Muthuswami dikshitar was a south indian poet and composer and is one of the musical trinity of carnatic music. It is only during ambi dikshitars sojourn at chennai that veterans like kallidaikurichi vedanta bhagavatar, anantakrishna iyer, sundaram iyer and kallidaikurichi mahadeva iyer came under his aegis. His father was an ardent devotee of the deity at thiruvarur, lord thyagaraja or shiva. Music compositions of muthuswami dikshitar total compositions of muthuswami dikshitar are about 450 to 500, most of which are very widely sung by musicians today in carnatic music concerts. Dikshitars navagraha nine planets kritis are among his most famous sets. The most outstanding feature of his compositions is their rich ragabhava. Muthuswami dikshitar was a vainikagayaka, a musician who sang as he played on the veena.
Dikshitars nottuswaras are carnatic music compositions adapted from english tunes by muthuswami dikshitar, a renowned saint musician and composer in the 18th century. According to the account of subbarama dikshitar, muttuswami dikshitar was born under the asterism krittikaa. Subbarama dikshitar 18391906 ad, it may be said, was the last of the brilliant musicians of the dikshitar parampara. Each of his compositions is unique and brilliantly crafted. Muthuswami dikshitar composed around 500 krithis mostly in sanskrit, spanning wide range of temples and deities that he visited. Full text of muthuswami dikshitar internet archive. What are the characteristic features of muthuswami. Listen to compositions of muthuswamy dikshitar, sung by dr. This means that the god or goddess of the kriti could be referred to in any of these eight variations. However, authentic information about dikshitar kritis can be obtained from subbarama dikshitars compilation sangeeta sampradaya pradarshini ssp. Muthuswami dikshitar muthuswami dikshitar biography. Muthuswami dikshitars birth chart will show you muthuswami dikshitars planetary positions, dasa, rasi chart, and zodiac sign etc. Home music handbook composition bank muttuswami dikshitar. Short biography of sri muthuswami dikshitar musicnamaste.
If anyone is interested to receive the same by emaill, please contact me giving the format required ms word or acrobat pdf. Carnatic music composers muthuswami dikshitar biography. Narayanaswami a total of 485 krithis are listed here sorted by krithi name. For 5 years he stayed there and learned hindustani music, especially the. L venkataratna aiyar for writing the life of dikshitar. Transliteration scheme used for devanagari roman vowels. A birth chart also known as kundli, janma kundali, or horoscope is a map of heaven at the time of birth. Sulochana pattabhiraman featured in bhava raga tala modini a book of articles compiled by dr. The devotional songs that they composed, called kriti, are a delicate blend of text, melody, and rhythm and are the.
In the course of the next two centuries we saw the emancipation of music in the form of trimurtis, saint. These compositions, apart from being rich in musical ideas, give detailed and. A great sanskrit scholar, deekshitar was born as the eldest son of ramaswami deekshitar. His compositions, of which around 500 are commonly known, are noted for their elaborate and poetic descriptions of hindu gods and temples and for capturing. The following lyrics and translations are taken from the lp recording of prof. Drawing inspiration from oothukadu venkatakavi, he also composed the navavarana kritis in praise of devi, one for each of the nine days of the navaratri festival. Most recently, it has been verified against the authoritative source compositions of muddusvami dikshitar by sangeetha kalanidhi t. Indian poets and composers biography of muthuswami dikshitar muthuswami dikshitar 1775 october 21, 1835, is the youngest of the carnatic music composer trinity. Dikshitar was probably the most complete classical composer and one of the most versatile men world has ever seen.
He created about 500 compositions in total, most of which are widely sung by renowned musicians in carnatic music performances even today. He was born in the town of tiruvarur, just like sri tyagaraja and shyama shastri. Learned in the theory and practice of music, he is a devotee and a great student of muthuswami dikshitar. Navavarna kirtanas based on the adoration of sakthis through the worship of sri. South india in the 18th century was a place where music blossomed and flourished into a mighty tree from the deep roots of past knowledge. Stotrams author muthuswami dikshitar navagraha kritis by muthuswami dikshitar select language english sanskrit telugu tamil kannada gujarati bengali oriya malayalam stotrams deity navagraha navagraha kritis by muthuswami dikshitar. Muthuswami dikshitar the youngest of the carnatic musical trinity was born in 1776, brought up with 2 brothers and a sister with great care and acquiring proficiency in both music and sanskrit. They contain a good deal of vedic astrology, as well as fine music. As muthuswami, chinnaswami and baluswami did not have sons, baluswami, on the advice of kumara ettappa maharaja, adopted his daughter annapurnis second son subbarama dikshitar.
There is one kriti for each of the classical nine planets. The nottuswara sahityas are a body of compositions based on western original melodies and. Indian heritage music dikshitar the genius, article by. Other articles where muthuswami dikshitar is discussed.
