Well-known Bengaluru-based violinist R K Shriramkumar is one of the few musicians who participate in both the musical as well as Vedic aradhana of the poet-saint Sri Thygaraja Swamy, every year in Tiruvayaru. Currently, he accompanies renowned vocalist TM Krishna at most of his concerts. Shriramkumar, 48, recently performed at the Thygaraja Aradhana. He is the only musician who has been taking part in the Vedic ceremonies apart from the five-day musical programme, for several years, without a break.
Shriram who is also a fine vocalist belongs to the Rudrapatnam family of musicians, who hail from Rudrapatna, a little village on the banks of the river Kaveri in Karnataka. His grandfather R K Venkatarama Shastry, a veteran violinist, was one of the most respected performers in the music fraternity. “Coming from a musical family has helped me a lot. It has always provided me an ideal ambience for music. I have been fortunate to have good direction and firm grounding from my extended family,” he adds.
Shriramkumar has done many solo recordings and provided violin accompaniment to reputed artistes. He has had the rare opportunity of participating in a unique recording ‘Divine Unison’ featuring legends Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and M S Subbulakshmi. “There is an interesting story behind it. MS and Srinivasa Iyer sang impromptu after a dinner at a house concert back in 1967 . There was not even a tanpura for accompaniment. Years later, in 1998 it was made into a CD with some instruments added. I played the violin. Amazingly, both vocalists had sung in perfect tune and shruti,” he reminisces.
He has set to music many a composition and has also composed the music for dance productions. Some of the notable productions include ‘Sri Sharada Stuti Manjari’—a recording rendered by Bombay Jayashri that contains the compositions of the Jagadgurus of Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetham, ‘Sita Vishlesha Trayam’—a dance production by Dr Vyjayantimala Bali and ‘Sayujya’—a collaborative production by Priyadarsini Govind and legend T M Krishna.
Ram gets nostalgic when he talks about his grandfather Venkatarama Shastri. “He was the architect of the musical careers of each one of us in our extended family. He shaped his brothers R K Narayanaswamy, R K Ramanatanathan and R K Srikantan, his nephews Rudrapatnam Brothers (R N Tyagarajan, R N Taranathan and R S Ramakant), his nieces Ratnamala Prakash and R N Srilata to be musicians of excellence.”
According to Ram, his grandfather was an open-minded musician. “He was always seeking more knowledge, and was highly benevolent in sharing that knowledge. He was a person with great acumen for math, language and poetry, apart from music. I gained the lofty values of music from him. During my childhood days, all the musicians in the family would gather at our home. Their post-concert discussions were lessons for us.” The musician had great devotion for the saint and passed it on to the younger generations in the family in equal measure. He performed the Aradhana for the Thyaga Brahma Mahotsava sabha at Tiruvayaru for more than 50 years.
The Vedic aradhana conducted by the Tillaisthanam Shishya Parampara was organised by Shri Chellam Iyer, an associate of Ram’s grandfather. Shriram teaches singing as well as violin to a dedicated band of students in Chennai. “I was taught to sing as I learnt to play the violin. My grandfather insisted that one must know to sing to bring out the bhava of the sangita on the violin. My guru V V Subrahmanyam shares the same thought. Learning to sing the composition before I played it on the violin was a must. I am equally passionate about vocal music.” However, violin has taken a more prominent place in his life. “I do sing at concerts on rare occasions. But that is more out of the love to sing rather than any mainstream venture, “ he adds.
Bow and Strings
● Shriramkumar has had the rare opportunity of participating in a unique recording ‘Divine Unison’ featuring legends, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and M S Subbulakshmi
● He is also a fine vocalist
● Shriram belongs to the Rudrapatnam family of musicians, who hail from Rudrapatna, a little village on the banks of the river Kaveri in Karnataka
● He has set to music many a composition and has also composed the music for dance productions