Nightingale of Carnatic Music’

beach

For years people of Tamilnadu has been waking up listening to her ‘Suprabhatam’ .

And now ‘Nightingale of Carnatic Music’ is no more. She passed away yesterday at Chennai

usha

I just couldnt digest that she is no more.. It was a shock
every day i used to get up listening to her " Venkiteshawara Subrabhatham, ..kausalya...", in my player.
Today i just coldnt play that ..an unexplainable emotion came over me..

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Nick-H

I bought an MSS CD a few years ago, played it once and put it away and didn't think any more of it for ages. Then, one day, I played again and was immediately knocked out by her wonderful voice.

I'm too young in carnatic music to have seen her sing, which is my great loss, but then each of us belongs to our own generation, it is no use hankering after another.

It must be amazing to be loved by so many people: I'm sure she will shine forever.

Who knows, maybe now she can talk with her husband again; maybe that is what she most wanted since his death.

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torryquine

Sorry to be so ignorant , but what is this ladies name? I am assuming she was a noted singer of Carnatic music, so which of her CDs should be look out for when we are in Chennai?

Kind regards
TQ

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usha

Nick,
She was a legend..
There wont be anybody to replace her in near future...
I remeber the days, when i was a small child, me going with my dad for few of her concerts..I was too young to understand .. at that time . But after that i never got a chance to listen to her live.

usha

Well any music shop will be able to give u CDs of MS Subhalakshmi.

SHIMLA

That's sad news !!

Her "Suprabhatam" was unique !

The legend will be dearly missed by all music lovers.

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solostyle

*sniff* i never got to meet her in person..

Digital Drifter

For those who are unfamiliar with M.S, please look at this page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Subbulakshmi

to get an idea of what she was and is during her lifetime.

It's hard to express what her passing means to you; it's like another
of your familiar walls and memories have gone and disappeared. There
is a gaping emptiness, the aching loneliness of missing something
ethereally beautiful and haunting. Anyone who listens to 'meera' or
any of her innumerable songs will know.....just know. The closest I
can come to describing how people feel about M.S is akin to what France
feels about Édith Piaf[1]

D.K Pattammal[2] once said

M.S was like that. Everyday.

Life, I see, has become even more ordinary.

Footnotes:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Piaf

[2] http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1508/15080770.htm

Digital Drifter

The Legend of M.S. Subbulakshmi: 2004. A comprehensive selection of MS
oeuvre.

Subam-Sivam: 2002 (on T. Sadasivam’s birth centenary & Kalki magazine
diamond jubilee). Has renditions of Papanasam Sivan and atma keertans.

Shatabhishekham: 1991. Has compositions by Adi Sankara and Periasamy
Tooran, including the famous Jay Jay Sankara.

Sri Venkateswara Suprabhatam. Has the the famous Bhavayami Raghuramam
and Srirangapura Vihara.

Carnatic Concerts Album (3 vols)

HMV salutes MS on her 80th Birthday: 1996

MS UN Concert (3 vols)

MS at Carnegie Hall (3 vols)

Suswaramanjari. Collection of shlokas and devotional stutis.

Balaji Pancharatnamala--Annamacharya sankeertanams (Vols1-5 &
6). Commissioned by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, it has famous
composition, Kurai Onrum Illai.

Bhaja Govindam & Vishnu Sahasranamam

Meera Bhajans

Bharati Songs

Sri Kamakshi Suprabhatam & Other Songs

Radha Madhavam (Malayalam)

Source:
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp...+%28F%29&sid=1

Digital Drifter

Princes and heads of state have bowed to her music, as when the (then) Maharana of Udaipur said to M.S. and husband T. Sadasivam: "In the old days I would have exchanged my whole kingdom for this Kalyani raga. Now I shall give you whatever help you need by way of horses and elephants in location shooting."
The occasion was the filming of Meera, produced by Sadasivam with M.S. in the lead. Jawaharlal Nehru's tribute to her, "Who am I, a mere Prime Minister, before the queen of song?" has been publicised widely as has been Mahatma Gandhi's request, shortly before he was gunned down by a Hindu fanatic on January 30, 1948. A message had been sent to Madras that Gandhiji wished M.S. to render his favourite bhajan, "Hari tum haro", and a response had gone from husband Sadasivam to the effect that since she did not know how to sing this particular bhajan, somebody else could sing "Hari tum haro", and she could sing another bhajan. A reply had promptly come back on behalf of the Mahatma: "I should prefer to hear it spoken by Subbulakshmi than sung by others."

