Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (6 July 1930 – 22 November 2016) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer, and character actor. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's

Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sangeetha Kalanidhi or Sangeeta Kalanidhi (Tamil: சங்கீத கலாநிதி, Sanskrit : संगीत-कला-निधि) (''sangeetha'' = music, ''kala'' = art, ''nidhi'' = treasure or ocean) is the title awarded yearly to ...

in 1978. He has garnered two

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

(1976, 1987), the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

in 1975, the

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

, India's second-highest civilian honor in 1991, for his contribution towards arts, the Mahatma Gandhi Silver Medal from

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

in 1995, the

Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

by the French Government in 2005, the

by Madras Music Academy, and the Sangeetha Kalasikhamani in 1991, by ''the Fine Arts Society'', Chennai to name a few. Balamuralikrishna started his career at the age of six. In his life-time, he gave over 25,000 concerts worldwide. Apart from

Pandit A Pandit ( sa, पण्डित, paṇḍit; hi, पंडित; also spelled Pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt.) is a man with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge whether it is shashtra (Holy Books) or shastra (Wea ...

Bhimsen Joshi Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi BR (; ; 4 February 1922 – 24 January 2011), also known by the honorific prefix Pandit, was one of the greatest Indian vocalists from Karnataka, in the Hindustani classical tradition. He is known for the '' kha ...

, he presented

jugalbandi A jugalbandi or jugalbandhi is a performance in Indian classical music, especially in Hindustani classical music but also in Carnatic, that features a duet of two solo musicians. The word jugalbandi means, literally, "entwined twins." The duet ca ...

concerts (duets) with Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia,

Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty (born 25 December 1952) is an Hindustani classical vocalist, composer, lyricist and an exponent of the Patiala-Kasur gharana. He was given Padma Bhushan Award, the third highest civilian award in India in 2020. Early li ...

and Kishori Amonkar, among others. He is also known for popularizing the compositions of Sri Bhadrachala Ramadasu, Sri Annamacharya, and others. Balamuralikrishna's concerts combined sophisticated vocal skills and rhythmic patterns of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

with the popular demand for entertainment value. Balamuralikrishna presented concerts in many countries, including the US, Canada, UK, Italy, France, Russia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, countries in the Middle East, and elsewhere. Apart from his native tongue,

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

, he has also composed in other languages including

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, and

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

. He appeared as a featured soloist with an award-winning British choir, performing the "

Gitanjali __NOTOC__ ''Gitanjali'' ( bn, গীতাঞ্জলি, lit='Song offering') is a collection of poems by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore received the Nobel Prize for Literature, for the English translation, Gitanjali:'' Song Off ...

Suite" with words from

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

-winning poetry and music by "Dr. Joel", the noted UK-based Goan composer. His clear diction in several languages prompted an invitation to record Tagore's entire

Rabindra Sangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' ( bn, রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in ...

compositions in Bengali, preserving them for posterity. He had sung in French, and even ventured into

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...

, collaborating with the top Carnatic percussion teacher, Sri T.H. Subash Chandran, in a concert for Malaysian royalty.

Early life

Balamuralikrishna was born in a

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...

family at

Sankaraguptam Sankaraguptam is a village in Malikipuram Mandal of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located in the delta region of Godavari known as Konaseema. Coconut, rice, and casuarina are the major crops grown. This is a ...

East Godavari District East Godavari is a district in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its district headquarters is at Rajahmundry. As of census 2011, it became the most populous district of the state with a population of 5,151,549. In the Madras Pre ...

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

(now a part of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

state). His father, Mangalampalli Pattabhiramayya, was a well known musician and his mother, Suryakanthamma, was a veena player. Balamuralikrishna's mother died when he was an infant and he was raised by his father. Observing his interest in music, his father put him under the tutelage of

Parupalli Ramakrishnayya Pantulu Parupalli Ramakrishnayya Pantulu (1883–1951) was a Carnatic vocalist. He is better known as a Guru producing maestros like M. Balamuralikrishna and many more renowned musicians. Sri Pantulu was a direct descendant of the śishya parampara ...

, a direct descendant of the ''shishya parampara'' (lineage of disciples) of

Tyagaraja Thyagaraja (Telugu: త్యాగరాజ) (4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Thyāgayya and in full as Kakarla Thyagabrahmam, was a composer and vocalist of Carnatic music, a form of Indian classical music. Tyagaraja and his ...

. Under his guidance, the young Balamuralikrishna learned

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It ...

. At the age of eight, he gave his first full-fledged concert at a Thyagaraja Aradhana in

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises N ...

