The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Krtimanimalai English version

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 21, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Krtimanimalai English version

Staff Reporter

Tribute paid to music critic and author on 25th death anniversary

Tribute to author: K.S. Mahadevan (right), presenting the first two copies of Krtimanimalai (English volumes) to N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu in Chennai on Friday. S. Rajam (left) and Padma Varadan (second from right) look on. — Photo: V. Ganesan

CHENNAI: The first two volumes of the English adaptation of R. Rangaramanuja Ayyangar's Krtimanimalai was released on Friday on the occasion of his 25th death anniversary by music critic K.S. Mahadevan.

Recalling his long association with the author, Mr. Mahadevan said the author had paid rich tributes to the greats of his time like Dhanammal and `Ariyakudi' Ramanuja Iyengar. He also read out passages from the critic's works, describing the musical performances.

He said the late Rangaramanuja Ayyangar deserved to be given the title Sangita Kalanidhi. Musician S. Rajam, who introduced the books, said he had known the author from the age of 10.

Calling Ayyangar a great rasika, he said, the author wanted to learn English and music. He would take notes even as Dhanammal and Papanasam Sivan performed, a difficult task considering that artistes' style of performance differed on every occasion.

He urged the translator Padma Varadan, daughter of Ayyangar, to bring out the other volumes of the author too. He urged music lovers to buy the books, which runs to more than 2,000 pages.

N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu , who received the first copy, appealed to corporate houses to buy the books as presentation volumes and suggested that the books be made available in CD format to make it more accessible. He praised Ayyangar's commitment and integrity of his pursuit and said the critic had a brief stint in The Hindu as a proofreader. "The Hindu's loss was a gain to the music world," he said.

Recalling the fear in America about the loss of interest in Western Classical music, he said though similar fears had been expressed in India about Carnatic music this had not happened. Youngsters had taken to the music form and helped keep alive the tradition and the cultural values. He saluted Mrs. Varadan's effort in bringing out the two volumes.

Mrs. Varadan said it had taken her three years to complete the translation of the two volumes. The Tamil work was first released in 1947. Donating a copy of the two volumes to R. Krishnaswami, honorary secretary of Narada Gana Sabha for its upcoming library, she hoped that she would be able to translate the other volumes of her father's work.

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