M.S.Gopalakrishnan Passes Away at 82

M.S.Gopalakrishnan, one of the most accomplished violinists of our times, breathed his last at Chennai on 3rd January 2012. He was born in Chennai on 10th June 1931.

M.S.Gopalakrishnan

M.S.Gopalakrishnan, often called “MSG”, was well-versed both in Carnatic Music and Hindustani Music and learnt both from his father Parur Sundaram Iyer. MSG’s brother M.S.Anantharaman was also a celebrated violin artist. He started performing in concerts when he was merely eight – an age which seems to be the milestone in the lives of several other legendary musicians. His illustrious career continued for over five decades.

M.S.Gopalakrishnan was both an outstanding soloist and a highly respected accompanist. M.S.Gopalakrishnan accompanied, on violin, several legends like Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, Alathur Brothers (Srinivasa Iyer and Sivasubramania Iyer – who were not brothers actually), G.N.Balasubramaniam, Madurai Mani Iyer,  M.L.Vasanthakumari, M.S.Subbulakshmi, Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, and Maharajapuram Santhanam – all of whom are institutions by themselves and have been responsible for the continued resplendance of Carnatic Music. He accompanied the noted Hindustani musicians Omkarnath Thakur and D.V.Paluskar also.

M.S.Gopalakrishnan is the recipient of several awards and honours.

He was awarded “Padmashri” in 1975 and Padma Bhushan in 2012 by the Government of India.

He was awarded the Kalaimamani award in 1978 by the Government of Tamilnadu. He is also the recipient of the prestigious “Sangeetha Kalanidih” award from Madras Music Academy.

In 1960, he was honoured with the title “Violin Vidya Samrat” by Bombay Sivananda Ashram, and he was honoured in 1997 with “Saptagiri Sangeetha Vidwanmani” by Tirumala Tirupathi Devastahanam (TTD). He is a recipeinet of Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy award (1979) and Central Sangeetha Nataka Academy Award (1982) also.

M.S.Gopalakrishnan is survived by his wife Meenakshi, son Suresh (also a violinist) and daughters Dr. M. Narmadha (a noted violinist herself ) and Latha.

Among our contemporaries, M.S.Gopalakrishnan, T.N.Krishnan, and Lalgudi G Jayaraman stand out for their scintillating performances and inimitable scholarship and style. Violin is what it is today in Carnatic Music because of the singular contributions of these three exemplary maestros.

MSG will be missed very badly in the world of music.

May his soul rest in Peace.

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