. Musunuri Suryanarayana Murty Bhagavatar, a

Harikatha ''Harikatha'' ( Kannada: ಹರಿಕಥೆ : ''Harikathe''; Telugu: హరికథ : ''Harikatha;'' Marathi: हरीपाठ '': Haripatha'', ), also known as ''Harikatha Kaalakshepam'' in Telugu and Tamil (), is a form of Hindu tradition ...

performer, saw the musical talent in him and gave the prefix "Bala" (''lit. child'') to the young Balamuralikrishna. (Prior to this, his name was Muralikrishna; following Bhagavatar's addition of the prefix, he began to be known as Balamuralikrishna.) Having begun his musical career at a very young age, by age fifteen he had mastered all the 72 melakartha ragas and had composed krithis in each of them. His Janaka Raga Manjari was published in 1952 and recorded as Raagaanga Ravali in a nine-volume series by the Sangeeta Recording Company. Not merely content with his fame as a Carnatic vocalist, he also played the

kanjira The kanjira, khanjira, khanjiri or ganjira, a South Indian frame drum, is an instrument of the tambourine family. As a folk and bhajan instrument, it has been used in India for many centuries. The kanjira's emergence in South Indian Carnatic ...

mridangam The mridangam is a percussion instrument of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion instrument. A related instrument is th ...

, viola, and violin. He accompanied various musicians on the violin. He also presented solo viola concerts. He was the person who introduced viola to classical Indian music.

Experimentation

Characteristic of Balamuralikrishna's musical journey have been his non-conformism, spirit of experimentation, and boundless creativity. Balamuralikrishna has experimented with the Carnatic music system by keeping its rich tradition untouched. Ragas such as ''Ganapathi, Sarvashri, Mahati, Lavangi'' etc. are credited to him. The ragas which he invented represent his quest for new frontiers. Ragas such as ''Lavangi'' are set to three or four notes in ascending and descending scale. Ragas such as ''Mahathi, Lavangi, Sidhdhi, Sumukham'' that he created have only four notes; while his other ragaa creations such as ''Sarva Sri, Omkaari,'' and ''Ganapathy'' have only three notes. He also innovated in the ''tala'' (rhythm) system. He has incorporated "gati bhEdam" (గతి భేదం) in the "sashabda kriya" (సశబ్ద క్రియ). Actions that can produce sound/shabda (శబ్ద) in ''talas'' are called sashabda kriya – సశబ్ద క్రియ and are a part of the existing Tala chain. New chains are possible, too. Saint Arunagirinaadhar used to inject such systems in his famous Thirupugazh, but only as Sandham, while Balamuralikrishna is known to be the pioneer in bringing such Sandhams into a logical rhythm, with Angam and definition. ''Trimukhi, Panchamukhi, Saptamukhi,'' and ''Navamukhi'' are the basic classifications in his New Tala System. He gave his authorisation to S. Ram Bharati to found "Academy of Performing Arts and Research" in Switzerland. He also worked on music therapy. After his death, his family started a trust in his name 'Dr.M.Balamuralikrishna Memorial Trust' to honor and keep his legacy alive. He has authored a musical therapy research paper with Shreya Kappagantula regarding "The Effects of Musical Therapy on Mental Disorders"

Compositions

Balamuralikrishna has over 400 compositions to his credit and is one of the very few people to have composed in all the 72 Melakarta Ragas and has created several ragas, with 4 notes and 3 notes and also has invented a new Tala system. His compositions encompass every genre in Carnatic Music including Varnas, Krithis, Thillanas, Bhavageethas.

Cinema

Balamuralikrishna has sung in several films in Telugu, Sanskrit, Malayalam, Kannada and Tamil. He made his acting debut with the Telugu film '' Bhakta Prahlada'' (1967) as

Narada Narada ( sa, नारद, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage divinity, famous in Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of mind-created children of Brahma, the creator god. He ...

, and has acted in a few other films in Telugu, Tamil and malayalam.

Death

Balamuralikrishna died at his residence in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

on 22 November 2016; he was 86. He died in deep sleep at around five in the evening, due to a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possi ...

. He was cremated with full state honours at Besant Nagar Crematorium in Chennai the very next day. Thousands attended his funeral. He is surrounded by three daughters and three sons who are all Doctors. His wife, Smt. Annapurna, outlived him for three months, and died on 16 February 2017.

Legacy

His family has formed the Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna Memorial Trust to represent him after his death.

Awards and honours

Civilian honours

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

(1971) *

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

* *

(1991) *

from the

Government of France The Government of France (French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...

(2005)

National Film Awards (India)

* Best Male Playback Singer for the

musical movie '' Hamsageethe'' (1975) * Best Music Direction for the

film ''

Madhvacharya Madhvacharya (; ; CE 1199-1278 or CE 1238–1317), sometimes anglicised as Madhva Acharya, and also known as Purna Prajna () and Ānanda Tīrtha, was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the '' Dvaita'' (dualism) sch ...

