COMPOSERS-QUICK REFERENCE

CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

(Almost over as on 6-10-2019)

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1) PURANDARADASA

Purandara Dāsa (Kannada: ಪುರಂದರ ದಾಸ; I: purandara dāsa)^[1] (1484–1564) was a Haridasa (a devotee of Lord Hari (Vishnu)), a great devotee of Lord Krishna (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu) and a saint. He was a disciple of the Madhwa philosopher-saint Vyasatirtha, and a contemporary of yet another Haridasa, Kanakadasa. His guru, Vyasatirtha, glorified Purandara Dasa in a song thus: Dāsarendare purandara dāsarayya. He was a composer, singer and one of the chief founding-proponents of South Indian classical music (Carnatic music). In honor of his significant contributions to Carnatic music, he is widely referred to as the Pitamaha (lit. "father" or "grandfather") of Carnatic music

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/01-purandaradasa

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2) KANAKADASA

Kanaka Dasa (ಕನಕದಾಸ)

(1509 – 1609)^[] was a poet, philosopher, musician and composer from modern Karnataka. He is known for his Keertanas and Ugabhoga, compositions in the Kannada language for Carnatic music. Like other Haridasas, he used simple Kannada language and native metrical forms for his compositions.

(see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/02-kanakadasa

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3) ANNAMACHARYA

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/03-annamacharya

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4) BADRACHALAM RAMADASU

Kancharla Gopanna (Telugu: కంచర్ల గోపన్న) (c. 1620 – 1680), popularly known as Bhakta Ramadasu or Bhadrachala Ramadasu (Telugu: భద్రాచల రామదాసు), was a 17th-century Indian devotee of Lord Rama and a composer of Carnatic music.^[1] He is a famous Vaggeyakara (classical composer)^[a] from the Telugu classical era. He lived in the village of Nelakondapalli, near the town of Bhadrachalam, in Muslim-ruled Telugu country during the 16th century and is renowned for constructing a famous temple for Lord Sri Rama at Bhadrachalam. His devotional lyrics to Rama are famous in South Indian classical music as Ramadaasu Keertanalu.

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/04-badrachalam-ramadas

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5) MUTHUTHANDAVAR

Muthu Thandavar (1525 – 1600 CE) (Tamil:முத்துத்தாண்டவர்)was composer of Carnatic music. He was an early architect of the present day Carnatic kriti (song) format, which consists of the pallavi (refrain), anupallavi and charanam. He lived in the town of Sirkazhi in Tamil Nadu. His contributions to Carnatic music have been largely forgotten and not many of his kritis are in vogue today. Muthu Thandavar, along with Arunachala Kavi (1712–1779) and Marimutthu Pillai (1717–1787) are known as the Tamil Trinity of Carnatic music

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/05-muthu-thandavar

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6) MARIMUTHA PILLAI

Marimutha Pillai (1712 – 1787 CE) was a composer of Carnatic music and, along with Arunachala Kavi and Muthu Thandavar, was one of the pioneering Tamil Trinity of Carnatic music. He was a contemporary of Arunachala Kavi.

His most popular compositions are Orukal Sivachidambaram (Arabhi) and Kalai tookki (Yadukulakambhoji).

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/06-marimutha-pillai

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7) ARUNACHALA KAVI

Arunachala Kavi (Tamil: அருணாசல கவி) (1711–1779) was a Tamil poet and a composer of Carnatic music. He was born in Tillaiyadi in Thanjavur District in Tamil Nadu. The three Tamil composers Arunachala Kavi, Muthu Thandavar and Marimutthu Pillai are considered the Tamil Trinity, who contributed to the evolution of Carnatic music.

