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MS Gopalakrishnan | |
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| Born | Mylapore Sundaram Gopalakrishnan (1931-06-10)10 June 1931 Chennai |
| Died | 3 January 2013(2013-01-03) (aged 81) |
| Occupation | violinist |
| Spouse | Meenakshi |
| Children | Narmadha, Latha, Suresh |
M.S. Gopalakrishnan, a.k.a.MSG, (10 June 1931 – 3 January 2013) was a violinist in the field ofCarnatic music. He is commonly grouped withLalgudi Jayaraman andT.N.Krishnan as part of the violin-trinity of Carnatic Music. He was awarded theMadras Music Academy'sSangeetha Kalanidhi in 1997. He was a recipient of thePadma Bhushan,Padma Shri,Kalaimamani,Sangeetha Kalanidhi andSangeet Natak Akademi awards.
Gopalakrishnan was born inMylapore,Chennai, India, and was taught violin by his father,Parur Sundaram Iyer, who was well versed in bothCarnatic andHindustani systems ofIndian classical music. He learned both systems from his father, with whom he gave his first performance when he was 8 years old. He also drew great inspiration from the legendary violinist Sri Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu.
He played the violin for over fifty years as asoloist andaccompanist, having accompaniedOmkarnath Thakur andD. V. Paluskar, and toured Australia, the US, the UK, the Netherlands, South Africa, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.
His daughter, DrM. Narmadha, is also a violinist. His elder brotherM. S. Anantharaman (1924-2018) was a well-known violinist. The family's violin playing style, known as‘Parur bani’, is being kept alive by the third generation, the children of Anantharaman and of MSG.[1][2]
Gopalakrishnan died inChennai, India, at 2:00 am on 3 January 2013, at the age of 81. He was survived by his wife Meenakshi, his daughtersM. Narmadha and Latha, and son Suresh.[3]
Gopalakrishnan had researched playing technique, and developed particularfingering andbowingdisciplines of the"Parur style" to produce a clarity of sound and speed of delivery. His style includes one-finger playing and athematic development on single-stringoctaves.[clarification needed]
ViolinistYehudi Menuhin said of Gopalakrishnan's playing:"I have not heard such violin in all my travels! How superbly this young Indian is playing our instrument".[4]When receiving the Sangeetha Kalanidhi award from the Music Academy of Madras, Gopalakrishnan said: "My practice is the only secret of my success and then the other secret is my father. The practice that I was used to was nearly 15–16 hours a day and that was a very tough one where I used to jump suddenly from Carnatic to Hindustani styles while playing. Anything, any award I receive is just the fruit of my practice".[citation needed]
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