Muthuswami dikshitar had two sibling brothers baluswami and chinnaswami as well as a sister named balambal. Muthuswami dikshitar compositions a detailed study. This is the second of three short stories by seetha ravi on the musical trinity of syama sastri, tyagaraja and muthuswami dikshitar. Muthuswamy dikshitar has composed kritis in all eight vibhaktis. Muthuswamy dikshitar compositions edited with text and. Composition bank muttuswami dikshitar compositions.
Asha ramaswamis work on understanding the profundity of the compositions of muthuswami dikshitar can be summed up in a statement made by swami dayananda saraswati, those who understand advaita can see the flow of advaita within the compositions of muthuswami dikshitar. Sri dikshitar and the western music while the dikshitar family lived in manali, a zamindari near madras, the family enjoyed the patronage of the zamindar muddukrishna mudaliyar and his son venkatakrishna mudaliar sometimes referred to as chinnaswami. Besides, there are five ragamalikas, a pada varna and a daru. Naturally, the graces, the rich gamaka prayogas of his compositions structured in slow tempo shine in mellow glow when played on the veena.
The zamindars were closely connected with the east india company as its dubash interpreters. Muttuswaamee dikshitar the youngest of the carnatic musical trinity was born in 1776, brought up with 2 brothers and a sister with great care and acquiring proficiency in both music and sanskrit. Preface with the overwhelming support we received for the first edition of this book, we are happy to bring the second edition of this book. Dikshitar lived during the rule of the british east india company. Muthuswamy deekshitar is named after muthu kumara swami, the presiding. Muthuswami dikshitar national biography series venkatarama aiyar, t. Muthuswami dikshitar composed his first kriti after having a vision of lord subramanya. Tyagaraja and muthuswami dikshitar occupy a lofty position in the carnatic music firmament. Thus dikshitar has shown the way to earn the divine grace of the. Biography, compositions of muthuswamy dikshithar haris.
List of compositions by muthuswami dikshitar wikipedia. Another set of group compositions of dikshitar is the most famous. A few of them are what are known as manipravala compositions. Many compilations are available on muthuswami dikshitar kritis, each quoting a different number of kritis composed by him. Compositions by the composer on shrines of lord vishnu. For example if we take the noun ramachandra, the eight forms would be. Muthuswami dikshitar a creative genius dikshitars songs bring in a mood of meditative devotion of sublime nature which transcends words and feelings. His parents were ramaswami dikshitar and bhageeratamma. While tyagarajas compositions are described as drakshapakam grape fruit, signifying the ease with which one can learn and understand the. The meaning of the kriti is also available in tamil.
Muthuswami dikshitar was born on march 24, 1774, to a musician family in tamil nadu. His compositions, of which around 500 are commonly known, are noted for their. Most of his compositions are also based on particular deities of the many temples he visited. A number of the compositions made by muthuswami dikshitar are in the sanskrit language. Muthuswami dikshitar has composed kritis on various deities in the hindu pantheon, including brahma and narasimha. Muthuswami dikshitar march 24, 1775 october 21, 1835 was born in tiruvarur in tamil nadu to a tamil iyer brahmin couple ramaswami dikshitar and subbamma, as the eldest son. The release of muthuswami dikshitar s compositions to the masses, synchronized with ambi dikshitars migration from ettayapuram to chennai. He was well trained both in vocal and instrumental music. He started training under his father ramaswami dikshitar, who was an eminent scholar and creator of hamsadhwani. His compositions, of which around 500 are commonly known, are noted for their contemplative nature and for capturing the essence of the raga forms through the vainika veena style that emphasises gamakas. Most of his compositions are in sanskrit and in the krithi form, i.
Navagrahas through music as an alternative to the ageold mode of tantric. The western music of muthuswami dikshitar best indian. Dikshitar was born on march 24, 1775 in tiruvaruar, in the modern day tamil nadu to ramaswami dikshitar, an accomplished musician who. The compositions are known for the depth and soulfulness of the melody his visions of some of the ragas are still the final word on their structure. This kriti is available as a ms word or acrobat pdf file in devanagari, tamil, telugu, malayalam and kannada, assamese, bengali, gujarati, oriya, punjabi scripts. The nottuswara sahityas are thus a body of compositions based on western original melodies largely of irishscottish origin and sanskrit text. Those familiar with indian classical music are aware of the ragacentered nature of the art those with even a peripheral awareness of karnatik music are bound to know that much of what is heard in a kutcheri or concert is centered around the ragabased kritis compositions written by a trio of composers swami tyagaraja, muthuswami dikshitar and syama sastri. He was born in 1775 to ramaswami dikshitar and subbamma, as the eldest son, in. Srivatsa circulated at the annual series of guruguhanjali in 1998 the genius of muthuswami dikshitar. His family moved to manali, where he became a disciple of cidambaranaata yogi and went to varanaasi.