Arunachala Kavi was fluent in Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit. He wrote Rama Natakam, a musical drama based on the Ramayana. The music for this musical was composed by two of Arunachala Kavi's disciples, Kothandarama Iyer and Venkatarama Iyer. The songs contain many Tamil proverbs and sayings

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https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/07-arunachala-kavi

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8) NARAYANA THEERTHA

Narayana was born in South India in the region covered by the present-day Andhra Pradesh. He lived in Kaza, Guntur district near Mangalagiri. They belonged to Tallavarjula family.^[1] His birth name was Govinda Sastrulu. They eventually moved to Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu.

An extensive research done with the help of archives preserved in Saraswati Mahal Library has helped place the time closer to 1650 AD – 1745 AD, and he reportedly lived a long life.

He mastered music at a very early age and studied Puranas, Bhagavata Purana and other Sanskrit works. He renounced family at a very early age and took on a life of a religious devotion. He went to Varanasi to spread his philosophy.

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/08-narayana-theertha

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9) OOTTHUKKADU VENATESA KAVI

Oothukkadu Venkata Kavi (c. 1700-1765) or Oottukadu Venkata Subbaiah Iyer was one of the pioneering composers ^[1] in Indian classical Carnatic music. He lived in South India in the present-day state of Tamil Nadu. Also known by the name Oothukkadu Venkatasubba Iyer, he composed hundreds of compositions in Sanskrit, Tamil and Marathi of which over 500 are available. These were handed down from generation to generation by the descendants of the composer's brother's famil

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/09-ootthukkadu-venkata-kavi

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10) SADASIVA BRAMMENDRAM

Sadasiva Brahmendra was a saint, composer of Carnatic music and Advaita philosopher who lived near Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, during the 18th century. He composed mainly in Sanskrit. Only a few of his compositions have survived, but they are recognised as great compositions of Carnatic music.

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/10-sadasivabrammendram

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11) SHYAMA SAASTRY

Shyama Shastri was born on 26 April 1762 in a Brahmin family in Tiruvarur in what is now the state of Tamil Nadu. He received his instruction in the vedas, astrology, and other traditional subjects early on and learned music from his maternal uncle. He was later trained in music by Adiappayya, a noted durbar musician of Thanjavur^]

Although Śyāma Śastri did not compose as so many kritis as his two prolific contemporaries, his compositions are still well known due to the literary, melodic and rhythmic proficiency observed in them. It is said that he composed about three hundred pieces in all.

He did not have many disciples to propagate his compositions, nor was the printing press widely accessible during his time. More importantly, the scholarly nature of his compositions made them more appealing to the learned than to the lay. His compositions are far fewer in number than Tyagaraja or Dikshita. Additionally, they feature a more formal form of Telugu which borrows heavily from Sanskrit. In contrast, Tyagaraja composes in this form of Telugu but also resorts to a more colloquial dialect to which Shyama Shastri does not.

There are some 5 krithis in Tamil attributed to him. Most of his compositions propitiate the goddess Kamakshi.

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/11-shyama-saastri

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12) THYAGARAJA SWAMI

Tyagaraja (tyāgarāja; 4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Tyāgayya, was a renowned composer of Carnatic music, a form of Indian classical music. He was prolific and highly influential in the development of India's classical music tradition. Tyagaraja and his contemporaries, Shyama Shastri and Muthuswami Dikshitar, were regarded as the Trinity of Carnatic music (సంగీత త్రయము). Tyagaraja composed thousands of devotional compositions, most in Telugu and in praise of Lord Rama, many of which remain popular today.^[3] Of special mention are five of his compositions called the Pancharatna Kritis (English: "five gems"), which are often sung in programs in his honour.

Tyagaraja saw the reigns of four kings of the Maratha dynasty — Tulaja II (1763–1787), Amarasimha (1787–1798), Serfoji II (1798–1832) and Sivaji II (1832–1855),^[4] although he served none of them.

more at...

