Renowned Carnatic vocalist Nedunuri passes away

VISAKHAPATNAM: One of the most revered and renowned Carnatic vocalists of the country, Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, passed away here on Monday. The 87-year-old legend, who was undergoing treatment for lung cancer over the past one year, breathed his last at a city hospital.
Krishnamurthy is credited with fine-tuning the Annamacharya Kirtanas and taking Carnatic music to the masses, albeit in the form of ‘kirtanas’.His illustrious disciples include the Malladi brothers and Shobha Raju.
Born into a Brahmin family of East Godavari district, Nedunuri hogged the limelight at a very young age. A student of Dwaram Narsinga Rao Naidu and Sripada Pinakapani, he performed for the Madras Music Academy for more than six decades.
A former principal of the M R College of Music and Dance at Vizianagaram, Krishnamurthy was also the ‘Asthana Vidwan’ of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams and Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham.
Paying his tributes, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu described Krishnamurthy as a doyen of Carnatic music. “He did played a great role in popularising Carnatic music and was the person under whose guidance M S Subbalakshmi rendered the 'Annamacharya Kirtanas' for a TTD project. He was instrumental in organising the 'Naada Nirajanam’ programme,” the CM said in his condolence message.Dwaram Swami, grandson of music legend Dwaram Venkata Swami Naidu said: “There is no doubt that he will be missed by music connoisseurs but his works and contributions will live on forever in every Telugu household, thanks to his fine-tuning of the Annamacharya Kiratanas. The way they are sung today is chiefly because of Nedunuri.”
The noted Malladi brothers, Sri Rama Prasad and Ravi Kumar, termed his passing away as a great loss to Carnatic music. “It is saddening that the last doyen of the Pinakapani school of Carnatic music is no more,” said Sri Rama Prasad Malladi.
“People remember him as the man who brought back to life the ‘kirtanas’ of Annamacharya. Very few know him for fine tuning the Radasa Kirtanas as well. He fine tuned 108 of the Ramadasu Kirtanas, 30 of which would be released in January next,” said Ravi Kumar Malladi.
Nedunuri, who bagged nearly 47 prestigious awards and seven honours from various institutions, was also conferred the titles of Sangeet Kalanidhi, Nada Sudhanidhi and Thyagaraja Seva Ratnam, among others for his contribution to Carnatic music.
The legendary musician was given full state honours and his funeral was attended by chief secretary I V R Krishna Rao and minister for rural water supply and panchayat raj, Ch Ayyanna Patrudu.