Tribute
RAMNAD KRISHNAN - THE AESTHETE
A tribute to this great musician on the occasion of his 82nd birth anniversary by his disciple Dr. Ritha Rajan, Head of the Department of Music, Queen Mary's College, Chennai.
Later, when he moved to Madras, he decided to make music his profession. This was the turning point of his life. He had the occasion to closely watch and interact with the great masters of those times.
With a keenly analytical mind, hardwork and aesthetic sense, all of which
were reflected in his music, Ramnad Krishnan soon created a unique style of his own. His
was an intellectual approach. The hallmarks of his music were, perfect sruti-alignment, a
strong but unobtrusive sense of laya (rhythm) and a high level of voice modulation. In
other words, he was a complete musician. His raga singing revealed, in an aesthetic
manner, the intellectual content of the raga. His Pallavis still haunt the minds of music
lovers. He could also render Padams and Javalis with grace and charm.
Ramnad Krishnan served as one of the faculty members of the Government College of Carnatic
Music, Madras for a few years. He was also invited as a visiting professor by the Wesleyan
University, Connecticut, USA, where he was reverently called the 'musician's musician'. He
had many disciples, some of whom are well-known, like, Neyyattankara Vasudevan, Vegavahini
Vijayaraghavan, Nagamani Srinath, Ritha Rajan, Nirmala Sundararajan, Natarajan,
Vaidyanathan and Raghava Rao.
