Sathur A. G. Subramaniam, (1916–1977) was a vocalist in the

Carnatic Carnatic may refer to: *Carnatic region, Southern India *Carnatic music, the classical music of Southern India *, the name of several ships *, a minesweeper of the Royal Indian Navy *, the name of several ships of the Royal Navy See also *Karnata ...

tradition. A contemporary of Ariyakudi Sri Ramanuja Iyengar, Sri

G. N. Balasubramaniam Gudalur Narayanaswamy Balasubramaniam (6 January 1910 – 1 May 1965), popularly known as GNB, was an Indian Carnatic music, Carnatic singer. He innovated the art through emphasis on ''laya ''control and reducing the ''gamakas'' which eventuall ...

, and

Madurai Mani Iyer Madurai Mani Iyer (; 25 October 1912 – 8 June 1968) was an Indian Carnatic music singer, who was famous for his unique style. He was one of the most highly celebrated carnatic vocalists during the first half of the 20th century. He was renow ...

, he was known for his pure, unadulterated style and strict adherence to tradition. His vocals were enriched with ''brugas'' and high speeds.

Early life

Sathur A. G. Subramaniam was born to Ganesh Sastrigal and Thailammal in Angarai,

Tiruchirapalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of Ta ...

. He lived his formative years with his uncle in nearby Sathur, in

Virudhunagar district Virudhunagar District is a district (an administrative district) of Tamil Nadu state in south India. Virudhunagar is the district headquarters of Virudhunagar district. Virudhunagar district was formed by the separation of Old Ramanathapuram D ...

and was exposed to the devotional singing of “bhajana goshtis”. He joined

Annamalai University The Annamalai University (AU) is a public state university in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. The sprawling campus offers courses of higher education in arts, science, engineering, management, humanities, agriculture, and physical education. ...

, Chidambaram to pursue his passion for music, where he was trained by distinguished maestros like Tiruvaiyyaru Sabesa Iyer, Thanjavur Ponnaiah Pillai,

Tiger Varadachariar Tiger Varadachariar (1876–1950) was a Carnatic music vocalist from what is now the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. M. D. Ramanathan was his student. Early life Varadachariar was born on 1 August 1876 in Kolathur, Chingleput district. Masilam ...

etc. He graduated with a degree in music, “Sangeetha Bhushanam” in 1936.

Education

He received his Sangita Bhushanam diploma from

in 1936, where he was taught by other distinguished stalwarts like Tiruvaiyaru Sabhesa Aiyer and Thanjavur Ponnaiah Pillai. CNAnnaduraiAwardToSathur

Style of singing

With the blessings of Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, he performed his first concert at the Sathguru Thyagaraja festival in Tiruvaiyyaru in 1937. Thereafter, there was no looking back for the young artiste. Sri Subramaniam had a majestic voice (“Vengala Kural” in Tamil), called as “Ravai Saareeram”, and could produce intricate gamakas and brugas with clarity. Being fluent in several languages, his renditions had a clear diction bringing out the meaning and emotion “Bhava” in the song. His “Bani” or “Pattandhiram” was regarded as pure, authentic and strictly adhering to tradition. "A purist to the last, his raga alapanas and pallavi elaboration in different ragas were masterpieces of expertise, lakshana - lakshya elegance, high level artistic exuberance of manodharma" His singing endeared him to several of his famous contemporaries like GNB,

and

Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar (19 May 1890 – 23 January 1967), popularly known as ''Ariyakudi'', was a Carnatic music vocalist, born in Ariyakudi, a town in the present-day Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu. Ariyakudi developed a unique style of ...

. Inaugurating the Sri Rama

Navami Navami () is the Sanskrit word for "ninth", and is the ninth day in the lunar fortnight ('' Paksha'') of the Hindu calendar. Each month has two Navami days, being the ninth day of the "bright" (''Shukla'') and of the "dark" (''Krishna'') fortnight ...

concerts at Coimbatore was a privilege that was accorded to only the best singers. AGS was given this privilege for several years, consistently.

Disciples

AGS was a much loved

guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

, who was affectionate towards all his disciples. His famous disciples were Sirkazhi V. R. Subramaniam, Sirkazhi R. Jayaraman, Musiri Rangarajan, Sitamani Srinivasan, Sulochana

Pattabhiraman ''Pattabhiraman'' is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language social crime drama thriller film directed by Kannan Thamarakkulam and written by Dinesh Pallath. It stars Jayaram, Miya George, Sheelu Abraham, Prem Kumar and Sai Kumar. Later the film w ...

, Tiruchi N. Natarajan among several others including his daughters, Smt Lakshmi Sundaram, Smt Lalitha Santhanam and Smt Bhuvana Rajagopalan, and grandchildren Smt. Shanthi Shriram (USA), Uma Kumar (Switzerland), and Krishna Ramarathinam (Australia), who continue to perform, teach and uphold his legacy. SatturAGSubramaniam

Music

Only two gramophone records and three cassettes of his rendition survive today.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Subramaniam, Sattur A. G. Male Carnatic singers Carnatic singers 1916 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Indian male classical singers Musicians from Tiruchirappalli Singers from Tamil Nadu