Delightedly surrendering her title "The Nightingale of India" to M.S., Sarojini Naidu introduced her in the film's first reel. A slender M.S. with downcast eyes, corkscrew curls blowing, hands twisting her pallav, is overwhelmed as Naidu heaps tributes with this prophecy to her countrymen, "You will be proud that India in this generation has produced so supreme an artist."


With excellent singers in Mumbai who can sing bhajans with the greater ease of mother tongue, spontaneity, why did they insist on a bhajan concert by M.S.? A Mumbai-based industrialist's reply to the naïve question was, "True! We can listen to good music from others. But no one else can create this feeling which takes us straight to heaven."

Hindustani musicians themselves have never stinted praise. Veteran Alladiya Khan was charmed by her Pantuvarali (Purya Dhanashri); Bade Ghulam Ali Khan had announced she was "Suswaralakshmi Subbulakshmi", and Roshanara Begum had been ecstatic over her full-length concert. Others from Ravi Shankar to Pandit Jasraj and Amjad Ali Khan have been unfailing admirers. Vilayat Khan folded both his hands and closed his eyes as he spoke her name.

In the Bombay Studio where the Meera score was recorded, it was the same story. Artists who came for other recordings would stop by and become rapt listeners. A thin newcomer, two long plaits dangling behind, refused to record her song after the M.S. session." "Not now, not after that!" She went on to become a legend in her own right as Lata Mangeshkar, while continuing to remain a devoted M.S. fan.

In a conversation with Jawaharlal Nehru, Sadasivam remarked that the West might prefer instrumental to vocal music. "Yes," said Panditji, tapping his fingers. Then, looking straight at M.S. he broke into a smile, "But not in your case!" M.S. would always add, "By God's grace, what he said came true when I sang at the Edinburgh Festival, at the United Nations and the Carnegie Hall."

The New York Times said: "Subbulakshmi's vocal communication transcends words. The cliché of `the voice used as an instrument' never seemed more appropriate. It could fly flutteringly or carry on a lively dialogue with the accompanists. Subbulakshmi and her ensemble are a revelation to Western ears. Their return can be awaited only with eagerness."

Dr. W. Adriaansz, Professor of Music, University of Washington, wrote: "For many, the concert by Mrs. Subbulakshmi meant their first encounter with the music of South India and it was extremely gratifying that in her the necessary factors for the basis of a successful contact between her music and a new audience - highly developed artistry as well as stage presence - were so convincingly present... without any doubt (she) belongs to the best representants of this music."

Her seeming effortlessness was rooted in technical mastery, endless practice, restraint and constant self-appraisal. Listening to her rendering of the "Vishnu Sahasranama", Agnihotram Thathachariar could wonder: "How does she have that flawless enunciation we scholars are unable to achieve through several birth cycles?"

Yehudi Menuhin was enraptured by the golden voice and Zubin Mehta was reluctant to take the stage after an M.S. concert.

Honours have been heaped upon M.S. so much so that the legendary Rukmini Devi Arundale apparently once quipped to her: "Kunjamma, you must leave some awards for others!" She was conferred the highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1996. The President's Award, the Padma Vibhushan (1975), the Padma Bhushan (1954), the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1974), Kalidas Samman (1988), Konarak Samman, Fellowship of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the Hafeez Ali Khan Award, the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration and the Desikottama are the other honours she was conferred.