Musicians of The Kingdom of Mysore - King Chamaraja Wodeyar IX (1862 - 1894)

1894)

King Chamaraja Wodeyar IX was also a patron of the fine arts and literature, having been tutored by his own court musicians Veena Sheshanna and Veena Subbanna. The king was well versed in the violin and often participated, along with other musicians, in violin performances at the Krishna temple located in the palace premises. He is known to have helped many budding artists, both by patronage of their talent and in their personal difficulties. He sponsored Mysore Vasudevacharya (who later became a famous musician) to train at Tiruvayyar under the famous Patnam Subramanya Iyer. He also formed the "Amateur Drama Club" to encourage young artists. However, he died at the early age of 32 while travelling in Kolkata. Veena Shamanna was the son of Rama Bhagavatar, an immigrant from Tanjore who came to Mysore during a famine, seeking royal patronage. His birth name was Venkata Subramanya. In 1876, Veena Shamanna was appointed court musician for his talent in both vocal and instrumental classical music. He was known as "Tala Brahma" for his mastery of the veena, violin, ghata and swarabhat. A conservative artist, he played by the norms of theorical classical music and was a tutor to the royal family. In honour of his achievements, a street in Mysore city was named after him. His compositions were published by his son Veena Subramanya Iyer in a book called Sangeeta samayasara in 1915.

Veena Padmanabiah, a native of Sriramapura (also known as Budihalu in Chikkanayakanahalli taluk, Karnataka), was trained in classical vocal and veena in his early days by a disciple of Veena Shamanna. Later, under the guidance of Veena Shamanna, Padmanabiah's expertise grew. An incident at the king's palace during his youth made him popular and impressed the king. A well-known musician called Veena Sambayya made a mistake in interpreting a shloka in the musical treatise Sangeeta Ratnakara. Padmanabiah immediately pointed out this error, much to the discomfort of Sambayya, while the rest of the musicians dared not to, out of fear of incurring the senior musician's wrath. Years later, pleased by his talent, the king appointed him to the court and bestowed upon him the title "Mahatapi Khillat". Padmanabiah also served in the same capacity under the next king, Chamaraja Wodeyar IX. He was a music teacher at the "Mysore Maharanis High School", at the "Maharajas Sanskrit School", and he also tutored the royal family. He wrote many compositions in Sanskrit, Telugu and Kannada under the pen name "Padmanaba".

Veena Sheshanna, considered one of the greatest exponents of the veena in India, was born in Mysore in 1852 to Bakshi Chikkaramappa, a court musician of King Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. Once a visiting musician sang a composition (pallavi) and challenged the musicians in the king's court to follow. While none of the senior musicians could sing that composition, Sheshanna, who was still a boy, sang it correctly. Impressed, the king gave the boy a chain of pearls he was wearing and a pair of shawls. It was during the rule of King Chamaraja Wodeyar IX in 1882 that Sheshanna was appointed court musician. His achievements in classical music won Mysore a premier place in the art of playing the veena and he was given the title "Vainika Shikhamani" by King Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV. Veena Sheshanna won laurels and titles from kings and dignitaries including the kings of Travencore, Baroda and Tanjore. He played the veena at the Indian National Congress in Belagavi in 1924 to an audience comprising such leaders as Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and others and received the title "Vainika Chakravarthi". A photograph of Veena Sheshanna was taken by King George V to be placed in the art gallery at Buckingham Palace. Sheshanna was proficient at other instruments, including the violin, swarabhat, rudra veena, jalatarang and even the piano, in which he is known to have composed in English. His compositions are largely in Telugu and Kannada, though he also occasionally composed in Hindi.

