G.N. Baalasubramaniam

G.N. Baalasubramaniam - (1910-1965). There was a festival in the Kapaleeswarar temple, Mylapore, Madras. The top artiste to give the concert of the day did not turn up and the temple authorities were in a quandary. They decided upon the substitute and proceeded to meet G.V.Narayanaswamy Ayyar, Head Master, Hindu High School, Triplicane to depute his young son, Balasubramaniam to take the concert. Narayanaswamy Ayyar could not comprehend the request and was confounded. The authorities pointed out that Ariyakudi Ramanuja Ayyangar shot into fame only in similar circumstances by ascending the dais when the senior Vidwan Madurai Pushpavanam failed to turn up and had never an occasion to look back.

The parallel thrilled the ear of the father. He acceded and the son gave the concert, a memorable debut in which his guru Madurai Subramaniam and Pudukottai Vakil K.Rajamani accompanied on violin and mridangam. Fame and glory crowned G.N.Balasubramaniam quite soon enough as envisaged. Balasubramaniam was born on January 6, 1910 at Gudalur in Mayiladuthurai taluk. He studied in the Wesley College while learning music under his father, a disciple of Karur Chinnaswamy Ayyar and under Madurai Subramania Ayyar.

GNB, as he was popularly known, was a top vocalist of repute in a period which had seen fairly a large number of top-ranking musicians. His bracing, resonant and impressive voice and his brisk brikas and pleasing delivery of kritis transported the audience to a higher plane. His mellifluous voice would traverse the three octaves and the three 'kalas' with ease. His brikas were infectious and he kept his ears and mind open to receive what was best in other musicians. He had high respect for Ariyakudi Ramanuja Ayyangar, the senior artiste of eminence. He had a partiality for Todi, Kalyani and Kamboji and for Andolika, Nalinakanti, Vasantabairavi, Jothiswarupini, etc. His command of ragalakshanas was amazing revealing the quintessence of the ragas at the very outset. His singing was crisp and 'sangatis' measured.

GNB was one of the prominent composers of recent decades. Out of his 250 compositions in Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil in traditional and his own invented ragas like Chandrahasita, Sivasakti, Amrita Behag, etc., sixty had been published. A gentleman with humility, he would not sing his own compositions in concerts. His respect for values was prodigious. He would return the nominal honoraria he got from the Music Academy as donation. A further feature of his concerts was that he would review the performances of his accompanists and his own. His joy would be immense at the excellence of others. He had a soft heart for rising artistes. His anxiety to satisfy the susceptibilities of the audience was immense.

GNB treated the accompanists with respect; he would tell them as to how much money he received for a concert and shared it equally.

Even as a boy, he had taken part in musical and dramatic activities in the Hindu High School which he joined in the sixth standard. Later he took the lead role of Dushyant in the famous Tamil film 'Sakuntala'. He had played the role of 'Narada' in the films Bhama Vijayam and Sathi Anasuya. He chanced upon a rendition of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and since then both became ardent admirers of each other’s music.

Very many of the earlier performances of the few early years were at some friends’ house parties, college functions etc. A performance was arranged by one of his admirers a well-wisher in Theosophical Society, Adyar under the world famous Banyan Tree (which has been there for centuries and ever green) Srimathi Rukmani Devi Arundale was the patroness of the occasion. Her appreciation and applause were noticed by the press representatives present on the occasion and they gave a glowing report of the concert in the next day dailies and that meant G N Balasubramaniam had arrived and the road to name, fame and fortune were open to him.

He could produce super fast gamakam laden sangathis with strength and weight and with great imagination. But, in such a voice of his, running at so fast a speed the effects of Brighas, twists and turns would come in quick succession that most of the audience, the lay audiences failed to appreciate and felt restless. Those with a musical ear; knew some of the nuances but this is loss to the lay audience. A loss to the musician to see his audience not appreciate the great versatility.

So, Mani, to overcome this, in coming years had restricted the speed, ideally suited to his voice at the same time easily followed by the audience. Thus, his style of Raga elaboration, rendering of standard kritis in the classic traditions and apt swaraprasthana endeared him to the average music hall audience as well as to the knowledgeable musically trained critical audience of his time.

He had taught and groomed during his active years number of his disciples to reach the top grade and among them are Radha Jayalakshmi, M. L. Vasanthakumari, Trichur V. Ramachandran, S.Kalyanaraman.

Apart from being a great vocalist, GNB also composed sevaral krithis. Unfortunately his life was cut short and he passed away in the prime of his musicianship at the age of just 55.

GNB was a king among men; generous, royal, and a musical genius. Perhaps there is no musician who influenced the audience, the accompanists, and fellow artists more than GNB.