Raga Sudha SV Krishnan Expired

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 15 Feb 2007, 22:28

It is with great regret that I announce the death of SV Krishnan of Ragasudha who lived for the betterment of classical music until his very last breath. May his soul rest in Peace.
Mannarkoil J Balaji

ram · Post by **ram** » 15 Feb 2007, 23:03

This is shocking news. He was hale and hearty at Vid. Amritha Murali's kutcheri day before yesterday. May his soul rest in peace.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 15 Feb 2007, 23:17

A very shocking news.He was a great man, an excellant speaker gifted with wit and eloquence.Really helped lot of artists to come up.

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 16 Feb 2007, 00:55

I am in tears reading about SVK Mama's passing. Every interaction I had with SVK Mama taught me more about all that is great and good about Carnatic music. He encouraged young musicians while pointing all of us to the light of tradition held by senior musicians that so often went unnoticed. It's a huge shock and a great loss for the musical community. May his soul rest in peace.

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 16 Feb 2007, 07:35

may his soul rest in peace!

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 16 Feb 2007, 07:49

Sorry to here about this sad news. I hope that Raga Sudha continues his wonderful efforts to promote young artistes and traditional carnatic music.

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 16 Feb 2007, 10:35

SVK mama was dynamic and active even an hour before he left us. He was sincere,straight forward, concerned and caring.

He been a well wisher and moral support for me. He used to talk to me once in a fortnight even when I was in Michigan(US).

Whenever I play in nAdha inbam, he took ultimate care in keeping the hall opened a bit earlier for me to get in along with my kinetic honda-3 wheeler and kept the floor very clean, since, i am physically challenged and I can only crawl the distance.

If I play two concerts consecutively, he will be there in the stage during interval, asking me whether I need some refreshments.

I miss a soul who showered his love and care......

I pray the "prapancha mahA shakthi" to do the anugraham for him.

Erode Nagaraj.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 16 Feb 2007, 11:59

I don't know Shri SVK personally but I have been treated to many fine concerts at Raga Sudha Hall and many an interesting speech! I am also aware of his promotion of under-recognized talent as well as his insightful understanding of carnatic music.

The Raga Sudha hall is one of the few venues in Chennai which manages to infuse the spirit of a baithak in a regular concert environment. The audience is not only among the most knowledgeable in Chennai but also uncommonly well-behaved. I suppose it is a reflection of Shri SVK's own commitment to promote the art in its highest form.

Shri SVK's life is an embodiment of my own aspirations for my winter....living, literally, in the middle of music and musicians, with the indulgence of every musical whim and fancy just a phone call away. For me, his death is a rude awakening from a vicarious dream...

I do hope Raga Sudha Hall can find itself a suitable legatee...

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 16 Feb 2007, 15:37

May he rest in peace.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 16 Feb 2007, 21:50

May his soul rest in peace and may afterllife be filled with melodious music.
Was he the same SVK who wrote critiques of CM performances in Chennai?

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 16 Feb 2007, 22:33

RShankar: No, SVK who is a music critic is a different person.

SV Krishnan, whose memory we cherish now, came from Coimbatore where he ran a sabha called Ragasudha. After moving to Madras, he started Nada Inbam and built the Raga Sudha Hall near Luz, Mylapore. You can find a picture of him here: http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/13/stories ... 900200.htm
In the last ten years Ragasudha hall has become an important centre for Carnatic music.

In fact, it was S.V.Krishnan who first called Sanjay Subrahmanyan by that name. Sanjay was his name at home, while his full official name was S. Subrahmanyan (S stands for Sankaran his father's name). SVK listed the name of the artiste as Sanjay Subrahmanyan in the concert schedule in the late 80s and the name has stuck with him ever since.

This is a great loss for Carnatic music.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 16 Feb 2007, 22:53

Thanks for the clarification..

