T. R. Mahalingam (flautist)
Encyclopedia
T. R. Mahalingam affectionately known as Mali, was a flautist
who revolutionized the style of flute-playing in Carnatic music
.
, Tanjavur district in Tamil Nadu to Ramaswami Iyer and Brahadambal. His parents named him after Mahalingaswami, the deity of the nearby Hindu temple. He had an elder sibling Devaki and started learning singing music from his maternal uncle Jalra Gopala Ayyar, who ran a famous music school. At age five, he observed other boys playing the flute and secretly, against his father's wishes, he picked up a flute and learnt to play, in three speeds, the Viriboni Varnam
in Bhairavi
raga entirely by himself. As a boy, T.R. Mahalingam had the ability to play any song he heard after listening to it only once. As such, he quickly advanced through his music training.
flautists. Before Mali, the style of flute playing was called Sarabha Sastri
style, popularized by Sarabha Sastri's disciple, Palladam Sanjeeva Rao, and did not have any gamakas and involved playing the flute in discrete bursts. T.R. Mahalingam had breath control that enabled him to blow any single note over 40 seconds. This breath control let Mali give great volume to the lower octaves as well as the higher octaves.
Mali introduced new fingering techniques, and a grip on the flute that came to be known as the "parrot clutch", allowing greater control. His style of continuous flute playing provided gamakas, and an ability to better imitate the human voice. In Carnatic music, instrumental music seeks to emulate vocal singing which is considered the ideal, and it was only with Mali's style did all the nuances of Carnatic music become possible to be expressed on the flute. His style prevailed over the Sarabha Shastri style whose last follower, Ramachandra Shastri, a disciple of Palladam Sanjeeva Rao, died in 1992. The loss of Sarabha Sastri style is only an academic loss and Mali's style of playing remains to this day unparalleled. Mali's techniques came into greater prominence under B. N. Suresh and have been carried forward by his students including N. Ramani
, B.G. Srinivasa , C.M.Madhuranath, B. Shankar Rao
and B.M Sundar Rao.
T.R. Mahalingam's technique also led to a redesign of the bamboo flute: He made his flute reeds thicker and the holes smaller- producing a warm, rich tone. Also, unlike others before him, Mali drilled eight holes in the flute. "It was the eighth and extra hole that helped provide Mali with the extraordinary control he had on the instrument." - Prof. P. Sambamurthy, musicologist.
, at the age of seven. At the concert, two stalwarts in the audience, Parur Sundaram Iyer and Musiri Subramania Iyer
, were so impressed that they left the concert to bring ponnadai (shawls) to drape around the boy's shoulders, a great honor usually reserved for Carnatic music veterans. After this successful debut, his father put him on a hectic touring and performing schedule, leading to resentment on the boy's part. It was also hard to persuade well-known musicians to accompany him. However, within a very short time, Mali was being accompanied by some of the best rhythm accompanists in the realm, including Chowdiah, Papa K.S. Venkataramaiah, Kumbhakonam Azhagianambi Pillai, and Tanjor Vaidyanatha Iyer. Later in his career, he worked with the legendary Palghat Mani Iyer
and Palani Subramania Pillai. Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar
once picked up the violin to accompany Mali. However, it was Palghat Mani Iyer who's pairing with Mali became the most well known. "Only Mali gives me work for my hands" - Mani Iyer.
"When Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
was asked to list the great geniuses of Carnatic music, he thought of only three names: T.R. Mahalingam, T.N. Rajarathnam Pillai and Palghat Mani Iyer
. That Mali came first to the mind of the aging grandsire of music spoke eloquently of his unquestioned virtuosity on the flute."- V. Sriram, Carnatic Summer.
In performance, Mali would sometimes leave off halfway through an idea, or play the same piece repeatedly, or simply breathe into the flute occasionally. On the other hand, he would sometimes play hours longer than the schedule, including playing for the Lord Muruga at Tiruttani for eight hours consecutively. Due to this same eccentric nature, he developed a reputation for playing truant at concerts, often turning up late (or not at all). Yet, it was less out of a disregard for people, and more out of a sense of anti-idolization and self effacement. In some cases, he caused the audience to wait several hours past the scheduled concert time, then would play for a few minutes, and abruptly leave. Although this sparked outrage and alienated Mali from many of his peers, the situation was quite different from what it may have seemed, according to his disciple Sundaram:
Mali also enjoyed challenging his accompanists with difficult musical progressions, and tricking them into making mistakes. The only accompanist he gave full rein to was the elder violinist Papa Venkataramaiah, whom he considered his mentor. He himself was an accomplished violinist, and claimed to be better on the violin than on the flute. He was also responsible for the initial encouragement to T N Krishnan
's career.
for music in January 1986, which he flatly refused.
in 1955, he went to seclusion in 1958, playing very infrequently. From 1980 to 1985 he lived in the United States
, with his wife. In 1985, T.R. Mahalingam decided to return to India, and after a short time in Bangalore, he died of a cerebral haemorrhage in 1986 at the age of 59, leaving behind him an indelible mark that changed the face of Carnatic music on the flute forever.
