/stories ... 970400.htm

kaumaaram
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Post by kaumaaram »

I seek some more inputs please on this great vidwan.

srkris
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Post by srkris »

Disciple of Bidaram Krishnappa!!! Wow, I didnt know that. May his soul rest in peace

Ramaprasad
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Post by Ramaprasad »

The violinist, R. R. Keshavamurthy, passed away. Story in

http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/25/stories ... 970400.htm

He was a contemporary of T. Chowdiah. Both of them learnt under the same guru Bidram Krishnappa.

Does any one have violin solos of RRK?

vs_manjunath
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Post by vs_manjunath »

ParamAthmanu Sri RR Keshavamurthy avara aathmakke shanthi kodali.

Let us all pray for his soul to rest in peace.

vs_manjunath
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Post by vs_manjunath »

Sri RR Keshava Murthy-The Legendary Violinist

Bangalore: Speed,dexterity and style are the hallmarks of the legendary violin virtuoso RR Keshava Murthy.

A man who thought discipline was god, RRK- as he was better known-brushed aside the Wadiyar king’s patronage in Mysore and made his living from performances and teaching. He was so popular that he earned enough to own a car in the 1950s!

"He would start teaching at 6AM and go on till 11 am, take a break upto 3 pm and then go on till 9 pm, everyday. If any student was late to class by even five minutes, he would pack up and go. But he projected his students more than his own children."

drshrikaanth
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Post by drshrikaanth »

Thanks for the article Manjunath. Yes, he ran a music school in Srirampura, Bangalore. he named it after his guru, biDAram kRShNappa. He was an extremely knowledgable man, very outspoken and brutally frank. The last quality, as pointed in the article, did not win him friends. He was very friendly on approach. But he would never compromise when it came to msuic. So if someone asked him how their peroformance had been- "hEgittu swalpa dayaviTTu hELtIra sir", he would say "hmm. Enu anta hELabEku!"- "hmm. What should I say? "

He is famed for his fiery temper. It is said that he once hit Mali with his bow onstage. There had also been some repartees between him and flutist koLalu puTTaNNa of agrahAra at the Mysore Palace. oDeyar is said to have tactfully intervened.

I have heard him on stage accompanying R.K.Padmanabha and D.V.Nagaraja in Malleswara Raghavendra matha (Swimming Pool Extension). In recorded samples, I
find it almost impossible to differentiate between his and Chowdiah's playing.

He was an eloquent speaker. He once gave a speech in the Gayana Samaja. After his speech, Mysore V. Subrahmanya (This time sangIta kalAratna awardee) was all praise for him and said "avara mAtinalli A sankEti sogaDu eShTu sogasAgi irotte" meaning " How sweet is the fragrance of snakEti in his words".

He had a great sense of humour. In the same programme above, the topic of guides for PhD students came up. Apparently, those who hold doctorates themselves can only be allocated as guides. Subrahmanya said it w as a shame that scholars like Keshavamurthy could not be guides and that it was a loss to the students to which RRK immediately retorted "adukkEnu, namagU ondu degree-na aNTisibiDi. aShTE tAne" [So what. Just attach a degree to us too. Whats the big deal!]

The timbre of the 7-stringed violin is very sonorous. Once, in an interview for "Ananya Abhivyakti"(?), Srikantam Nagendra Shastri had asked something about the deep nAda of the instrument and RRK joked "gaNDasaru iShTa irOvarige nanna piTIlu iShTa Agotte. hengasaru iShTa adavarige sAmanyavAda piTIlu nAd iShTa Agutte. nannadu gaNDuvAdya" [Those who like men will like my violin. Those who like women will like the usual violin. Mine is a male instrument].

It is sad that his last days, he suffered financial adversity.

drshrikaanth
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Post by drshrikaanth »

RRK has trained countless students, several of whom have made it big. His students include T.Rukmini, T.V.Ramprasad, Bhuvaneswariah, Jytosna Shrikanth. I know a few more worthy names but these are not "Popular" or widely-known.

