Lalgudi Jayaraman

Lalgudi Gopala Iyer Jayaraman (17 September 1930 – 22 April 2013) was an Indian Carnatic violinist, vocalist and composer. He is commonly grouped with M.S. Gopalakrishnan and T.N.Krishnan as part of the violin-trinity of Carnatic Music. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2001.

His disciples included his two children Lalgudi G. J. R. Krishnan, Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi, his sister Lalgudi Srimathi Brahmanandam, renowned musician S P Ramh (grandson of Shri. G.N. Dandapani Iyer), renowned Harikatha exponent Vishaka Hari, leading carnatic vocalist Saketharaman, Vittal Ramamurthy, Dr. N. Shashidhar, Film Music Composer Girishh G, Padma Shankar, Kanchan Chandran, Raghuram Hosahalli, Srinivasamurthy, Pakkala Ramdas, Sankari Krishnan, Yamini Ramesh, Mumbai Shilpa, Shreya Devnath, Krithika Natarajan, Salem Sisters, Arushi Ramesh, the leading Vainika Srikanth Chary and the Academy Award-nominated Bombay Jayashri Ramnath.

Early Life and Background

Born in the lineage of a disciple of the musician Thyagaraja, Lalgudi Jayaraman inherited the essence of Carnatic music from his father, V. R. Gopala Iyer, who trained him. Gopala Iyer, a martinet, enforced traits of intense focus and discipline in the young Jayaraman through rigorous lessons. Though a harsh father and guru, Gopala Iyer would not allow the young Jayaraman to even sharpen pencils, believing that his tender fingers were too precious.

Personal Life

Lalgudi Jayaraman was married to Smt Rajalakshmi and had two children: his son G.J.R.Krishnan and his daughter Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi. Both follow the footsteps of their father and are famous in their own right. He had three sisters Padmavathy, a vainika, Rajalakshmi and Srimathi, both violinists. Srimathi learned violin from him as well. The renowned veena player Jayanthi Kumaresh is his sister Smt Rajalakshmi's daughter.

Jayaraman died on 22 April 2013 after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home in Chennai. He is survived by his son and daughter.

Contribution To Music

Lalgudi Jayaraman invented a new technique of playing the violin, which came to be known as 'Lalgudi Bani'. This innovative style was stylized in a manner that best suited the needs of Indian classical music. Though it was original and unique, it, however, wasn't too apart from the traditional style and thus was liked and appreciated by one and all. His compositions of several 'kritis', 'tillanas' and 'varnams' boast of a unique blend of raga, bhava, rhythm and lyrical beauty. 'Krithis' are the main part of the modern concert collection. They usually consist of a pallavi, anupallavi and piece of charanam. A 'thillana' comprises rhythmic syllables and the 'Varnam' is the base of Carnatic music. Along with this, he has also created a wide range of ragas. Lalgudi is also credited for bringing the most sought-after vocal style into violin, with each of his performances exhibiting knowledge of the lyrical content of the compositions. Lalgudi Jayaraman was the first violinist, who brought international focus on the Carnatic style of playing violin. Also, he has been credited with the introduction of the new concept of musical ensemble with violin, venu (flute) and veena in 1966.

Lalgudi Jayaraman has made compositions in four languages namely Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Sanskrit. His compositions are very expressive and have gained huge popularity with Bharatnatyam dancers. Lalgudi has taken part in concerts, not only on the Indian ground but also in many foreign countries. He has been to Russia as a member of the Indian Cultural Delegation and in 1965 he played at the Edinburgh Music Festival. He has also performed in Singapore, Malaysia, Manila and a number of East European countries. Lalgudi also represented India at the 'Festival of India' in U. S., London, Germany and Italy. He has even performed in solo and 'Jugalbandi' concerts which became very popular. Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman went on a tour to Oman, UAE, Qatar and Bahrain in the year 1984 and was highly successful. He also composed the lyrics and music for the operatic ballet 'Jaya Jaya Devi' which was shown in 1994 at Cleveland in the United States. In 1999, Sri Lalgudi Jayaraman performed in the UK under the support of Shruthi Laya Sangham (Institute of Fine Arts).

Awards

Jayaraman earned several titles, such as 'Nada Vidya Tilaka' by Music Lovers’ Association of Lalgudi in 1963, 'Padma Shri' by the Government of India in 1972, 'Nada Vidya Rathnakara' by East West Exchange in New York, 'Vadya Sangeetha Kalaratna' by Bharathi Society, New York; 'Sangeetha Choodamani' by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai in 1971; State Vidwan of Tamil Nadu by the Government of Tamil Nadu and Sangeetha Natak Academy award in 1979 etc. The First Chowdaiah Memorial National-Level award was given to Sri Jayaraman by the Chief Minister of Karnataka. He also received honorary citizenship of Maryland, US in 1994 and the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2001. He won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for the film Sringaram in 2006. In 2010, Jayaraman became a fellow of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.