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/12-thyagaraja

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13) MUTHSWAMY DIKSHITAR

Muthuswami Dikshita (IAST: muttusvāmi dīkṣita, 24 March 1775 – 21 October 1835) or Dikshitar^[a] was a South Indian poet, singer and Veena player, and a legendary composer of Indian classical music, who is considered one of the musical trinity of Carnatic music. His compositions, of which around 500 are commonly known, are noted for their elaborate and poetic descriptions of Hindu gods and temples and for capturing the essence of the raga forms through the vainika (veena) style that emphasises gamakas. They are typically in a slower speed (chowka kala). He is also known by his signature name of Guruguha which is also his mudra (and can be found in each of his songs). His compositions are widely sung and played in classical concerts of Carnatic music.

The musical trinity consists of Dikshitar, Tyagaraja (1767–1847), and Syama Sastri (1762–1827). However, unlike the Telugu compositions of the others, his compositions are predominantly in Sanskrit. He also composed some of his Kritis in Manipravalam (a combination of Sanskrit, Tamil language and Malayalam).

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/13-muthuswami-dikshithar

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14) GOPALAKRUSHNA BARATHY

Gopalakrishna Bharati (Tamil: கோபாலகிருஷ்ண பாரதி) (1810–1896) was a Tamil poet and a composer of Carnatic music. He wrote a kathakalatchepam (Tamil: கதாகாலட்சேபம்), Nantanar Charittiram (Nandanar Charitram), two other works in this genre, and many independent kritis.

Bharati was a contemporary of Thyagaraja whom he is said to have met, and who asked him whether he had composed anything in the raga AbhOgi; Bharati subsequently composed one of his most popular kritis in rUpaka tALa, Sabhapatikku. The great Tamil literary figure, U. V. Swaminatha Iyer wrote two sources for Bharati's life: a biography of the composer and his own autobiography, which contains references to Bharati, who was his guru in music.

Gopalakrishna Bharathi was born at Narimanam, near Nagapattinam. He spent his early days in Mudikondan village, near Thiruvarur A few years later he moved to Anandathandavapuram village, near Mayavaram where he lived the almost the entire part of his life. His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all veena exponents and scholars in Sanskrit. After losing his parents at an early age, he worked as a cook in a temple. He then met Govinda Yati, who taught him Hindu scripture, and then the musician Ramdas, who taught him Hindustani music. Gopalakrishna started his professional career after finding a patron named Annu Iyer.

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/14-gopalakrushna-barathi

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15) SWATHI THIRUNAALL

Svāti Tirunāḷ‍ Rāma Varma (Malayalam: സ്വാതി തിരുനാള്‍ രാമവർമ്മ) (16 April 1813 – 26 December 1846) was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore, British India. He is also considered as a brilliant music composer and is credited with over 400 classical compositions in both Carnatic and Hindustani style.

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/15-SWATHI-THIRUNAAL

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16) PATNAM SUBRAMANYA IYER

Patnam Subramania Iyer (1845 – July 31, 1902) was a composer and singer of Carnatic music. Subramaniya Iyer followed the traditions of the great composer Tyagaraja. He has left behind almost one hundred compositions.

Subramaniya Iyer was born in Thiruvaiyaru in Thanjavur district of present day Tamil Nadu. His family had a long history of musical involvement - his father Bharatam Vaidyanatha Iyer was adept at both music and Sastra and his grandfather Panchanada Sastri was the court musician in the court of Serfoji Maharaja of Thanjavur. Subramaniya Iyer learnt music from his uncle, Melattur Ganapati Sastri and later under Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbayyar who was a disciple of Tyagaraja himself.

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/16-patnam-subramanya-iyer

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17) MAHA VAIDHYANATHA SIVAN

Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan (Tamil: மஹா வைத்யநாத சிவன்) (1844–1893) was a composer of Carnatic music. He was a great exponent of extemporaneous singing. He also composed a ragamalika (garland of ragas - a song that utilises more than one raga) with all the 72 melakartha ragas.

