Veteran
Carnatic musician
Dr
M Balamuralikrishna
passed away at his residence in Chennai on Tuesday. He was 86. He had not been keeping well for the past few days.
Born in Sankaraguptam in Andhra Pradesh, Mangalampalli
Balamuralikrishna
started singing at the age of six. He was a master of
Carnatic
and Hindustani vocal music and played musical instruments like the
viola
, the
violin
and the mridangam. He had composed music and acted in some movies, including Bhakta Prahlada.
He composed several thillanans, kirits and varnams. He revived old ragas like Narthak and Sunadavinodini and created new ragas like Lavangi, Mahathi, Manorama, Murali, Omkari, Prathimadhyamavathi, Rohini, Saravashree, Sumukham, Sushma, Ganapathi, Siddhi and Pushkara Godvari.
Balamuralikrishna had tried to popularise the idea of music therapy in south India.
Balamurali, as he was called by musicians and public, was a recipient of all three Padma awards — Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. He won several awards, including the national award for best playback singer and best music director.
“He was a prodigy and was very innovative. He self-enjoyed his music and there is no one to match him currently,” said Krishna Gana Sabha secretary Y Prabhu.
Balamuralikrishna used to accompany late Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer on the violin. "He played viola as a solo concert in our sabha," Prabhu recalled.
Krishna Gana Sabha conferred Thyagaraja Seva Ratna Award on him two years ago for his service to Saint Thyagaraja. "During a conversation, I asked him how he had composed several compositions in Sanskrit. He said he did not have any knowledge of Sanskrit but experts had never pointed out any grammatical mistake," said Prabhu.
Parthasarathy Swami Sabha secretary R Krishnamurthy recalled how Balamuralikrishna prepared for a concert after arriving at a venue for a concert. “He was not at all tensed. If the concert is at 6.30pm, he will be in the sabha at 6pm. Immediately, he will have snacks in the sabha canteen. After that he will have betel leaves and then get on to the stage. That is the end. After that music used to flow like water," Krishnamurthy said.
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