MusicalNirvana - Articles on Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna

Articles on Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna

Taken from Keertana, the newsletter of Carnatic Music Circle (CMC), Melbourne
Reproduced here for educational purposes only

It is said that "Music resembles poetry - contained in each, are numerous graces which no methods can teach and which a mastermind alone can reach". M.Balamuralikrishna is a Sangeetha Kalanidhi and a Padmavibhushan as well, who is at the very top, reigning as the musical monarch of the Carnatic music field. Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr M. Balamuralikrishna, is also one of the most celebrated Carnatic musicians and vaaggeyakaara-s to grace Carnatic music in recent times. He is a musical genius who has a unique appeal of his own in the international arena and both commoners as well as connoisseurs are swayed by the variety of his music and of course, his extremely melodious voice.

Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (or, Balamurali, as he is known affectionately to his numerous fans around the world) was born on July 6, 1930 at Sankaraguptam (a small hamlet in Rajolu Taluk, East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh) to Mangalampalli Pattabhiramayya and Suryakanthamma. He began his musical career at an age when most children cling to their mother's apron strings. He inherited the musical traits of his parents. His father, Pattabhiramayya was a famous flutist and a music teacher and Suryakanthama was a notable veena artiste. His mother passed away when young Balamurali was just a 15 day-old baby. From then on his maternal aunt Subbamma brought him up. When he was just two years old, Pattabhiramayya relocated to Vijayawada. At this very young age, he imbibed the nuances of good music when his father taught his other disciples. Encouraged by this Pattabhiramayya entrusted him to 'Gayaka Sarvabhauma' Parupalli Ramakrishnayya Pantulu under whose competent tutelage young Balamurali reached the pinnacle of fame in the field of music. In the order of Guru Parampara, Balamurali Krishna is fifth in the line of direct disciples of Saint Tyagaraja. Indeed, Parupalli Ramakrishnayya Pantulu's guru was Susarla Dakshinamoorthy Sastry whose guru was Akumadugula Manambuchavadi Venkata Subbayya; a direct disciple of Saint Tyagaraja. In 1938, at the age of eight, during the Sadguru Arandhana Utsava, a felicitation to Parupalli Ramakrishnayya's guru Sri Susarla Dakshinamoorthy, held at Vijayawada, Balamurali Krishna gave his first full-fledged performance. His talent came fully to the fore and since then, he has been a trailblazer in the field of Indian music. Due to his continuous concerts, Pattabhiramayya was persuaded by his friends to let his young son dedicate himself completely to music and he stopped attending school when he was in the 6th grade. From then our young performer took the entire music world by storm with his mellifluous voice and did not whither away like many other child prodigies.

Not merely content with his name and fame as a concert vocalist, very soon he proved his immense versatility by playing the kanjira, mrdangam, viola and violin and the public flocked to hear his concerts. When he was barely 14 years old, he composed Raganga-Ravali, a detailed work on the 72-Melakarta (basic scales of music) scheme. These compositions were widely accepted and embraced by music circles and critics everywhere. Since then, Balamurali Krishna has enriched Carnatic music with his compositions (over 400) and also through the creation of several new musical scales (details provided separately). He has created new raga-s like mahati, sumukham, trisakthi, sarvashri, omkari, janasamodini, manorama, rohini, vallabhi, lavangi, pratimadhyamavathi, sushama, etc.

His greatest asset is his wonderfully vibrant, widely ranging, magnetic voice over which he has perfect control in all three octaves. He sings with a sense of infectious happiness with which he captivates his audience from the very first note. Balamurali Krishna mesmerises his audiences with his crystal clear enunciation of sahitya (lyric), the buoyant, cherubic and ever fresh quality of his music, his sparkling creativity and with the impressive ease with which he sings.

He has served as music Producer at Vijayawada, Hyderabad and the Madras All India Radio Stations. In this capacity, he pioneered the early hour devotional renderings in India under the title 'Bhakthi Ranjani'. He also acted as the first Principal of the Government Music College at Vijayawada. After his transfer to Madras All India Radio he settled in Madras in order to devote his attention to innovation and creative compositions. Balamurali Krishna has been invited to give concerts in almost every country in the world, including USA, Canada, UK, Italy, France, Russia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Middle East etc. He has given more than 18,000 performances throughout the world and has created a world record by releasing over 250 audio cassettes brought out by the Sangeetha Recording Company.

Balamuralikrishna has also proved his talent as a playback singer, music director and actor in several languages. He received National Awards as the best playback singer for 'Hamsageethe' (a Kannada feature film), best music director for 'Madhvacharya', and left an indelible imprint in the hearts of the people with his portrayal as a hero in the Malayalam film in 'Sandhya Kendina Sindooram'.

He has bagged many titles and awards. The 'Gana Sudhakara', 'Gayaka Sikhamani', 'Sur Singar', 'Geeta Kala Bharati', Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 'Sangeetha Kalanidhi', Padmashri and Padma Vibushan are some of them. He was conferred the title of Sangeetha Kalanidhi in the year 1978. He was chosen as the 'Wisdom Man of the Year in 1992'. He was also conferred the PhD, DSc and DLitt by the Andhra University, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Sri Venkateswara University and the University of Hyderabad respectively. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh honoured him with the 'Atma Gauravam' award in 1997. The Governor of Maharashtra honoured him for services rendered for the cause of National Integration. He is an Honarary First citizen of Vijayawada and has a road named after him in that city. He is a state musician of the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and is the Asthana Vidwan of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, Sringeri Peetam and Anjenaya Swami Temple, Nanganallur. He founded "Academy of Performing Arts and Research" in Switzerland and is also working on music therapy. He established the 'MBK Trust' with the objective of developing art and culture and for carrying out extensive research into Music Therapy. A dance and music school, 'Vipanchee' is a part of this Trust and is run by his managing trustee Kalaimamani Saraswati.

He is believed to have said, "for me, as a creative musician, composition is a daily function that I feel compelled to discharge. I compose because I am made for that and cannot do otherwise. I stumble upon something unexpected. This unexpected element strikes me. I make a note of it. At the proper time, I put it to good use."

His father actually named him Murali Krishna. However, captivated by his pleasant boy-like disposition, it was Musunuri Satyanarayana a distinguished Hari Katha performer who gave the prefix 'Bala' to the young Muralikrishna. This is a title that has stuck to him and to all of us.

When music flows from Balamuralikrishna, you can realise what the crazy gopi-s felt in their ecstasy of Divine Love. To be born with music in his heart, to hold a recital at a tender age of only eight-deepavalis, to be at once a master in many instruments, apart from his unfailing purity of voice, tala and raga; these are indeed preciously rare in one single person unless he is a genius [Swami Chinmayananda].