Sri Anantharama Iyer

Fondly referred to as “Ambi sir” by students of the school, Shri A Anantharama Iyer was able to easily carry on his father’s legacy, because of his deep involvement in Carnatic music from a very young age. With a father who was so deeply steeped in Carnatic music, and especially in the kṛtis of Dīkṣitar, it is no wonder that the same skills were perfected in his eldest son. He was an accomplished Veena player and vocalist, although not interested in concert performances. This is probably a boon to the Carnatic music world, since he then had the time to teach students Veena, vocal as well as the violin, along with his sister, Smt. A Champakavalli.

The teaching styles of both brother and sister were known to be rigorous, not allowing students to progress further until the earlier lesson was perfected. Anantharama Iyer was especially good at finding skills that each student naturally had in music, and honing those to perfection, while also ensuring that other aspects of that student’s performance were not left untouched. For instance, a student who had a flair for Tānam would be taught the various styles of Tānam – Cakra Tānam, Maṇḍūka Tānam, etc. to embellish their playing even more – but also be taught how to better develop other aspects of their Manōdharma, so that the concert performance was never found to be lacking. A master of Veena himself, he believed that anything which could be sung could be reproduced on the Veena, as long as one had the right technique. This was a true master of the Gāyaki style of playing the Veena, where the instrument truly resembles and imitates the voice.

As an occasional performer, he had a special flair for beautifully but succinctly bringing out the differences in allied ragas, such as Darbār and Nāyaki. He was also a great believer in concert punctuality – students were strictly taught to finish a 2-hour concert in 1 hour and 55 minutes with 5 minutes for wrapping up. A keen sense of professionalism on the concert stage was also thus taught to all students. Further, while he was known for propagating the kṛtis of Dīkṣitar, he was also known to have a vast repertoire of Tyāgarāja and Śyāmā Śāstri kṛtis, which were also passed on to students.

Guruguha gana vidyalaya is still flourishing in Calcutta, and is run by the daughter of Sri Anantharama Iyer, Ms. A. Srividya.