Flautist
A flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...
who revolutionized the style of flute-playing in Carnatic music
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
.
Early life
T. R. Mahalingam was born in TiruvidaimarudurTiruvidaimarudur
Tiruvidaimarudur is a town in Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu state, India.About north-east of the Temple City Kumbakonam, this is one of the Taluk H.Q. in the Tanjore District. Tiruvidaimarudur has a rich heritage of fertility and people have habit of harvesting thrice in a year...
, Tanjavur district in Tamil Nadu to Ramaswami Iyer and Brahadambal. His parents named him after Mahalingaswami, the deity of the nearby Hindu temple. He had an elder sibling Devaki and started learning singing music from his maternal uncle Jalra Gopala Ayyar, who ran a famous music school. At age five, he observed other boys playing the flute and secretly, against his father's wishes, he picked up a flute and learnt to play, in three speeds, the Viriboni Varnam
Varnam
Varnam is a form of song in the Carnatic music repertoire. A varnam is a relatively long piece and can range from 30 minutes to up to an hour. It is usually set to Aadi or Ata tala. It is the center piece in a recital of a Bharathanatyam dance. It is a tradition to start a recital in Carnatic...
in Bhairavi
Bhairavi
Bhairavi is a fierce and terrifying aspect of the Devi virtually indistinguishable from Kali, except for her particular identification as the consort of the Bhairava.-Symbolism:...
raga entirely by himself. As a boy, T.R. Mahalingam had the ability to play any song he heard after listening to it only once. As such, he quickly advanced through his music training.
Technique
Mali was the founder of the popular style of flute playing followed today by the CarnaticCarnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
flautists. Before Mali, the style of flute playing was called Sarabha Sastri
Sarabha Sastri
Sri Sarabha Sastri was an Indian flute player, known as the first great Brahmin flutist.Sri Sarabha Sastrigal was born in 1872 to Viswanatha Sastri and Smt. Dharmambal...
style, popularized by Sarabha Sastri's disciple, Palladam Sanjeeva Rao, and did not have any gamakas and involved playing the flute in discrete bursts. T.R. Mahalingam had breath control that enabled him to blow any single note over 40 seconds. This breath control let Mali give great volume to the lower octaves as well as the higher octaves.
Mali introduced new fingering techniques, and a grip on the flute that came to be known as the "parrot clutch", allowing greater control. His style of continuous flute playing provided gamakas, and an ability to better imitate the human voice. In Carnatic music, instrumental music seeks to emulate vocal singing which is considered the ideal, and it was only with Mali's style did all the nuances of Carnatic music become possible to be expressed on the flute. His style prevailed over the Sarabha Shastri style whose last follower, Ramachandra Shastri, a disciple of Palladam Sanjeeva Rao, died in 1992. The loss of Sarabha Sastri style is only an academic loss and Mali's style of playing remains to this day unparalleled. Mali's techniques came into greater prominence under B. N. Suresh and have been carried forward by his students including N. Ramani
N. Ramani
N. Ramani is a renowned Indian Carnatic flautist.-Early life and background:N. Ramani was born in Tiruvarur in Tamil Nadu. Aside from the influence of his place of birth, Ramani was born into a musical family...
, B.G. Srinivasa , C.M.Madhuranath, B. Shankar Rao
B. Shankar Rao
B. Shankar Rao is an acclaimed veteran flautist in the classical carnatic music.-Biography:After obtaining his initial music training from his sister Smt. Balaamba he got the opportunity to learn flute from the great flute mastero T. R. Mahalingam...
and B.M Sundar Rao.
T.R. Mahalingam's technique also led to a redesign of the bamboo flute: He made his flute reeds thicker and the holes smaller- producing a warm, rich tone. Also, unlike others before him, Mali drilled eight holes in the flute. "It was the eighth and extra hole that helped provide Mali with the extraordinary control he had on the instrument." - Prof. P. Sambamurthy, musicologist.
Music and Career
His first concert was in 1933 at the Thyagaraja festival in MylaporeMylapore
Mylapore is a cultural hub and neighborhood in the southern part of the city of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, India. Earlier, Mylapore used to be called Vedapuri....
