Chembai Vaidhyanatha Bagavathar

Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar (Malayalam ചെമ്പൈ വൈദ്യനാഥ ഭാഗവതര്‍‍) was an Indian Carnatic music singer from the state of Kerala. Usually known by his village name Chembai, or simply as Bhagavatar, he was born to Anantha Bhagavatar and Parvati Ammal in 1895.[1] Chembai was noted for his powerful voice and majestic style[2] of singing. His first public performance was in 1904, when he was nine. He was a recipient of several titles and honours in his performing career of 70 years (1904-1974).[3] He was known for his encouragement of upcoming musicians, and also for his ability to spot new talent.[1] He was responsible for popularizing compositions like Rakshamam, Pavana Guru, among others.[citation needed] The music critic 'Aeolus' describes him as "the musician who has meant the most to Carnatic Music in the first fifty years of the 20th century"[4] Some of his prominent disciples include Yesudas, T.V.Gopalakrishnan, V.V.Subramaniam, P.Leela, among others.[5] Many memorial music festivals are held in his honour annually since his death in 1974, the most important being the annually celebrated Chembai Sangeetholsavam.

Between 1932 and 1946, Chembai's music was captured on several phonograph discs. Those were the days before the advent of the microphone in concerts and a singer was entirely dependent on the timbre and reach of his voice for a successful concert. Chembai was uniquely blessed in this respect, for his voice which had great depth, was a special attraction.[2]

[edit] Lalita Dasar Kritis (1945)

Chembai had an old friend called T.G.Krishna Iyer in Tripunithura, who had by this time settled in Madras (now Chennai) and offered a house to Chembai on Palace Road near Santhome, in a locality called 'Lalita Nagar' he had himself developed. He had composed some 155 kritis in Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit under the mudra 'Lalita dasar' and requested Chembai to set them to music and popularise them. Chembai accepted the invitation and set the kritis to classical music, and got them published under the name Lalita Dasar Keertanaigal. He made it a practice to sing these kritis in most of his concerts. The kriti Pavana Guru in the raga Hamsanandi is one that is now famous. He also released a record containing selected kritis from Lalita Dasar's kritis like Evariki Telusunamma (Dhanyasi), Ennil Kaninda (Shankarabharanam), Pavana Guru (Hamsanandi), Varijadala Lochani (Arabhi), among others.[1]

Early life

The family's tryst with classical music had spanned about five centuries. Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar's great-grandfather Subbier, had been the recipient of the title "Ghana Chakratanam" from a local Maharaja indicating his mastery of a special style of singing tanam. Chembai's father Anantha Bhagavatar was a vocalist and violinist.[2] Chembai learnt music from his own father, from his third year,[1] in the customary guru-sishya tradition, as a part of overall Vedic learning.

Some of the noteworthy early events that helped shape Chembai's career as a Carnatic Musician are:
Stamp issued by Govt of India on Chembai's birth centenary, 1996

Main article: Concerts of Chembai

* His arangetram (debut concert) in Ottapalam (1904)
* Vaikom & Guruvayur Performances (1907)
* A year with Kaliakudi Natesa Sastry (1909)
* Accolades from Palghat Anantharama Bhagavatar (1911)
* Violin and Flute training (1912)
* Karur Concert (1913)
* Pondicherry Concert (1915)
* Ernakulam Concert (1915)
* Thiruvavaduthurai Concert (1915)
* Palakkad Ramanavami Concert (1916)
* First concert in Madras (1918)
* First concert with Chowdiah and Palghat Mani Iyer (1924)
* Inaugural concert at the Madras Music Academy (1927)

Performing ability and style

He could do a niraval and swaraprastara from any given point (a view attested by his disciples[6]), which bespoke of mental alertness in a concert. His empathy for his accompanists and disciples was noteworthy and he would go to great lengths to encourage them.[6]

Chembai's music had a direct appeal to his listeners. According to Mr. B.V.K.Sastri, musicologist, "The deep solid tone seeming to illuminate such model figure in his singing and the joy of the pure nada when he held on to single notes are something not easily forgotten."[7] To Chembai, the main factors that contributed to the development of a musical personality were the intuition of the musician, his sound knowledge of ragas and swaras and firm control of śruti and laya and the capacity to evolve an individual style of expression suited to one's voice and aptitude and ideas distilled through the variegated experience behind him.[7]

Loss and regain of voice

In 1952, Chembai was singing in a concert at the temple town of Suchindram. In the middle of the concert, his voice chords snapped and he could not sing thereafter. The concert ended in confusion.