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 17 Feb 2007, 05:34

I once had an occasion to meet him , while booking the hall for a bhajan program.
What caught my eye was his attention to detail-especially about the number and kind of people who would attend- mike related issues, need for drinking water etc.
He has certainly made a difference to the listening atmosphere.
May his Soul rest in Peace.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 17 Feb 2007, 13:16

Very intersting Mahavishnu - I did not know Subrahmanyan was Sanjay's "official" name....certainly has a better ring than S Subrahmanyan

mahavishnu · Post by **mahavishnu** » 17 Feb 2007, 13:54

Vijay,
Sanjay and I were contemporaries in high school and he was largely known to all of us as "Subra". He kept this name through his days at Vivekenanda college as well. He emerged as Sanjay only in the late '80s after his concert for Ragasudha in Coimbatore. Sanjay talks about this name change at length in the sleeve notes of his 2005 Charsur release (recorded at Ragasudha hall, Chennai).

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 17 Feb 2007, 14:16

THanks for sharing once again Mahavishnu - you are certainly well connected! Will also pick up that CD....

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 17 Feb 2007, 15:29

When ram sent me the message by sms at around 11 pm, i was only hoping it was a dream. so much so that, i checked and re-checked and re-re-checked the sms to make sure i was reading the right message the right way and i couldnt sleep at all for about an hour. thought may be he was playing a prank on me as well.

the next morning, i made sure i went and bought a copy of The Hindu myself to check the obituary column. Yes, it was the truth.

It took me a long time to come to terms with it. i m still sad for the loss of such a great man, who has been responsible for most of my musical tastes. I had always banked on him for the best music. I wanted to go to Raga Sudha and see the man's family and also SVK mama one last time, i couldnt get enough courage to do that. So much so that, i actually drove all the way to Luz Avenue and went past Raga Sudha Hall, but couldnt get myself to stop, enter and look the man without life and hence drove back. The image of him speaking on the mike 'sabhaiyOrgaLE' would never leave my mind. The last time i heard him speak that was for the violin duet of RKS & SV.

Infact, around 7:30 on the day of our meet & TV Ramprasadh concert, a few others and i who were sitting next to each other were talking about Sri SVK and also about koniyADina nApai, kriti while the main AlApanai was being sung. I was told SVK was talking about this kriti to some leading performing artist, before his last moments...

I am now standing in the middle of no where. where do i go to get good music???

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 17 Feb 2007, 15:46

rbharath,
I just counted in the last 5 years , I have heard 80 + concerts in rAga sudha hall alone. The last time when I went to hear a concert (15 days back), shri SVK mAmA took a brochure and personally ticked few brand new artists and recommended me to hear them(We just have a smiling relationship) .

He has ensured there is a perennial concert almost every single day and given chance to almost every artist. His wonderful sabhayOrgaLE speech and a gentle smile to politely refuse any artist or rasika if they needlessly ask for an increase in volume just stands in my eyes.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 17 Feb 2007, 15:50

rajesh, of the 190 odd concerts i have records in my blog easily Raga Sudha will be the second most attended venue, first being home (Music Club IIT Madras).

i am short of words to express my feelings for the great loss to carnatic music.

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 17 Feb 2007, 18:04

rbharath wrote:i m still sad for the loss of such a great man, who has been responsible for most of my musical tastes. I had always banked on him for the best music. I wanted to go to Raga Sudha and see the man's family and also SVK mama one last time, i couldnt get enough courage to do that. So much so that, i actually drove all the way to Luz Avenue and went past Raga Sudha Hall, but couldnt get myself to stop, enter and look the man without life and hence drove back. The image of him speaking on the mike 'sabhaiyOrgaLE' would never leave my mind.

