M.S. Anantharaman (1924-2018)

A violinist of rare skill

- Samudri

M.S. Anantharaman, a Carnatic music icon who straddled the 20th and 21st centuries as a performing violinist and guru, passed away in February, bringing to an end a rare period in contemporary history of at least three generations of the Parur Sundaram Iyer lineage performing contemporaneously on stage—solo, accompanying vocalists or sometimes together.

For, in recent years, Anantharaman, elder brother of the late M.S. Gopalakrishnan, gave solo concerts as well as performances along with his sons Sundareswaran and Krishnaswami and his grandsons, not to mention the occasional stage appearance with a granddaughter.

In his prime, he accompanied almost every stalwart among the great vocalists of his generation.

Born on 26 August 1924 in Madras, Anantharaman was a son and disciple of Parur A. Sundaram Iyer, the eminent violinist and pioneering guru responsible for the spread of the violin beyond Carnatic music into Hindustani music as well. Anantharaman received training in playing the veena as well as the violin, and in Hindustani music.

A demanding teacher with a fine reputation, he served the Tamil Nadu Government Music College in Chennai as professor of violin from 1962 to 1983. Later, he taught in Pittsburgh, U.S.A., for some time. Anantharaman was a recipient of the Kalaimamani award of the Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Manram, the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1998), the T.T.K. (1996) and Sangita Kala Acharya awards (2003) of the Music Academy. He was the Asthana Vidwan of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham.