M. L. Vasanthakumari

Madras Lalitangi Vasanthakumari (popularly referred to as MLV) (3 July 1928 – 31 October 1990) was a Carnatic musician and playback singer for film songs in many Indian languages. MLV and her contemporaries D. K. Pattammal and M. S. Subbulakshmi are popularly referred to as the female trinity of Carnatic Music. A prime disciple of G. N. Balasubramaniam, she was the youngest among the established musicians of that era, and was the youngest female awardee of the "Sangita Kalanidhi" award.
As well as being a much sought-after playback singer for films, MLV popularised unfamiliar ragas and her Ragam Thanam Pallavis were considered cerebral. Additionally, she popularised the compositions of the Haridasas. Her most famous disciples include Srividya (her daughter), Sudha Raghunathan, Charumathi Ramachandran, A. Kanyakumari, Yogam Santhanam, V. Kaveri, Rose Muralikrishnan, Meena Subramanian and Yamuna Arumugam.
Early life.
MLV was born to a musical family. Her father, Kuthanur Ayya Swamy Iyer, was a noted musician while her mother, Lalithangi, was also a great musician. When Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das (1870–1925) died in 1925, Lalithangi came out with a beautiful song by way of tribute to his national spirit and patriotism. A rare gramophone record (made in England) of her glorious voice rendering this song is said to be in V. Sundaram's private possession.
MLV's school education was in Madras, in a convent, where all was set to pursue a medical career until the great Carnatic musician G. N. Balasubramaniam came into her life. He became her guru. In her own words: "My parents had rendered yeomen service to Carnatic music. They were mainly instrumental in popularising the compositions of Purandara Dasa in South India. They were not keen that I should enter the music field and gave me general education. But in the musical atmosphere of my house, I had ample opportunity of practising vocal music. Once G. N. Balasubramaniam heard me sing and he prevailed upon my parents to place me under his tutelage. It was he who was responsible for the status I occupy in the music world today".
Learning Carnatic music.
MLV was very privileged to learn Carnatic music from G. N. Balasubramaniam (GNB). She was also GNB's first disciple. Indira Menon said that "GNB was a self-taught artiste, his racy style sparkling with brigas and nuances never heard before, revealed a new range of colours on the musician's palette. The brisk tempo unleashed by his powerful and pliable voice found many admirers and imitators among the younger generations, though it raised many an eyebrow among the senior vidwans. Was his music according to Sampradaya (tradition) or not, was the question that was frequently asked?' To answer, GNB was a genius, so much so that what might have seemed like a deviation from tradition was acceptable from him though it might not have been so from a lesser artiste. His personality, bold innovations and technical virtuosity became an inspiration for an entire generation of musicians. After GNB, speed and briga-laden music became the vogue to the extent that to be true to one's self and to sing according to one's vocal capacity required a great deal of courage."
Performing and recording career.
In 1940, M L Vasanthakumaari (MLV)'s mother, Lalithaangi, gave a recital in Shimla and it was then that, by accompanying her mother, M L Vasanthakumaari (MLV), then only 12 years old, made her debut. Two years later, MLV gave a solo recital in Bengallooru. She also cut her first 78 rpm disc, which many music lovers of that period recall vividly because it created a sensation. From then on, her career took on a geometric progression, as a stage artiste, and by 1950 she had established herself as a front-ranker. A learned music critic has said that MLV brought the struggle of women in the world of music to a successful culmination. Her music had more male characteristics than that of any other female musician.
Her own musical style and genius.
MLV imbibed much of GNB's style, but did not make a fetish of speed and struck out on her own, evolving an inimitable style of her own. Endowed with a fluid voice and rich imagination, the initials MLV could be an acronym for Melody, Laya and Vidwat, the watchwords of her rare musical artistry that were an aural feast to both the lay person and to the cognoscenti. Her leisurely, exploratory and adventurous manner of handling the ragas deserves special mention.