'' (1986)

Kerala State Film Award

* Best singer for ''

Swathi Thirunal ( ml, സ്വാതി തിരുനാള്‍ രാമവർമ്മ) (16 April 1813 – 26 December 1846) was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore. He is also considered as a brilliant music composer and is credited with over 4 ...

'' (1987) * Best Classical Music Singer for ''

Gramam ''Gramam'' (''Namma Gramam'') is an Indian bilingual film written, directed and produced by actor-producer Mohan Sharma. It was simultaneously made in Malayalam and Tamil languages under the titles ''Gramam'' and ''Namma Gramam'', respectively. ...

'' (2010)

Tamil Nadu State Film Award

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Male Playback The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil (Kollywood) films. K. J. Yesudas has won the award the most times (5). The list Here is a ...

singer for ''

Pasanga ''Pasanga'' () is an Indian Tamil-language children's film directed by Pandiraj. It stars debutant child actors like Kishore DS, Sree Raam and Pandian, along with newcomer Vimal and Vega Tamotia in supporting roles. The film is produced by S ...

(2009)

Other honours

(1975) *

by Madras Music Academy (1978) *

Raja-Lakshmi Award The Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation is an Indian charitable trust that promotes arts, sciences, literature, medicine, journalism, humanities and other intellectual pursuits and to honour distinguished persons in these fields. Established in 1979 in C ...

in 1980 by

Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation The Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation is an Indian charitable trust that promotes arts, sciences, literature, medicine, journalism, humanities and other intellectual pursuits and to honour distinguished persons in these fields. Established in 1979 in C ...

in Chennai *

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

from Shri Venkateshwara University (1981) *

Honorary PhD An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from Andhra University *

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

from Andhra University *

from Andhra University * Sangeetha Kalasikhamani by The Fine Arts Society, Chennai (1991) * Mahatma Gandhi Silver Medal from

(1995) * Natya Kalasikhamani The Fine Arts Society, Chennai (2001) * Sangeetha Kalasarathy (2002) * "Sangeetha Virinchi" title conferred by Sangeetha Bharathi music School,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, New Zealand (2009) * Lifetime Achievement Award by the ''Global Indian Music Academy Awards'' (2011) * First Citizen Award from Vijayawada City * "Wisdom Man of the Year" (1992) * "Naada Maharishi" by the Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society (1996) A documentary film, ''The Melody Man'', was made on his life by the Government of India Films Division. The film was directed by National award winner Director Gul Bahar Singh. * Telugu Book of Records honoured him for Telugu Legendary Personality in 2014 at Vijayawada

Ragas created

Talas created

The 'Mukhi' Tala system builds on the traditional Adhi Tala or Chathusra Jaathi Triputa Tala ( I 0 0 ), however the first kriya or mukha (meaning face) of each anga takes the gathi of its tala name and the rest in chathusra gathi. For example: Panchamukhi – the first kriya of each anga will be in kanda gathi and so the tala consists of 35 Matras (5 + 4 + 4 + 4 , 5 + 4 , 5 + 4 , , ). Following this method, four Talas can be generated: This scheme can be extended across all 35 sooladi thalas, however currently these four are in practice. Compositions: There have been many pallavis set to panchamukhi Tala such as '''Isai inbathirku ēdillaye ivulakil – sentamil''' in ragam Lathangi composed by Amrutha Venkatesh and '''Aadi Vaa, Pirai Soodi Vaa, Aalavaai Naathane in ragam Abheri composed by Rameshvaidya and tuned by S.J Jananiy and also others in Bilahari, Thodi and Kalyani composed by Dr. Balamuralikrishna himself. There have also been Alarippus composed for Bharathanatyam in Panchamukhi.

Selected compositions

Albums and songs

Balamuralikrishna has composed songs few albums and has sung, list of albums and songs below

Film compositions

Balamuralikrishna acted in few films and gave his voice to some selected songs in

Indian cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...

References

External links

Murali and Me: A tribute by Prince Aswathi Thirunal Rama Varma.

Various devotional works of Balamuralikrishna.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balamuralikrishna, Mangalampalli 1930 births 2016 deaths Male Carnatic singers Carnatic singers Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Kanjira players Violists Kerala State Film Award winners Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship Sangeetha Kalanidhi recipients Best Music Direction National Film Award winners Indian male playback singers Tamil playback singers Telugu playback singers Kannada playback singers People from East Godavari district Indian multi-instrumentalists People from Krishna district Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh Singers from Andhra Pradesh 20th-century Indian male singers 20th-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian male singers 21st-century Indian singers Best Male Playback Singer National Film Award winners Carnatic composers Sanskrit-language singers 20th-century violists 21st-century violists