D Subbaramaiah

Sri D. Subbaramaiah was born in 1904 in Bangalore and lived in Album.

He was a famous Carnatic vocalist, guru, and also a scholar in Sanskrit, Kannada, and English. A fine speaker, he also had a very scientific outlook.[1]

He is said to be one of the first vocalists to cut a successful record for HMV.

Sri D. Subbaramaiah founded the Karnataka College of Music in 1933 and imparted methodical training to music students. It is said to be the first ever institutions in Karnataka exclusively for teaching music and the first music college to be recognized and aided by the Government [2] .[3]

He participated prominently in several music conferences and presided over the music conference in Bidaram Krishnappa’s Prasanna Seetharama Mandiram, Mysore, in 1960. He also took part in various music related discussions and examination boards all over the country. He also sang in the courts of Mysore King Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV [4][5]

Throughout his long and illustrious career spanning over six decades, he received many awards, titles, and accolades including the Karnataka State Sangita Nataka Academy award in 1963. In recognition for his contributions to Carnatic music, he was awarded the prestigious titles of 'Ganakalasindhu', 'Sangeet Vidwan', 'Ganakalakushala', and 'Nadasudhanidhi'. Besides receiving honors and felicitations in Karnataka, he was also honoured and felicitated in neighboring states such as Andhra Pradesh.

One of his disciples, T.S. Vasanta Madhavi, founded the D. Subbaramaiah Fine Arts Trust in Bangalore to mentor and encourage aspiring Carnatic musicians and singers. The Trust has been organising the Ragasri Music Festival [6] every year and has awarded titles and honorariums to several musicologists and writers. According to her, one of the major aspects of his unusual teaching approach was his sustained methodology of making one listen to as many genres of music as possible.[7] He would often encourage his students to be inquisitive and explore more.

Another of his disciples, V. Ramarathnam [8] went on to become a prominent musicologist and has acknowledged his guru Sri D. Subbaramaiah in his autobiography, A MUSICIAN'S REMINISCENCES.

Sri D. Subbaramaiah is often remembered during various Carnatic music festivals and similar occasions.[9] He died on 16 August 1986.