While MLV was known more for her cerebral style, rather than her emotional one, this was compensated for by her rich and original manodharma. Similar to GNB, she was a genius in her tricky, instantaneous brilliant manodharma. Indira Menon comments "MLV did adopt her Guru's idea of a quick impressionistic sketch of the raga covering the two octaves at the start, but settled down to a reposeful elaboration, unfolding it gradually with her virtuosity in the form of BRIGA - CASCADES appearing only where necessary. She was careful not to carry to an excess what her versatile voice was capable of".
MLV's mastery over vocal techniques was comprehensive and complete. She could effortlessly render several difficult ragas, with her alapana and kalpana swaras, suitably embellished with shruthi-bheda. Her listeners had the same ecstatic experience when she sang and more particularly when in a lightning manner she shifted gracefully from the melodic world of one raga in one pitch to another raga in another pitch. In this context, one has to refer to raga combinations like Shanmukhapriya-Sankarabharanam, Bhairavi-Kamas, Abhogi-Valaji to illustrate this point.
In GNB's own words,"Vasanthi typifies real discipleship – she absorbs all, but presents her own glorious creations."
Purandaradasa Tradition.
Lalithangi, MLV's mother, had a vast repertoire of Purandaradasa kritis. She passed on this tradition to her daughter, MLV. As a result, like T. Brinda who brought Kshetrayya Padams to the public platform and M. S. Subbalakshmi who brought Annamacharya kritis to the public arena, MLV popularized the Devaranamas of Purandaradasa.
Sindhubhairavi.
She popularized the composition 'Kalyana Gopalam', composed by Narayana Teertha, in raga Sindhubhairavi. She also popularized the composition, 'Venkatachala Nilayam' by Purandaradasa in the same raga. Hindustani maestro Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was generous in his praise for her music. Sudha Ragunathan mentions, "MLV Amma has told me that it was Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saab who taught her the nuances of Sindhu Bhairavi in the Hindustani style."
Ragam Thanam Pallavi.
MLV's forte was Ragam Tanam Pallavi, where she not only maintained the great tradition brought to the stage by D. K. Pattammal, but enriched it in her own unique way. A. Kanyakumari who had accompanied MLV on violin for almost two decades says, "MLV akka had a sharp mind and good memory and I have never seen her practice a song or a ragam or for that matter a ragam-tanam-pallavi also before a concert." Sudha Ragunathan, a prime disciple of MLV, remarked that "In all my twelve years of learning under her, I had never seen Amma practicing at home. But, to my great surprise, she would compose a Pallavi in the car on the way to the concert!"
Playback Singing.
By 1946, MLV was also a playback singer. Her first big hit was in the 1951 film "Manamagal", where she sang the song "Ellam Inbamayam" in Ragamalika, and Subramania Bharathiyar's evergreen composition, "Chinnanchiru Kiliyae". In the 1960 film "Raja Desingu", MLV also sang another Ragamalika, "Parkadal Alaimele", which was well received, and later became popular in Bharatha Natyam recitals. In later years, MLV would also sing these songs towards the end of her Carnatic music concerts, and today, many musicians often include them in their repertoire.
MLV also sang "Ayya Saami" in the 1951 film, "Or Iravu". This song was based on the song "Gore Gore" from the film "Samaadhi", which was in turn based on the Latin American song "Chico Chico from Puerto Rico", from the film "Cuban Pete". In the 1952 film "Thayullam", MLV sang "Konjum Purave" which was based on the famous Hindi song, "Thandi Havayen".
Other songs MLV sang include "Adisayam Vanathu Arivumayam", "Senthamarai Kannanae", "Vanna Tamizh" and "Adum Arul Jothi" in the films "Vikramadithian", "Vairamalai" and "Sornakili". Incidentally, each of these songs contained the raga Kalyani and were also well received.
MLV sang melodiously the Dashaavataara song for "Bhookailas" like "Munneeta Pavalinchu Naagashayana", while Kamala Kumari danced in a classical way. She sang for films till 1970.