Bharath: your post was really moving. When I returned to India from the US for good in 2004, it was SVK Mama who put me up at his house while I stayed in Chennai for a bit taking guidance from Vedavalli Amma. Every day I would sit with him in his living room while he reclined in his easy chair while he called up artiste after artiste reclining in his easy chair, checking on their recent musical experiences, suggesting krithis for them to learn, or just talking and making gentle conversation. We would discuss on music and artistes, on his favorite ragas [tODi, kharaharapriyA, bEgaDA and definitely kAmbhOji]. He used to quite expertly sing some beautiful sancharas in kAmbhOji. He had strong views, but would express them quite subtly and conversation with him was always intellectually interesting. A serious attack of dengue fever, unfortunately, brought my stay with him to an abruptly premature end. In fact, the day before I came down with dengue, he told me he wanted me to meet DKP Amma and would take me to her house over the weekend. Sadly, that never happened. These memories are very precious to me.

I saw Mama several times after that during vists to Chennai; a few weeks before my wedding, my Dad called him up to ask if he could attend. He had some personal matters to attend to, and therefore wished me all the best. I was sitting next to my Dad in the car and could hear Mama on the phone; somehow I did not take the phone from my Dad and talk with SVK Mama. Little did I know that would be the last opportunity for me to speak with him.

Just like you, Bharath, so many of us depended on SVK Mama to guide them towards the best of good music without any 'anAvasyam'. Where else will we go now to hear the likes of TKG Sir, Srikantan Sir, Kalpagam Mami, Vedavalli Amma etc in an intimate, serious and acoustically harmonius atmosphere? It will take quite a while for me to get over the loss. Here is one of the recordings I have of SVK Mama speaking in his inimitable and unique style.

http://file.uploadr.com/cb28

My condolences and respects to Mami and SVK Mama's entire family.

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 17 Feb 2007, 19:52

Where else will we go now to hear the likes of TKG Sir, Srikantan Sir, Kalpagam Mami, Vedavalli Amma etc in an intimate, serious and acoustically harmonius atmosphere?

I feel our new-born 'sabha' is a great place for such recitals to happen. Cool-ji, please consider this in planning future events.

jagan · Post by **jagan** » 18 Feb 2007, 16:31

We need not be despondent at all. It was his life's ambition to have an acoustically perfect hall for fairly intimate listening .His efforts will not go waste. He will see that it does not. I am sure that his good work will continue and that great music will continue to fill the hall.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 18 Feb 2007, 20:36

I only just this minute saw this news in a copy of Mylapore Times I picked up at Nilgiris shop. Our own copy having suffered from the rain this week.

Raga Sudha hall was the venue of my very first Chennai concert (Ganesh & Kumaresh) on my very first visit to India in 1997.

It is not just that it is has been, for the past two years, my nearest concert venue that makes me check for that venue first in the Hindu newspaper. The hall is comfortable, the acoustics good, the ambience pleasant (the location, just next to the park, superb).

Some of you knew this man. To me he was a mystery. Who would build himself a concert hall with a house attached? Who would have such priorities? Who could be so lucky? I guess I knew him by sight, but only thought of the name, even, when some reference came on the forum here.

If there is one person in Chennai I wish I had talked to it is he. Now that chance is gone.

Please, please let it be that his family are both able and willing to keep going with his work. If I ever see a block of flats on that corner I really will cry bitter tears.

My great sympathy to his family: I hoped to speak with him one day, they are missing speaking with him every day.

Erode, thank you for the news that he was active almost to the point of his death; that is the what we all may hope for.

I learnt from the Mylapore times, by the way, that though he came to Chennai from Coimbatore, he hailed from Calicut in Kerala.

I have no doubt that he rests in peace. How could so much music lead to anything else?

Oh, such sad news....

