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 Products of eclectic musical education, Alathoor brothers
Sivasubramania Iyer and Srinivasa Iyer were a perfect foil to
each other.
Subbier (Sivasubramania Iyer) showcased his teaching skills
when he was barely seven. He used to repeat verbatim all the
swaras and also identified the swaras which his father played in
the harmonium. Alathoor Venkatesa Iyer, father of Subbier, was a
hard taskmaster who drilled the duo. Venkatesa Iyer used to hit
Subbier with the harmonium lid if he committed any errors.
Fuelled by an unquenchable thirst for perfection, the duo
practised rigorously and heightened the grandeur of the sahitya.
Music was their raison d etre and they stormed the world with
their stage performance at a very young age.
The duo drew the attention of connoisseurs of
music by rendering intricate Pallavis which is their forte. Ace
percussionist Pudukottai Dakshinamurthi Pillai was a bosom
friend of Alathoor Venkatesa Iyer and the quartet was a rare
amalgam of erudition, dedication and perfection.
 Alathoor Venkatesa Iyer was notoriously
short-tempered and once he hit his son during a concert with the
harmonium lid because he committed a mistake. Pillai could not
bear this and requested Venkatesa Iyer not to accompany the duo
thereafter.
Alathoor Venkatesa Iyer was a citadel of
rhythm which was inherited by the duo. They became a sensation
and were invited by all the royal houses to perform at festivals
and functions. They had the rare opportunity to interact with
Maharani Sethu Parvathi Bai of Travancore when they performed
during the Navarathri festival. The Rani asked them to render a
kriti in Senchurutti – ‘Kalai Ye Nee’ - by Swati Thirunal.
The brothers’ voices blended marvellously and
they sang with sync.
The brothers had a legion of sishyas, notable
among them were M K Thyagaraja Bagavathar, Chingelput
Ranganathan. Venkatesa Iyer called MKT a ‘gnanasthan’ and
corrected all his songs before they were recorded. Can we forget
MKT’s immortal classic ‘Jaya Krishna Mukundha Murare’ in the
film Rajamukthi? Like any other song, MKT wanted the seal of
approval from his gurus. Not satisfied with MKT’s presentation
of this song they embellished it with their inimitable style.
The rest is history. The song became a super hit which still
haunts us.
M LVasanthakumari took the world by storm by
rendering songs in Rajamukthi, which was her debut. The duo
identified MLV’s talent and was instrumental in her foraying
into film music.
The Alathoor family was very close to the
charismatic G N Balasubramaniam. They had mutual admiration and
their conversation was laced with wit and humour.
The duo was graced with a slew of awards.
Subbier predeceased Srinivasa Iyer.
(Concluded)
Mira
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