, at the age of seven. At the concert, two stalwarts in the audience, Parur Sundaram Iyer and Musiri Subramania Iyer
Musiri Subramania Iyer
Musiri Subramania Iyer was a Carnatic vocalist who's stage performing career spanned the 1920s to the 1940s. After retirement from the stage, he remained an iconic figure in Carnatic music as a dedicated teacher and leader in the Carnatic community...
, were so impressed that they left the concert to bring ponnadai (shawls) to drape around the boy's shoulders, a great honor usually reserved for Carnatic music veterans. After this successful debut, his father put him on a hectic touring and performing schedule, leading to resentment on the boy's part. It was also hard to persuade well-known musicians to accompany him. However, within a very short time, Mali was being accompanied by some of the best rhythm accompanists in the realm, including Chowdiah, Papa K.S. Venkataramaiah, Kumbhakonam Azhagianambi Pillai, and Tanjor Vaidyanatha Iyer. Later in his career, he worked with the legendary Palghat Mani Iyer
Palghat Mani Iyer
Palghat T.S. Mani Iyer was one of the leading mridangists in the field of Carnatic music and the first mridangist to win the Sangeetha Kalanidhi andPadmabhushan awards....
and Palani Subramania Pillai. Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar
Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar
Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar was a Carnatic music singer from Palakkad . Known by his village name Chembai, or simply as Bhagavatar, he was born to Anantha Bhagavatar and Parvati Ammal in 1896, at Kottayi near Palakkad on Janmashtami day, with Bharani star in the month of Chingam...
once picked up the violin to accompany Mali. However, it was Palghat Mani Iyer who's pairing with Mali became the most well known. "Only Mali gives me work for my hands" - Mani Iyer.
"When Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer is considered to be one of the greatest Carnatic vocalists of the twentieth century...
was asked to list the great geniuses of Carnatic music, he thought of only three names: T.R. Mahalingam, T.N. Rajarathnam Pillai and Palghat Mani Iyer
Palghat Mani Iyer
Palghat T.S. Mani Iyer was one of the leading mridangists in the field of Carnatic music and the first mridangist to win the Sangeetha Kalanidhi andPadmabhushan awards....
. That Mali came first to the mind of the aging grandsire of music spoke eloquently of his unquestioned virtuosity on the flute."- V. Sriram, Carnatic Summer.
In performance, Mali would sometimes leave off halfway through an idea, or play the same piece repeatedly, or simply breathe into the flute occasionally. On the other hand, he would sometimes play hours longer than the schedule, including playing for the Lord Muruga at Tiruttani for eight hours consecutively. Due to this same eccentric nature, he developed a reputation for playing truant at concerts, often turning up late (or not at all). Yet, it was less out of a disregard for people, and more out of a sense of anti-idolization and self effacement. In some cases, he caused the audience to wait several hours past the scheduled concert time, then would play for a few minutes, and abruptly leave. Although this sparked outrage and alienated Mali from many of his peers, the situation was quite different from what it may have seemed, according to his disciple Sundaram:
Mali also enjoyed challenging his accompanists with difficult musical progressions, and tricking them into making mistakes. The only accompanist he gave full rein to was the elder violinist Papa Venkataramaiah, whom he considered his mentor. He himself was an accomplished violinist, and claimed to be better on the violin than on the flute. He was also responsible for the initial encouragement to T N Krishnan
T N Krishnan
-Personal life and background:Krishnan was born in Tripunithura, Kerala to A. Narayana Iyer and Ammini Ammal. He learnt music from his father and was later mentored by Alleppy K.Parthasarathy a great patron of Music and sishya of Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar and later joined Semmangudi Srinivasa...
's career.
Awards
Mali mentioned many times that he did not care for any praise or awards for his music, ideals that he upheld to the very end. Shortly before his death, he was awarded India's highly prestigious Padma BhushanPadma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...
for music in January 1986, which he flatly refused.
Death and legacy
After moving to BangaloreBangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
in 1955, he went to seclusion in 1958, playing very infrequently. From 1980 to 1985 he lived in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with his wife. In 1985, T.R. Mahalingam decided to return to India, and after a short time in Bangalore, he died of a cerebral haemorrhage in 1986 at the age of 59, leaving behind him an indelible mark that changed the face of Carnatic music on the flute forever.
Discography
- Carnatic Flute
- Krishna Gana Sabha 1953
- T.R. Mahalingam
- T.R. Mahalingam 2
- All India Radio Recordings
- Divine Sounds of the Bamboo Flute Vol 1 & 2
- One and only Mali
- Sitapati
- Akashvani Sangeet: Recorded in 1962
- Immortal Music of T.R. Mahalingam. Vol. 1 &2