Professor T. R. Subramaniam (20 September 1929 – 4 October 2013), popularly known as TRS, 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. He was popular for infusing unconventional and populistic techniques in his renditions, especially of the

pallavi A pallavi is a refrain in carnatic music, commonly associated with South India. It is the first part of any formal composition ( Krithi) which has three segments – Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charanam (which can be one or more). Pallavi is usuall ...

, without compromising on the classicism of the rendition. Famous for his willingness to explore new avenues regardless of whether they would be accepted or not, TRS' concerts were much sought-after. He was also much loved as a teacher. He received a double doctorate in music.

Early days and education

TRS was born into a large middle-class family. He had seven sisters and two brothers. His father, Rajagopala Iyer, was employed with Indian Mutual Life Insurance Ltd. and was often transferred. Being someone who had a deep affection for Carnatic music, he often hosted musicians at his residence. Stalwarts like Madurai Mani, Semmangudi and Ariyakudi graced their residence and benefitted from their warm and affectionate hospitality. Owing to their father's transferable job, the children received their schooling in several towns like

Mayavaram Mayiladuthurai (formerly known as Mayavaram or Mayuram) is a :ta:சிறப்பு நிலை நகராட்சிகள், Special Grade Municipality and district headquarters of Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu, India. The town ...

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum), or Kudanthai, is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the hea ...

and

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (), also known as Nellai and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirunelveli District. It is the fourth-largest munici ...

. At Mayavaram TRS learnt from Sivarama Iyer, a disciple of

Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar (1860 - 1919), whose real name was Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar, was a singer and composer of Carnatic music. Early life He was born in Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu on August 16, 1860. He studied music under Patna ...

. At Tirunelveli, his teachers were A.D. Rajagopala Iyer and Perungulam 'Gavai' Seetarama Bhagavatar. His elder sister Radha also studied at home. When he was about 19 years old, TRS won the first place in a singing competition at the Madras Academy with an unusual style. He presented a pallavi to the judges, and said that he could sing it in any

raga A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...

and tala. The judges asked him to sing it in the raga

Mukhari Mukhari (pronounced mukhāri) is a rāga in Carnatic music (musical scale of South Indian classical music). It is a ''janya'' rāga of Kharaharapriya. A strong raga, it can sound very sorrowful and introspective. And of course, devotional as we ...

set to the very complex Sankeerna nadai tala. He sang it flawlessly, and was awarded the first place. TRS was a

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

. His proficiency in Telugu was useful while singing ''

kritis A ''kriti'' () is a form of musical composition in the Carnatic music literature. The Sanskrit common noun ''Kriti'' means 'creation' or 'work'. A kriti forms the mental backbone of any typical Carnatic music concert and is the longer format o ...

'' composed by

Tyagaraja Sadguru Tyagaraja Swami ( Telugu: సద్గురు త్యాగరాజ స్వామి; 4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Tyagayya, and in full as Kakarla Tyagabrahmam ( Telugu: కాకర్ల త్యాగబ ...

. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on 4 October 2013, aged 84.

Awards

Sangita Kala Acharya, from the

Madras Music Academy Madras Music Academy is one of the earliest established music academies in South India. Before the concept of infrastructure was introduced to India in the early 1920s, it was a gathering for elite musicians simply called (and is still more ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Subramaniam, T. R. 1929 births 2013 deaths Male Carnatic singers Carnatic singers 20th-century Indian male classical singers Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award