Mysore Karigiri Rao was the son of Lakshmi Narasimhacharya, who hailed from Tumkur and was a Sanskrit Pandit in the court of King Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. Karigiri Rao learnt music secretly because his family was against that profession. He later travelled, performing in many places before returning to Mysore at the age of fifty when he was appointed court musician by King Chamaraja Wodeyar IX. He was given the title "Sangeeta Vidya Kanteerava" by senior musicians of the day and "Ganakara Durandhara Sangeeta Bhushana" by the king himself. He is credited with writing several Carnatic compositions and more than 200 devaranama (devotional songs). Veena Subbanna was born in 1861 in Mysore into a wealthy family of musicians to which he was the only heir. He studied with Prince Chamaraja Wodeyar IX at the Royal school and was well versed in the English language. He was trained in Carnatic vocal music by Mysore Sadashiva Rao and in instrumental music by his father Dodda Sheshanna who was also a famous musician. Veena Subbanna was appointed court musician in 1888 and was a contemporary of the legendary Veena Sheshanna, with whom he was paired in many concerts. A generous man known for his philanthropic deeds, he has many compositions to his credit and earned such titles as "Vainika Praveena", "Vainika Vara Choodamani" and "Vainika Kesari".

Mysore Vasudevacharya was a musician and composer born on May 28, 1865 in Mysore. He holds the unique distinction of having been patronised by four generations of Mysore kings and of having been court musician to three. He received royal patronage from the age of five owing to his talent. During his time in Sanskrit school, he learned to play the veena from ace musician Veena Padmanabiah. Later, King Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV sponsored him to learn music at Tiruvayyar under Patnam Subramania Iyer. A master of both Carnatic and Hindustani raga, he delivered the opening Sanskrit shloka (devotional songs) at the Indian National Congress convention at Belagavi in 1924. He represented Mysore in the "Akhila Bharateeya Sangeeta Parishat" concert held in Gwalior. He earned laurels and titles from kings and dignitaries from all over India, including the "Sangeeta Shastra Ratna" and "Sangeeta Shastra Visharada". Numerous compositions in Sanskrit and Telugu are credited to him, as well as one song in Kannada called Karunisou under the pen name "Vasudeva".

Bidaram Krishnappa was a Konkani Brahmin and a native of Nandalike in modern Udupi district, Karnataka. When he was a boy he had a chance encounter with a rich businessman who loved music. This happened when hungry Krishnappa, who came from a poor family, was singing a devotional song (devaranama) in a local temple. Impressed with his voice, the merchant sponsored Krishnappa to train under the guidance of a musician called Ramaswamy. He later came under the influence of Tammayya and Veena Sheshanna. Bidaram Krishnappa is credited with having popularised the singing of Kannada devaranama on stage. He adapted certain concepts of Hindustani music into his Carnatic compositions. For his scholarship in music, he earned the titles "Shudda Swaracharya", "Pallavi Krishnappa" and "Gana Visharada". One of his disciples, T. Chowdiah, went on to become a music legend. Krishnappa was most famous for writing and rendering devaranama and kirtans.

Among other well-known composers of the time, Tiruppunandal Pattabhiramiah from Kumbakonam was well known for his javali, with more than fifty to his credit written mostly in Kannada and Telugu under the pen name of "Talavana". Sosale Ayya Shastry was a native of Sosale (in modern Mysore district). His father was a scholar in the court of King Krishnaraja Wodeyar III and his grandfather a minister in Anegondi province (modern Koppal district, Karnataka). He was tutored in music by the well-known Periswamy Tirumalacharya. Ayya Shastry became the Raj Guru (royal priest) between 1894 and 1901 and served as a Kannada and Sanskrit teacher to the royal family. He was noted for his musical and painting abilities and was given the titles Maha Vidwan in 1905 and Kavi Tilaka in 1912 by King Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV. Among his well known dramas in Kannada are Karnataka vikramorvasheya natakam, Karnataka ramayana natakam, Karnataka nala charitre and Karnataka pratapa simha nataka with numerous melodious songs in them. In the late 19th-early 20th century, Jayarayacharya (1846–1906) composed Kalyana Gitavali containing more than fifty devotional songs to be sung in the king's court and at festivals, and prayers by women; the dramatist Giribhattara Tamayya (1865) wrote the well-known works Gaya charitre, Droupadi swayamvara, Neeti chudamani, Virata parva and Sudhanva charitre under the pen name "Tammayya". Nanjangud Subba Shastry was a native of Nanjangud (near Mysore). Apart from composing about thirty-five songs, he wrote musical dramas in Kannada and Sanskrit including Mricchakatika and Malavikagnimitra. Chandrashekara Shastry composed Javali in Kannada and Telugu under the pen name "Balachandra". Visiting musicians were Pallavi Sheshayyar, Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer and Patnam Subramanyam Iyer.