Personality.
As one of the top ranking stage artistes, MLV was noted for her charm, grace, warmth, self-restraint and humility. Her self-restraint as an artiste can be understood from her own words: "Brigas in fast tempo should adhere to the shruthi and above all, true music must touch the listener's heart." MLV however maintained a philosophy: "A concert is a daily test of the caliber of a musician. A slight lapse may let the musician down and a constant vigil is essential."
Accompanists.
Mridangam maestro Palghat Mani Iyer, in a rare gesture, accompanied her in concerts. MLV helped others including Mannargudi Easwaran, Srimushnam V. Raja Rao, Seerkazhi J. Skandaprasad, Thiruvarur Bakthavathsalam, R. Ramesh, Karaikudi Krishnamurthy, G. Harishankar (kanjira) and more, establishing them by encouraging them and giving them opportunities to accompany her in concerts.
Family.
MLV married the Late Kalaimamani Vikatam R.Krishnamurthy in the year 1951. They had a son, late K. Shankarraman and late Srividya.
Disciples.
MLV taught her daughter K.Srividya, who at the age of ten was ready to perform and sang very much like MLV. Srividya however, wanted to pursue a career in the film industry, and went on to become a notable actress in Indian films.
MLV trained several other students, and many of them are the top-ranking musicians today. Some of the notable musicians who have studied under MLV include Sudha Ragunathan, A. Kanyakumari, Trichur V. Ramachandran, Yogam Santhanam, Charumathi Ramachandran, Rose Muralikrishnan, V. Kaveri, Vanaja Narayanan, T. M. Prabhavathi, Meena Subramaniam, Jayanthi Sridharan, Jayanthi Mohan, Bama Visveswaran and Nirmala Srinivasan . She also taught music at Rishi Valley School started by Jiddu Krishnamurti and Yamuna Aarumugam who was a government scholar from Malaysia went under the gurukulavasam system to her for two entire years, she was also more like an own daughter to her.
Saraswathy Srinivasan is the first disciple of MLV till the late 1960s. After marriage also Saraswathy Srinivasan jointly with MLV gave some concerts.
Death.
She died in 1990 at the age of 62.
Playback singer.
She was a much sought after playback singer from the late 1940s till the mid 1960s.
Music composers she sang for.
She worked under C. R. Subburaman, S. M. Subbaiah Naidu, G. Ramanathan, S. Dakshinamurthi, K. V. Mahadevan, Vedha, Chittor V. Nagaiah, Pendyala Nageshwara Rao, T. Chalapathi Rao, Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy, S. Rajeswara Rao, R. Sudharsanam, R. Govardhanam, T. R. Pappa, S. V. Venkatraman, Kunnakudi Venkatrama Iyer, G. Aswathama, T. A. Kalyanam, M. S. Gnanamani, C. N. Pandurangan, C. S. Jayaraman, G. Govindarajulu Naidu, T. G. Lingappa, K. G. Moorthy, Ghantasala, Master Venu, G. Aswathama, V. Dakshinamoorthy, G. Devarajan, K. Raghavan and Shankar-Jaikishan.
Playback singers she sang with.
She sang immemorable duets mostly with Thiruchi Loganathan, Seerkazhi Govindarajan and A. M. Rajah. Others are M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, V. N. Sundaram, T. R. Mahalingam, T. A. Mothi, C. R. Subburaman, C. S. Jayaraman, Ghantasala, G. K. Venkatesh, T. M. Soundararajan, P. B. Sreenivas, K. S. George, V. Dakshinamoorthy and K. J. Yesudas.
She also sang duets with female singers with most notably with P. Leela & N. L. Ganasaraswathi. Others are A. P. Komala, T. S. Bagavathi, Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi, Jikki, T. V. Rathnam, Radha Jayalakshmi, P. A. Periyanayaki, P. Bhanumathi, K. Jamuna Rani and A. G. Rathnamala.