|
C V Narasimhan
Passing of a rasika
Close on the heels of Semmangudi’s death, which brings the curtains down on the old guard of musicians, comes the death of Sri C V Narasimhan, on 2nd November 2003. He was the last of the old guard among patrons. It was as though the two deaths were programmed to happen together to mark a clean finish of the golden age of Carnatic Music.
Sri Narasimhan was among the galaxy of government officials of the 20th century who took an active interest in Carnatic music. Others of his ilk were such luminaries as S Y Krishnaswamy, ICS, S Venkateswaran, ICS and M Ananthanarayanan, ICS. All of them were on very friendly terms with musicians and indeed many of them were no mean singers themselves. Almost all of them took active part in the affairs of the Music Academy, Madras and CVN was to remain active in it right till his death.
For the record, CVN was born on 21st May 1915 in Srirangam. He studied at the St Joseph’s College, Tiruchirapalli, before higher studies at Madras University and Oxford University. He joined the Indian Civil Service in 1936. He moved on to the United Nations in 1956 as Executive Secretary of The UN Economic Commission for Asia and Far East. In 1961 he became the Chef de Cabinet at the UN and later became Under Secretary General, retiring in 1978.
CVN will perhaps be best remembered as a close associate and admirer of Musiri Subramanya Iyer. The relationship began from CVN’s early years, when he listened to the gramophone records of Musiri and in his own words “simply fell in love with his music”. Over the years he had occasion to listen to Musiri sing whenever the latter visited Tiruchi and stayed at the Double Mall Road residence of the well-known patron Ratnachalam Ayyar. However, he came to know Musiri personally only in 1937, when having returned from Oxford and qualified for the ICS, he made bold to call on Musiri. Later, he had occasion to renew his contacts whenever he visited Madras, from his place of official posting, which was Vishakhapatnam. In 1940, when CVN was posted to Dindigul, he began organising many concerts in that town and almost all the great singers of Carnatic Music performed there. This was also the time that CVN formed a close friendship with MS Subbulakshmi and her husband T Sadasivam. CVN’s first cousin, Jayalakshmi (aka Roji) became one of Papa KS Venkataramaiah’s few students and is today one of the two remaining students of that maestro, the other being his son V
Tyagarajan.
In 1942, when the evacuation of Madras took place, CVN played host in Dindigul to Musiri and his wife and this forged a close bond between them. Later when in 1942 CVN was posted to Madras, he took up a house close to Musiri’s and became his student, learning formally from saraLi varisai upwards. On Vijayadasami day 1943, Musiri taught him his first kriti, tElisi rAma cintanatO and the tutelage continued upto 1948 when CVN’s career took him elsewhere. He however remained in close touch with Musiri and considered him to be his
gurunAtha.
While in the UN, CVN was instrumental in getting that behemoth to invite M S Subbulakshmi to come and perform. She did so with great success and in the benediction maitrIm bhajata, CVN joined her in the singing. His voice can be heard faintly in the background in the recorded versions.
Back in Madras, CVN played an active role in Academy affairs. He made it a point to attend concerts, special programmes and lecture demonstrations that interested him. His large figure was frequently to be seen in the front row. He also donated liberally to the Academy and the recording room has equipment that he gave to the institution. In addition he made endowments for the conferring of the Sangita Kalanidhi Musiri Subramania Iyer memorial award and the Sangita Kalanidhi Papa KS Venkataramaiah memorial award on outstanding vocalists and violinists respectively. He used to frequently write about music maestros that he knew in 'The Hindu' and his tribute to Semmangudi had appeared in the paper last week. His last public appearance in connection with music was at the 20th anniversary of the magazine
Sruti.
In the period immediately after Independence, men like CVN played a crucial role in sustaining Carnatic Music and its artistes. The music world will remain eternally grateful for them for that.
Powered by Sangeetham.com
|