(meLaragamalika)

Vaidyanatha Iyer was born in the village of Viyacheri in the Thanjavur districts of Tamil Nadu. His father Duraisami Iyer was also a musician and he trained Vaidyanatha Iyer as well as his other sons in Carnatic music. Vaidyanatha Iyer continued his training with some of the well known musicians of his time including Anai Ayya brothers. Later he continued his training under Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbayyar, one of Tyagaraja’s disciples( and cousin) He was famous for his elaboration of ragas (raga alapana). Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan and his elder brother, Ramaswami Sivan, were the earliest performing duo in the history of Carnatic music as known in the last two centuries.

Among the several great composers in the field of Carnatic music, Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan (1844-1893) is perhaps the one musician who has composed the longest ragamalika kriti set to the 72 melakarta ragas.

A composite and beautiful creation of all the Janaka ragas in praise of Siva, and beginning with the word ‘Pranatharthihara,’ it has twelve cycles.

Later composers have created individual kritis in each of the 72 parent ragas but not one composite kriti as Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan did. This magnum opus was composed at the instance of Sakaram Saheb, the then Maratha ruler of Thanjavur. This signature kriti gives the full scope and beauty of each Janaka raga in the briefest possible time. Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan, whose 175th birth anniversary falls on May 26 this year, had also composed and performed several pallavis in the most difficult talas, such as Simhanandana tala and Lakshmisa tala. Along with his brother Ramaswamy Sivan, he pored over several texts of music, clarified his doubts with experts in language and adopted them in his singing.

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/17-maha-vaidhyanatha-sivan

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18) SUBBARAYA SAASTRY

Subbaraya Sastri (1803–1862) the son and student of Syama Sastri, one of the most famous figures in the history of Carnatic music. He also has the unique distinction of having studied music from all the three of the musicians now acknowledged as "the Trinity of Carnatic Music": his father, and the master musicians Tyagaraja and Muthuswamy Dikshitar.

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/18-subbaraya-sastri

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19) MYSORE SADASIVA RAO

He was born in a Marathi-speaking Deshastha Brahmin family^] which had settled in modern-day Andhra Pradesh. It is believed that he was employed as a clerk in his early career before he travelled to Walajahpet near Madras where he ended up training under Venkataramana Bhagavatar, a pupil of Tyagaraja (1767–1847), one of the Trinity of Carnatic Music. It is also said that Rao once met Tyagaraja when the composer travelled to Walajahpet on a pilgrimage and briefly stayed with his disciple.^{[Notable among Rao's many disciples were Veena Seshanna, Veena Subbanna,}

^{see more at}

^{https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/19-mysore-sadasiva-rao}

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20) SUBBARAMA DIKSHITAR

Subbarama Dikshitar (1839–1906) was a Carnatic music composer. He was the grandson of Baluswami Dikshitar, a brother of Muthuswami Dikshitar. He was an accomplished composer in his own right, but is more famous for his Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini, a book detailing the works of Muthuswami Dikshitar and a reference on many other Carnatic musical concepts

Baluswami Dikshitar, a noted musician, was at the court of Ettayapuram kings. He adopted Subbarama Dikshitar as his own son and taught music to him. Subbarama Dikshitar began composing at the age of seventeen and became the court musician of the Ettayapuram kings at the age of nineteen. He composed many kritis, varnams,

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/20-subbarama-dikshitar

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21) HARIKESANALLOOR MUTHAIAH

BAGAVATHAR

Muthiah was born on 15 November 1877, in Harikesanallur, a small village in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu in India, into an affluent family. He was exposed to music from a very early age, as his father was a patron of musicians. He lost his father at the young age of six years, and his maternal uncle M. Lakshmana Suri took over the responsibility for his education, initiating Muthiah into Sanskrit and Vedic studies. However, the love of music that had been implanted in him led Muthiah to leave his hometown of Harikesanallur, Tamil Nadu when he was only ten years in search of a teacher. He found the gifted teacher Padinaindumandapa Sambasiva Iyer at Tiruvarur, who recognised Muthiah's talent for music. Sambasiva Iyer was the father of T.S Sabesa Iyer, a contemporary who also went on to win the prestigious Sangeetha Kalanidhi award from the Madras Music Academy. During the nine years he spent with Sambasiva Iyer, Muthiah cultivated this talent and made his name as a Harikata Vidhwan. His rich voice and excellent tanam singing made him one of the era's most highly coveted concert artists.

