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Professor P Sambamoorthy - A Study
 Smt Bhagerati Nagarajan, daughter of veteran violinist M S Anantharaman has taken up Professor Sambamoorthy and his contribution to music as the subject of her thesis for a doctoral degree. The following is the gist of the presentation given by her on 23rd October 2003. The Centre for Ethnomusicology, in association with the Indian Musicological Sociey, remembered Professor Sambamoorthy on his 30th death anniversary by arranging the presentation at the Young Mens' Indian Association, Royapettah. Sangeetham thanks Smt Bhageerati Nagarajan for sharing this article with us.
Part 1
Biographical information on Professor P Sambamoorthy.
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Born on 14/02/1901 at Bitragunta in Andhra Pradesh. (However, his horoscope mentions the date of birth as 21/02/1900).
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His father was Pitchu Iyer, who worked in the Railways. He passed away when Sambamoorthy was four years old. His mother Parvaty Ammal came to Madras and settled down in Thambu Chetty Street, George Town.
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Sambamoorthy studied at Arya Pathasala (now defunct) on Thambu Chetty Street, George Town. He finished High School at St Gabriel’s between 1910 and 1916. He studied Intermediate at the Madras Christian College from 1916 to 1918.
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Then for a period of one year he worked as a clerk in the Macmillan Publishing company. His experience here proved most invaluable as it helped him in his own efforts at writing, publishing and marketing music books.
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He enrolled for a BA degree at the Presidency College in 1919 and completed the same in 1922.
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He started learning violin from Boddu Krishnayya, son of Boddu Sundarayya and disciple of Tachur Singaracharlu, who belonged to the siShya parampara of Syama Sastri.
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He also learnt vocal music from Manathattai Doraiswamy Iyer. Thus, Sambamoorthy’s musical lineage could be traced to Tyagaraja in the following manner. (a) Tyagaraja – Nangavaram Nilakanta Iyer – Manathattai Vaidyanatha Iyer – Manathattai Doraiswamy Iyer (b) Tyagaraja – Neykarapatti Subbayyar – Neykarapatti (Pallavi) Seshayyar – Manathattai Doraiswamy Iyer.
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Sambamoorthy also learnt the flute from Ashtapuram Venkatrama Sastri, a nephew and disciple of the legendary Sarabha Sastri.
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Sambamoorthy learnt vocal music from Tiruvottriyur S A Ramaswamy Iyer (a grandson of Tiruvottriyur Tyagayyar?) and Walajapet K K Ramaswamy Bhagavatar
(the son of Walajapet Krishnaswamy Bhagavatar)
Sambamoorthy married N S Anandavalli, a cousin of T S Sabesa Iyer in 1922. He also joined the Law College and completed his BL degree. In 1924, he gave a series of lectures on 'Musical Forms' at the Summer School run by H A Popley. Popley was so impressed by this that he immediately appointed him as a lecturer in his Summer school. Sambamoorthy continued working in the summer school and became its Vice-Principal in 1926 and its Principal in 1927.
In 1928, for the first time in India, a Department of Music was set up to offer courses music at the Queen Mary’s College, Madras and Sambamoorthy was its first Head. Between 1928 and 1930, Sambamoorthy worked in nearly six different institutions teaching music in Madras simultaneously. Such was the demand that the colleges together prepared a staggered schedule to enable him to commute. In 1931, Sambamoorthy went to Munich, Germany, to study Western violin, flute and musicology.
In 1937, Sambamoorthy succeeded Tiger Varadachariar as the Head of the Dept, at the Dept of Music in the Madras University and served there till his retirement in 1961. In 1961, he also started the Sangita Vadyalaya and became its director.
In 1972, he was awarded the Sangita Kalanidhi. Incidentally, he had actually helped co-found the Music Academy in 1927 when he served as a Secretary of the All India Music Conference.
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