Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan (2 March 1935 – 8 September 2008) was an

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

violinist and music composer.

Early life

Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan was born on 2 March 1935 and was trained by his father, Ramaswamy Sastry. His father, sang and played a variety of instruments such as

Flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, Jalatharangam and

Veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( IAST: vīṇā), is any of various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.

. He was the brother of

Kunnakudi Subbalakshmi Kunnakudi Subbalakshmi (24 April 1931 – 21 March 2010) was a vocal Carnatic singer and elder sister of eminent violinist Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan. Early life She was born in Kunnakudi in the temple town of Lord Murugan in the Southern Indian ...

Career

The violin was his forte. He was known for his dexterity and subtlety in handling the violin, he catered not only to the music scholar but also to the layman. His play reflected his own different moods and the demands of his audience with whom he established and enjoyed a good rapport. He dwelled with ease and competence in the high as well as the low octaves. At the age of 12, he accompanied great stalwarts like

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 ...

Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer Semmangudi Radhakrishna Srinivasa Iyer (25 July 1908 – 31 October 2003) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist. He was the youngest recipient of the Sangeetha Kalanidhi awarded by the Music Academy in 1947, a distinction he holds to this day a ...

and

Maharajapuram Santhanam Maharajapuram Santhanam, (20 May 1928 – 24 June 1992) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1989. Early life Santhanam was born on 20 May 1928 at Sirunangur, a village in the Tanj ...

in concerts. He also performed with

Nadaswaram The ''nadaswaram'' is a double reed wind instrument from South India. It is used as a traditional classical instrument in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala and in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka. This i ...

vidwan In Hindu philosophy ''vidvān'' alludes to an expert in discrimination, to the one who is an expert in the Vedanta. A ''vidwan'' (or ''vidvan'') is a person who has '' vidyā'' (knowledge) of a particular science or art. This term is usually used ...

s like T.N.Rajarathinam Pillai and Thiruvenkadu Subramania Pillai. He stopped accompanying vocal artistes in 1976 to concentrate more on solo concerts. He was famous for his fingering techniques on the violin. His interest in new attempts and innovations led him to work with veteran

thavil A ''thavil'' (Tamil:தவில்) or ''tavil'' is a barrel-shaped percussion instrument from Tamil Nadu. It is also widely used in other South Indian states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana) as well as in the North and East of ...

Valaiyapatti A.R.Subramaniyam. They performed over 3,000 shows together. Vaidyanathan had deep faith in the therapeutic merits of music.

Film music

He also made a significant contribution to Tamil devotional music. A. P. Nagarajan giving him his first break in the movie ''Vaa Raja Vaa''. He had several hits such as ''Agathiyar'' in which

Sirkazhi Govindarajan Sirkazhi Govindarajan (19 January 1933 – 24 March 1988) was a Carnatic vocalist and a playback singer of Indian cinema, predominantly in Tamil cinema. Early life Govindarajan, was born on 19 January 1933 at Sirkazhi (a small town in prese ...

Acted as Agathiyar. And ''Raja Raja Chozhan'', for which he scored music, were also phenomenal hits. Vaidyanathan made a special appearance in the 2005 Tamil movie

Anniyan ''Anniyan'' ( ) is a 2005 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language psychological fiction, psychological action thriller film directed by S. Shankar and produced by V. Ravichandran (film producer), V. Ravichandran. The film stars Vikram (actor), V ...

directed by Shankar, on the

Tyagaraja Aradhana Thyagaraja Aradhana is an annual ''aradhana'' (a Sanskrit term meaning act of glorifying God or a person) of Telugu saint composer Tyagaraja. The music festival is observed in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, primarily ...

festival sequence for the song ''Iyengaaru Veetu'' which is a recreation of the real festival. He had guest appearances in many other films. He tried his hand at film production with a feature film in Tamil ''Thodi Ragam'', with T. N. Seshagopalan in the lead, which failed to enthuse the audience.

Discography

Their works include music for the following movies:

Awards

He was awarded the prestigious "

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

" title by the

Indian government The Government of India (ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territor ...

, ''

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government ...

'' award,

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: 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 ...

by the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

in 1993, and the ''Karnataka Isaignani award''. He has also won ''Best Music Director'' awards for his background scores for films. He received the ''

Sangeetha Kalasikhamani Sangeetha Kalasikhamani or Sangita Kalasikhamani (Sanskrit: ; from sangeetha = music, kala = art, sikhamaṇi = gem of a diadem or crest) is the title awarded yearly to an expert Carnatic music Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidi ...

'' award given by "The Indian Fine Arts Society" in 1996. He also received the

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil ( Tamil Movie Industry) feature films. Both Ilaiyaraaja and A. R. Rahman have won this award for ...

for the film

Thirumalai Thenkumari ''Thirumalai Thenkumari'' () is a 1970 Indian Tamil-language film written and directed by A. P. Nagarajan. Inspired by the 1969 film ''If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium'', it features an ensemble cast consisting of Sivakumar, Kumari Padmin ...

in 1970 and the

Tamil Nadu State Film Honorary Award The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Honorary Award given by the ''Tamil Nadu State Government'' as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil cinema personalities who contributed in developing the Tamil cinema in India. Arignar A ...

- Raja Sando Award in 2000.

Other associations

Vaidyanathan, had a long association with the

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

. An able administrator, Vaidyanathan served as Secretary of the Tamil Nadu ''Iyal Isai Nadaga Mandram''. As the Secretary of ''Thyagabrahma Sabha'',

Thiruvaiyaru Thiruvaiyaru (also spelled as Tiruvaiyaru or Tiruvayyaru) is a Municipality in Thanjavur District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Etymology Thiruvaiyaru means ''Five Rivers around the city''. The Five Rivers are Vadavaar, Vennaar, Vetta ...

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...

district, he conducted the

for several years. He also served as president of the Raga Research Centre.

Death

He died of a heart attack on September 8, 2008 at the age of 73 at

Porur Porur () is a neighbourhood of Chennai, India. It is situated in the Maduravoyal taluk of Chennai district in the southern part of the city. Since 2011, it has been a part of the Chennai Corporation and included in zone number 11. The earli ...

Ramachandra Hospital, Chennai. He was survived by his wife, four sons and one daughter. His son Shekhar is a

Cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

References

External links

Interview with Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaidyanathan, Kunnakudi 1935 births 2008 deaths Indian violinists Carnatic instrumentalists Carnatic violinists Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Tamil musicians Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners People from Tirunelveli district Tamil film score composers Kannada film score composers 20th-century violinists 20th-century Indian musicians