As a fitting tribute to the legend, Music Circle had organized concerts of "Padmasri" Smt Sudha Ragunathan and "Padmabhushan" Madurai Sri TN Seshagopalan on Feb 26th & 27th, 2010 at Khoo Auditorium, Singapore.
Some pictures from the event.
About GNB
Sangita Kalanidhi Sri GN Balasubramaniam, remembered as a musician par excellence, entered the carnatic music field at a time when the circuit was already studded with bright stars. Born in Gudalur to Sri GV Narayanaswamy and Smt Visalakshi Ammal on Jan 6th, 1910, he initially learnt music from his father, and later from gurus Madurai Sri Subramaniya Aiyyar and Sri Guruswamy Bhagavathar. He studied at Wesley school and obtained BA (hons) from Madras Christian College.
GNB, as he was famously known, gave his maiden performance at Kapalishwarar temple, Mylapore, Chennai, accompanied by his guru, Madurai Sri Subramaniyan on violin and Pudukotai K Rajamani on the mrudangam. With this memorable debut in 1928, his career leapt to dizzying heights as his fame shot up meteorically. Critics and audiences raved about his performances so much that the musicologists were astonished at his prowess in an era of legendary musicians.
GNB's success was indeed a fusion of various factors. He used the facile voice with roller coaster briga capabilities, clever judgment, technical skills, and infused right proportions of all the aspects in his music to sweep the audiences off their feet. He evolved his own „bani‟ (style) that was remarkably wholesome and provided emotional fulfillment to his rasikas. Every aspect of his concert starting from raga alapana, kriti rendering, neraval to swara singing had the popular „GNB touch‟ and transported the audience to a different listenership level. Such was the impact of his music that even after nearly five decades, these „touches‟ are used to embellish and enrich the concerts today.
The legend‟s popularity grew further from his own compositions and writing. He has composed more than 100 krithis, a few varnams and a thillana. Based in Sanskrit,Tamil and Telugu, most of his compositions are in praise of Goddess Devi. Though extremely popular, his compositions do not carry any code or mudra (signature) nor did he sing them in his concerts. GNB‟s blazing career was cut short at the age of 55.
Even in the midst of a hectic vocal career, GNB proved his versatility as a writer and an actor. As a writer, he has contributed several articles, journals and publications in the field of music. Some of his writings contain priceless wisdom and serve as useful materials for aspiring and performing musicians and musicologists. Between the years 1934-1937, GNB has also acted in different roles in movies, the most notable being the one with legend Smt.MS Subbulakshmi in the film, “Sakuntalai”.
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