mridhangam · Post by **mridhangam** » 18 Feb 2007, 22:25

Member nick H you are right. He had a nice Ragasudha Hall in Coimbatore Tatabad, where i have listened to too many concerts of stalwarts like DKJ, KVN and others with excellent accompaniment like Palghat Raghu Sir, Vellore Ramabadran and UKS sir etc. His brother lives in Calicut. SVK mama was such a great man who lived on principles and had strict/austere views about carnatic music and he wasan indefatigable man in telling very vociferously about what he thought that was really classical and classicism. He also used to have chamber concerts in his Bheemasena Garden house first floor before buying the current Raga Sudha hall near Luz. I have had many pleasant experiences with him and when he calls on phone he talks nearly for 45 mins to one hour on who is singing well and other past experiences. On top of all this he used to sing almost like DKJ and his phrases of Kalyani and Anandhabhairavi and innumerable other ragas favourite to him. More than all this he has helped many a youngster to come up in the field both by passive and active support. He has provided many of them with his live concert tapes and CDs. He was also one of very few people who used spool tapes to record mny of the concerts. His was a collossal loss indeed to the music field. I have doubts about Raga Sudha's continuity. We have to wait and watch.

kaumaaram · Post by **kaumaaram** » 19 Feb 2007, 10:40

A humble man. When I met Mr SVK for the first time, I enquired whether he was the music critic who wrote in The Hindu. He replied "That is SVK a big man. I am SVK the small man".

No words, no movements. Stillness, calmness and motionless would prevail there for sometime until someone takes the lead to continue his noble thoughts and deeds.

Kaumaaram

kalpana · Post by **kalpana** » 19 Feb 2007, 13:33

Did Anyone Notice? The Hindu seems to have ignored this loss to Carnatic Music. I have not seen any write up or even a news item!!

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 19 Feb 2007, 14:53

I will wait for this Friday atleast, before endorsing to kalpana's views.

I saw a nice writeup about SVK on mylapore times. Sadly, i dont think this news weekly has an online edition to put the link here.

I hope there will be somebody to take care of 'Nada Inbam' and 'Raga Sudha'. It is tooo early to even think of anything right now. Lets all wait and watch.

However, the void is going to be permanent.

jagan · Post by **jagan** » 19 Feb 2007, 18:34

As I had written before, Music will continue to permeate Raga Sudha Hall, though the void can never be bridged.
Bharath, u should have stepped in. Many of us missed u and thought u were not probably in town.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 19 Feb 2007, 21:17

jagan, as i said, i couldnt get myself to come inside. i am not still sure if i can come to raga sudha for a concert without being able to see and hear SVK mama...

i hope the hall continues to resonate with music. i am sure as u said, SVK will make sure from up there, that it does have music as it has always been.

As somebody i know was mentioning, Nada Inbam is not a monarchy any more. May be a parliamentary system or some such thing could come into its place. well, its all speculation. we have to wait and watch.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 19 Feb 2007, 21:29

Mylapore Times and Kutcheribuzz come from the same people: I didn't see any mention on Kutcheribuzz when I looked at it yesterday.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 19 Feb 2007, 21:37

kutcheribuzz does have a mention and a writeup.

http://www.kutcheribuzz.com/news/200702 ... ishnan.asp

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 19 Feb 2007, 23:33

Thank you for that correction.

padren68 · Post by **padren68** » 20 Feb 2007, 08:39

For those who have not heard him, here is a short speech during a concert at RagaSudha - Coimbatore (SriNedunuri-SriMSG-SriSrimushnam-SriVaidyanathan)_1986
http://file.uploadr.com/cbdb

Sam Swaminathan · Post by **Sam Swaminathan** » 20 Feb 2007, 09:43

Here is the link to The Hindu article on Sri S V Krishnan

http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/20/stories ... 270400.htm

Sam

Sam Swaminathan · Post by **Sam Swaminathan** » 20 Feb 2007, 09:44

padren sir

what are the chances of getting hold of the concert you have referred to ? Brilliant team !!

Thank you

Sam

meena · Post by **meena** » 23 Feb 2007, 06:54

A tribute to Sir SVK in DELETED

Rengarajan · Post by **Rengarajan** » 23 Feb 2007, 22:27

It has been proposed by well wishers to hold a meeting of musicians and music lovers to hold a meeting to condole the death of S V K at Raga Sudha Hall on 27th February followed by musical homage by Gayathri Venkataraghavan . All musicians and music lovers are requested to attend.