He has penned several books that are very widely used by music-students. They include, the wonderful book "rAga lakShaNa mattu rAgakOSa", 2 volumes of kShEtrj~na padas, a volume on Hindustani Ragas, a book for Junior students including saraLe etc upto simple kRtis, 2(?3) volumes) of "vAggEyakAra kRtigaLu" covering various composers, "bahattara rAgamAlika" of Maha Vaidanatha Iyer(72-mELarAgamAlike) . I have seen a few more but cannot recall them offhand.

vs_manjunath
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Post by vs_manjunath »

Nice to know so many things about RRK. I also had heard abt. the Maali episode. My interactions with RRK was during purchasing his books at his home in Sriramapuram. My consolation was that he knew my Grandfather Sri Veena Vishwanatha Sastry ( a disciple of Maha Vaidyanatha Shivan) very well.

jayaram
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Post by jayaram »

RRK has trained countless students, several of whom have made it big. His students include T.Rukmini, T.V.Ramprasad, Bhuvaneswariah, Jytosna Shrikanth. I know a few more worthy names but these are not "Popular" or widely-known.
Jyotsna is based in London. I have heard her couple of times - she is very very good.
Anyone has RRK's recordings to u/l?

vasanthakokilam
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Post by vasanthakokilam »

Subrahmanya said it w as a shame that scholars like Keshavamurthy could not be guides and that it was a loss to the students to which RRK immediately retorted "adukkEnu, namagU ondu degree-na aNTisibiDi. aShTE tAne" [So what. Just attach a degree to us too. Whats the big deal!]
:lol: Great retort.

jayaram
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Post by jayaram »

It is sad that his last days, he suffered financial adversity.
May I repeat my request for us to create a trust to help needy artistes. It's the least that we rasikas can do for these great souls.

srkris
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Post by srkris »

Time to hear one of his recitals and see him on the intro page.
http://www.rogepost.com/dn/slcy

vs_manjunath
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Post by vs_manjunath »

srkrisji - fitting tribute to Sri RRK by rasikas.org

kaapi
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Post by kaapi »

DRS,
You have done an enviable job in brining out the various dimensions late RRK's genius. I request you to also provide a paraphrase of the books penned by him. This will help the non kanndigas to get a better feel of him as a musicial personality.

drshrikaanth
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Post by drshrikaanth »

"rAga lakShaNa mattu rAgakOSa"- In this book, He Keshavamurthy deals with the 72 mELas (Both asampUrNa and sampUrNa) and their janyas as handled by the trinity. He gives the lakShaNa SlOkas, scales and then writes about each rAga- its jIva swras, any foreign notes, catch phrases, rasas evoked etc and the difference, if any in their handling by dIkShitar and tyAgarAja. If therAgas have changed, he also talks of their differences. At the end, he has given the sara sancAras (Like the sancAris of Subbarama Dikshitar in SSP). At the end, in the appendix he has listed hundreds of rAgas from various treatises along with their ArOhaNa and avarOhaNa. A must have for those seriously into music.

The book on hindUstAni rAgas, I dont remember. Possibly similar to the above. Manjunath may be able to say more about this volume.

2 volumes of kShEtrj~na padas- each notating 50(?) padas of kShEtraj~na

Likewise the volumes of "vAgEyakAra kRtigaLu" have botations of kRtis from variuos popular composers in a wide variet of rAgas. These have been produced partly keeping in mind the syllabus for the Music exams of the Karnataka state.

"bahattara rAgamAlika" of Maha Vaidanatha Iyer(72-mELarAgamAlike) . - This gives notation for the 72- mELa rAgamAlike of Maha vaidyanatha Iyer. (bahattara meaning 72)

drshrikaanth
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Post by drshrikaanth »

guru-SiShya patampare.

Here is a picture of guru biDAram kRShNappa and SiShya R.R.Keshavamurthy. Most of you ehere will be surprised to see a young RRK. You will love it.

http://www.rogepost.com/dn/s2sy

rasam
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Post by rasam »

>> The timbre of the 7-stringed violin is very sonorous. Once, in an interview for "Ananya Abhivyakti"(?), Srikantam Nagendra Shastri had asked something about the deep nAda of the instrument and RRK joked "gaNDasaru iShTa irOvarige nanna piTIlu iShTa Agotte. hengasaru iShTa adavarige sAmanyavAda piTIlu nAd iShTa Agutte. nannadu gaNDuvAdya" [Those who like men will like my violin. Those who like women will like the usual violin. Mine is a male instrument].

This is only my opinion but the tone of Chowdiah's and RRK's violin is pretty harsh and robs the beauty of the instrument. His innovations in the mike-less days is commendable, but for me the sound of Chowdiah's violin is a big turn-off especially while listening to old recordings of GNB.

