T.K.Rangachari
Among
the illustrious galaxy of musicians of
the 20th century, Tandalam
Krishnamachari Rangachari (
Endowed
with a pleasant voice,he sang well till his last days. His concerts
were always
brisk and full of raga bhavam. His
neravals and kalpanaswarams were great to listen and his
swara-singing
was based on sarvalaghu pattern. He had formal tutelege from Namakkal
Narasimha
Iyengar, who was also the guru of Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Ayengar.
He
joined Annamalai University in Chidambaram and after a prescribed
training he
was awarded the title of “Sangeetha bhushanam”. He had the
benefit
of learning music under stalwarts
like Sabesha Iyer, Ponnaiah Pillai, Sathur Krishna Iyengar. Then he was
appointed to the faculty at Annamalai University Music Department. He
worked
there for almost 30 years and also later on at the Central College of
Music,
Chennai.
Apart
from dwelling on the time honored ragams,
He
was honored by many music associations
and he was awarded titles like “Sangeetha Ratnakara”
and
“Kalaimamani” among others. He passed away in 1979. His musical legacy is being carried out
by his daughter, Mallika Jayanth Kumar and his grandson, D.B.Ashwin.
By Ashok
Madhav
(madhav_pgh
at yahoo.com)