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/21-hatkesanallor-muthiah-bagavathar

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22) MYSORE VASUDEVACHAR

Mysore Vasudevacharya ( 1865 – 1961) was an Indian musician and composer of Carnatic music compositions who belonged to the direct line of Thyagaraja's disciples. Vasudevachar's compositions (numbering over 200) were mostly in Telugu and Sanskrit.

( He was a desciple of Patnam Subramanya Iyer)

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/22-mysore-vasudevachar

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23) SAMUEL VEDHANAYAKAM PILLAI

( of the same period as

Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan 1840- 1889)

Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai (1826–1889), also known as Mayavaram Vedanayagam Pillai, was an Indian civil servant . Tamil poet, novelist and social worker

Mayavaram Vedanayagam Pillai. Born in Tanjore in 1826 a Roman Catholic, which he remained all his life, he got employment in the law courts in Trichinopoly after schooling. While working, he studied Law, passed the necessary exams and was appointed a Munsif in Mayavaram. Thirteen years of dedicated service later,

Early retirement gave him time for two fields he had become interested in — writing and Carnatic music.

Then, in 1879, there appeared the book that would make a difference to the Tamil literary scene. Titled Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram, it is considered the first Tamil novel.

Moral education is what Pillai brings into his huge collection of songs. These songs, composed to no particular deity, are still popular in Carnatic Music concerts.

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/23-vedhanayagam-pillai

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24) KOTEESWARA IYER

Koteeswara Iyer (1869 - 1938), was a composer of Carnatic music. He was a grandson of Kavi Kunjara Bharati(1810–1896). He was born in Nandhanur to Nagarathinam iyer who was a Sivagangai Samasthana Sangeetha Vidwan. His ancestors lived initially in Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu) and later in Raja Hiranya Garba Thirumalai Sethupathi's village in Perungarai(Ramanathapuram). Koteeswara Iyer studied music under Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar (1860–1919) and Patnam Subramania Iyer (1845–1902). He composed mainly in the Tamil language and used the mudra Kavi Kunjara Dasan in tribute to his grandfather. While studying his BA in English Literature in Trichy, Koteeswara Iyer started performing in small Kutcheries singing Kavi Kunjara Bharathi's Skanda Puranam, Perinba Keerthanaigal.

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/24-koteeswara-iyer

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25) NEELAKANTA SIVAN

Neelakanta Sivan (1839–1900) was a composer of Carnatic music. Although he did not receive any formal musical training, his compositions exhibit deep technical brilliance. Neelakanta Sivan was born in 1839 at Vadiveeswaram, a part of Nagercoil, he stayed at Padmanabhapuram, the capital of the old Travancore. His father, Subramanya Iyer, was an official in Neelakantaswamy temple at Padmanabhapuram.

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/25-neelakanta-sivan

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26) POOCHI SRINIVASA IENGAR

Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar (1860 - 1919), also known as Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar, was a singer and composer of Carnatic music. He was born in Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu on August 16, 1860. He studied music under Patnam Subramania Iyer (1845 - 1902), a singer of Carnatic music and came in the sishya parampara of Saint Thyagaraja. He had a large number of disciples, of whom the most popular was Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar. He composed over 100 songs and used the mudra Srinivasa in his compositions. He died on July 20, 1919.

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/26-poochi-iyengar

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27) PAPANASAM SIVAN

Papanasam Ramayya Sivan (26 September 1890 – 1 October 1973) was a composer of Carnatic music and a singer. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1970.

Sivan was also known as Tamil Thyagaraja. Using Classical South Indian as a base, Sivan created compositions popularised by M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and M. S. Subbulakshmi., D.K.PattammaL

see more at

https://sites.google.com/site/4carnaticmusic/home/27-papanasam-sivan