The programmes of other institutions scheduled at Ragasudha Hall in the next few days shall also be held as per earlier announcements , unless decided otherwise by the respective institutions for their own reasons

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 23 Feb 2007, 22:30

That is a nice gesture....

MANNARGUDIYAAN · Post by **MANNARGUDIYAAN** » 23 Feb 2007, 22:49

My deepest condolences....

Why his name seems krishna instead of krishnan in the topics?

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 24 Feb 2007, 00:29

Good catch MANNARGUDIYAAN.. I have fixed the title of this thread.

jagan · Post by **jagan** » 24 Feb 2007, 07:42

The programmes on 24th and 25th are only under the banner of Naada Inbam and his family had decided that they would go on.

The meeting on 27th is scheduled to begin at 5.30 pm with speeches first and musical offering from 6.45pm.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 24 Feb 2007, 14:27

ya. i was also told that the family have decided to definitely honour the programmes that have been already arranged by SVK mama.

erode14 · Post by **erode14** » 28 Feb 2007, 12:27

rAga sudhA was filled with emotion when artistes, organisers, friends and rasikas gathered to pay homage to a great and noble soul…..

parur shri anantharama iyer, shri t.k.govinda rao, smt.vedavalli, shri p.s.narayanaswamy, cleveland shri sundaram, narasimman of thiruvanmiyur asthika samajam , nadopasana shri shrinivasan, boothalingam of ramana kendra, thiruvarur vaidhyanathan, g.swaminathan and jayalakshmi,daughter of svk mama shared their heartfelt memories….

Everybody had something great to talk about svk mama and they recalled his passion to music, his efforts in search of chaste sangeetham, his role in identifying and encouraging young and budding artistes, the moral and monetary support he lent to various people in the field of music and also to various students, his life towards perfection, his gjnaana of music......

We were touched and moved….

Kutcheri buzz presented a nice video also….

gayathri venkatraghavan rendered a musical homage which was classique and divine…with padma shankar and erode nagaraj..

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 28 Feb 2007, 14:19

it was indeed a very touching occasion.

i personally felt bad at the applauses. As Smt Vedavalli rightly pointed out, it was definetely not an occasion for the applauses.

the kutcheribuzz video was very well-made.

Sri Nagarajan, could you post what Smt Gayathri Venkataraghavan sang?

MANNARGUDIYAAN · Post by **MANNARGUDIYAAN** » 01 Mar 2007, 14:32

erode nagarajan... thanks for report. i am also eager to hear the songs if you could upload,since i left a bit earlier.
applause is not at all nice for such occasions. did anybody noticed mr.swaminathan,reviwer from hindu said " thank you for this opputunity"!!!!!

apasruthi · Post by **apasruthi** » 10 Mar 2007, 12:00

Shri S V Krishnan was a unique patron in the CM world who dared to promote the "off-limelight" artistes, youngsters, and those artistes who don't reside in Chennai, the capital city for CM, in the middle of music season itself and thereby bringing a breath of fresh air..

A lot of such artistes, I'm sure, owe it to him for being heard in Chennai music festival times, or otherwise..

His speeches during the concert were another unique feature in Naada Inbam concerts....

His legacy I hope would continue through Naada Inbdam...

May his soul rest in peace...

Apasruthi

meena · Post by **meena** » 04 Apr 2007, 00:23

Video tribute to Sree SVR:
DELETED

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 04 Apr 2007, 04:36

meena,
Thank you for the video. I got it sans sound, though! The maximum sound (at least with my computer) produced no sound. I could lip read some words of what Vedavalli and DKP were saying...
Am I wearing the dunce cap again, monitor supreme?:rolleyes:

meena · Post by **meena** » 04 Apr 2007, 05:46

arasi
ur welcome.
milli vanilli

I tried and gave up. Even brahmotsavam video featured on their site has no audio.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 04 Apr 2007, 06:15

I have windows media player 10 and I can hear the audio OK. I can't yet think of what may be the problem for both of you. Let us see what others experience.