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Papa Iyer's lingering music
SANGITA KALANIDHI `Papa' K. S. Venkataramaiah was one of the most gifted and influential exponents of Carnatic music of the last millennium. T. N. Krishnan, who as a young boy moved closely with him, writes:
``I had the unique privilege of moving closely with him, enjoying his beautiful music and in wonderment of his genius.
``My earliest memory of Papa saar is from 1941 when he had come to Thiruvananthapuram for the annual Navarathri festival hosted by the Maharaja of Travancore. I recall meeting Papa Iyer there as he was relaxing, talking of his guru, Malakottai Govindaswami Pillai. Though I was young, I could feel the love and respect with which Papa saar talked of his teacher. He was a simple and disciplined man of high morals and I admired his unwillingness to compromise to anything of lower quality or dignity in his music or personal life.
``Papa saar's music was of a very high calibre in classicism and tradition bearing the unmistakable ``Papa'' stamp. I still recall his performance of a Sahana ragam in a concert at the Music Academy way back in 1944, where he was accompanying Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar. There were many such performances in which Papa Iyer has enthralled the audience as an accompanist to Musiri Subramania Iyer, Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer, T. R. Mali and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. An electric atmosphere was created whenever Palghat Mani Iyer joined him on stage.
``Papa Iyer's musical baani was an extraordinary one, technically superior and emotionally rich. He had a smooth and continuous bowing style, and a masterful fingering technique that would make the violin sound vocal, especially when played in the lower octave.
``His uncompromising approach extended beyond his music. Even his choice of strings for his violin reflected his mindset _ he would exclusively use high quality gut strings that produced the best tone, even when they were hard to come by. He used to say in a lighter vein, `Even after all these years, I am still learning to play Bhairavi varnam.' That was the extent of humility and reverence he had for the work of the master composers of our Carnatic tradition.
``This year marks the birth centenary of Papa Venkataramaiah, and I feel honoured to have had the opportunity to write this brief remembrance of a true icon of Carnatic music and one of my personal heroes.On this occasion, I urge every aspiring young vidwan to rediscover the magic of Papa saar's artistry, and to keep the memory of his music aloft for many more years."
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