''Thanjavur Quartet'' were four brothers, Chinnayya, Ponnayya (1804-1864),https://www.karnatik.com/co1375.shtml Sivanandam and Vadivelu, who lived during the early 19th century and contributed to the development of

Bharatanatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism.< ...

and

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

. They excelled in the art of Bharatanatyam. The brothers were employed in the courts of the

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

King Serfoji II at

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 ...

initially, and then moved to Travancore to the court of

Swathi Thirunal Sri Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma III (16 April 1813 – 26 December 1846) was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore. He was a great musician and composer who has to his credit over 400 classical compositions in both Carnatic and Hindustani st ...

. The Tanjore brothers gave the actual form of the recent day repertoire of Bharatanatyam - The Margam. The eldest of all the four brothers, Chinnayya moved to the Royal Court of Mysore during the rule of Krishnaraja Wadiyar III and composed many songs in praise of him. While his famous Thillana in Kapi Raga and Adi Tala is in praise of the Mysore King Sri Chamarajendra Wadiyar X and is one the most popular compositions. Ponnaiah Pillai, the second eldest of the four brothers, should not be confused with his namesake descendent who was also an accomplished composer musician and was conferred Sangeet Kalanidhi award in 1933.

Musical training

At the encouragement of the King they learnt the nuances of Carnatic music from a number of exponents of their time, including

Muthuswami Dikshitar Muthuswami Dikshitar (Mudduswamy Dikshitar) (, 24 March 1776 – 21 October 1835), mononymously Dikshitar, was a South Indian poet, singer, veena player, and a prolific composer of Indian classical music. He was the youngest member of what is re ...

. Dikshitar appreciated Vadivelu Pillai as an ''ekasandhagrahi'', one who had the ability to repeat a song heard only once. The quartet wrote a set of nine songs called ''navaratna mela'' in tribute of their teacher. After a stint at the courts of Serfoji, the brothers moved to

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

and were patronised by Swati Tirunal. The king appointed Vadivelu Pillai as the court musician. Vadivelu Pillai also learnt to play the violin gained expertise and demonstrated that not only Kalpita sangeetam but Manodharma sangeetam could also be easily and deftly played on the instrument. Vadivelu was the first to introduce Violin instrument to Carnatic music.

Compositions

The four brothers composed numerous varnams and ''kritis''. Some of these are ''Amba Souramba'' and ''Amba Neelamba'', ''Ambaneelambari'' (''Neelambari''), ''Satileni'' (''Poorvikalyani''), apart from the ''navaratna mala''.These brothers composed number of Varnas and Kritis.They were the first to formalise the performance pattern of bharatanatyam, and codify lessons called ''adavus'' (basic steps and the different categories of rhythm patterns) required for the same. They were the ones to plan and set the order of the different items of the repertoire in performance. The order they set was as follows. Melaprapti, Alarippu, Jatiswaram, Sabdam, swarajati, Chauka Varnam, Ragamalika, Padam, Javali, and Tillana. They also composed several pieces for each category set to different ragas and talas (rhythm structure).

References

Carnatica.net

Tanjore Quartet Compositions

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thanjavur Quartet Carnatic composers Thanjavur Musicians from Thanjavur district

Musical training

Compositions

See also

References