In fact, as any student of the violin will agree, the 4-stringed instrument itself sounds better at higher sruthis even though we use it at sruthis like C and C# to accompany male artists in CM. But then again, I am male, and I "like" women not men ;)

srkris
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Post by srkris »

Yeah the 7 stringed violin can sound rough, compared to the 4 stringed one, but it has its own majesty. Of course not everyone expects majesty from a violin in a music concert as opposed to lilting melody.

arasi
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Post by arasi »

Was it Chowdiah's stature too, besides the majesty of his playing? I can't remember very vividly, but as a child, I thought his fiddle was awesome. He was tall compared to many other musicians; he dwarfed dainty lttle Ariyakudi and others. He wore silk jubbAs and javvAdu for fragrance...

arasi
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Post by arasi »

Of his chElAs, V. Sethuramiah was very good.

rasam
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Post by rasam »

srkris wrote:Yeah the 7 stringed violin can sound rough, compared to the 4 stringed one, but it has its own majesty. Of course not everyone expects majesty from a violin in a music concert as opposed to lilting melody.
IMO, its not a question of being less or more majestic. If the 7-stringed violin indeed had a special charm to it as you suggest, there would be practioners of the instrument today and a select following. The very fact that it has died out symbolizes the primitiveness of the instrument. A person like Chowdiah or RRK would be laughed out of the concert circuit today, simply because we have seen what LGJ, MSG et. al. can do with the 4-stringed instrument. If you listen to Chowdiah's recordings the gamakams techniques on the instrument as we know it today are simply not there.

As regards to majestic versus lilting melodies, that is more a function of the raga and the way it is played as opposed to the instrument itself. A good violinist today can play a majestic darbAr or atAna and just as easily switch to a lilting nilambari or yadukula kambhoji.

vasanthakokilam
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Post by vasanthakokilam »

rasam, that is an awful thing to say about those two great artists who will be remembered for many many generations.... very bad form on your part.

drshrikaanth
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Post by drshrikaanth »

Rasam
I agree fully with VK. Your first post seemed ok. But the second one is appaling.

rasam
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Post by rasam »

I fail to understand why my comments seem “awfulâ€

rasam
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Post by rasam »

Also, one tends to wonder if these violinsts were overrated even for their times, especially given the fact that the violin trinity were almost contemporaries of Chowdiah and were able to revolutionize the instruments in such a short period thereafter.

drshrikaanth
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Post by drshrikaanth »

rasam wrote:Just because the caveman innovated and came up with the wheel, does that make a stone-wheel contraption more appealing than a Ferarri?
Perhaps a sidetrack- if the stone-wheel had not been invented by the caveman, you wouldnt have had a Ferrari today. Remember it runs on wheels. One does not have to put down the ealrier greats to call the later ones great. SOme things are best left unsaid. I cannot see what you or anyone gained from that particular comment of yours.

solluga sollil payanuDaiya sollaRka
sollil payanilA sol |

One other minor point, Caveman and Ferrari are spearated by aeons. Not so Chowdiah,RRK and Lagudi

Karnaticfan
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Post by Karnaticfan »

In recent times( within 15-20 years), Mandolin and Saxapone have been used for CM. While, Mandolin could reach its peak (thanks to prodigy U.S), Saxapone mars the tune when when paa is expanded and repeatd, as if pom pom (more like old baloon horn of Buses).

Except AKC, no body could shine in Clarinet.

.. it is like that.

sindhu
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Post by sindhu »

TNR used to play a small nAdaswaram 'timiri', which has now been outdated.

rasam
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Post by rasam »

>> if the stone-wheel had not been invented by the caveman, you wouldnt have had a Ferrari today. Remember it runs on wheels

drshrikaanth, you completely misunderstood the analogy. While the stone-wheel may be a necessary precursor to the Ferarri, does the stone wheel seem more appealing to you than the Ferarri? In other words, given the choice of a stone wheel or a Ferarri to travel in today which would you rather choose?

My opinion which you so quickly shot down as being "appalling" was in response to the the following comment:
srkris wrote:Yeah the 7 stringed violin can sound rough, compared to the 4 stringed one, but it has its own majesty. Of course not everyone expects majesty from a violin in a music concert as opposed to lilting melody.
The above has several implications: firstly, it puts forth the idea that the 7-stringed violin is more appealing (at least to some) today than its 4-stringed counterpart, which I find to be highly bizarre. Secondly, and more importantly, it seems to suggest that people today listen to the 4-stringed violin because of its somewhat effeminate qualities even though it is lacking in the so-called "majesty."

