One half of a great musical chapter came to its end on Wednesday, when veteran composer T K Ramamurthy, who, along with his partner M S Viswanathan, churned out thousands of evergreen hits that still hold people in sway, breathed his last at a city hospital in the early hours of the day.
Doctors said he died of a cardiac arrest. He was 91.
Born in 1922 in Tiruchy, Ramamurthy hailed from a family of renowned violinists, which included his father Krishnasamy and grandfather Govindasamy. His prowess with the bow was spotted early and he was soon inducted into the troupe of the well-known music director C R Subburaman.
It was here that Ramamurthy met Viswanathan. As the story goes, MSV, who was handling the harmonium, mooted the idea of composing together when they were on their way back home after watching a movie at the Midland theatre.
They got an opportunity when Subburaman died unexpectedly in 1952, completing only half the score for the movies Devadass and Marumagal. The duo then completed the rest of the music, earning the confidence of the producers.
But the association truly began with the actor N S Krishnan-starrer ‘Panam’.
As MSV said in a recent interview, the duo was first christened Ramamurthy-Viswanathan. But N S Krishnan wanted the name reversed as it sounded more melodious.