My point is this: the 7-stringed violin did not contribute in any way to improving the tonal quality of the instrument during the course of its evolution. Given this and the chronological proximity of his career to the violin trinity (who were surely far advanced in terms of instrumentship), makes one wonder if he was truly one of the CM greats or whether his abilities have just come to be exaggerated in a typical example of the cliched Indian expression "old is gold."

rasam
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Post by rasam »

>> One does not have to put down the ealrier greats to call the later ones great. SOme things are best left unsaid. I cannot see what you or anyone gained from that particular comment of yours.

Sure there is a point ... when historians wonder if Shakespeare indulged in plagiarism in his works or whether the US did really land on the moon, people dont balk and call their opinions "awful", "appalling" or "pointless."

Indeed, I have noticed that CM rasikas, in general, tend to deify historical figures. In the name of tradition, lets not be naive: criticize Chowdiah's music in the same spirit as you would a TMK or a Sudha concert.

drshrikaanth
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Post by drshrikaanth »

ok
did you have to pass these comments in a "Tribute" thread? That was certainly awful. No one here has deified Chowdiah or RRK. I suggest we stop this discussion here.

kaumaaram
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Post by kaumaaram »

I believe that a 7-stringed violin sounds great. Those days people had to adapt a western instrument. Since varieties existed, I think a 7-stringed instrument required a special mastery and skill in handling the instrument - else, it would have been a common one as a four-stringed violin. Possibly the 7-stringed violin did not give scope to bring out the imagination of the artist. It would be unfair to fault the person if the instrument had limitations. If the instrument is large enough, I think you will not have the flexibility of a small one.

Using a seven-stringed instrument would have been a matter of creativity of the artist. Sukumar Prasad thought it fit to use the Electric Guitar for carnatic music without even modifying the instrument; whereas, the hindustani artists modified the instrument to suit the music.

On the whole, let us accept the limitations of the instrument.

rajeshnat
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Post by rajeshnat »

Can somebody throw some light on what does the 3 extra strings have (7 -4). Can I consider the extra 3 strings just for the sake of amplification as vocalists have an extra one or two mikes.
OR
Does the 3 extra strings have a distinct tone some where within the already existing 4 strings (min/max range) or outside of the min-max range of already four?

SSK
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Post by SSK »

Maestro's memory

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2008/07/04/stor ... 880400.htm

A tribute to the great violinist R.R. Keshavamurthy

Sangeetavidyasaagara, the first memorial function of the Late R.R. Keshavamurthy, a prominent violinist, was celebrated last weekend in Bangalore. The event was organised by the Sri. R.R. Keshavamurthy Foundation comprising his students, at the Malleshwaram Seva Sadan.

The inaugural concert was by Mysore M. Nagaraj and Mysore M. Manjunath, accompanied by V. Praveen (mridanga) and Giridhar Udupa (ghata). The mesmerising concert drew a full house and gave the function a befitting start.

As a tribute to the dedication and contribution to music , Prof. V. Ramarathnam, was given the title of "Saadhanaacharya', along with a cash award of Rs.10,000. Prof. V. Ramarathnam is a well-known Carnatic vocalist, author, teacher, musicologist and composer. Disciple of Mysore T. Chowdiah, and served as the first Principal of the University College of Music and Dance, University of Mysore, since its inception in 1965. The foundation is driven by its members' zealous love and respect for their guru. The enthusiastic group is already brainstorming plans for their future activities.

Dhruv
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Re:

Post by Dhruv »

vs_manjunath wrote: 26 Oct 2006, 06:39 Sri RR Keshava Murthy-The Legendary Violinist

Bangalore: Speed,dexterity and style are the hallmarks of the legendary violin virtuoso RR Keshava Murthy.

A man who thought discipline was god, RRK- as he was better known-brushed aside the Wadiyar king’s patronage in Mysore and made his living from performances and teaching. He was so popular that he earned enough to own a car in the 1950s!

"He would start teaching at 6AM and go on till 11 am, take a break upto 3 pm and then go on till 9 pm, everyday. If any student was late to class by even five minutes, he would pack up and go. But he projected his students more than his own children."
I learnt from RRK, as he was fondly referred to as., for a short period of time., before IT and migration took their toll on the continuum of learning from the legend.


Wondering if anyone has access or a copy of this book - rr keshavamurthy ***kutcheri paddhati****

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