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{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist 
| name = K.V. Ramanarayanan
| image =
| alias = KVN
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1923|11|15}}
|birth_place =[[Palghat]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British India]] (Now Kerala)
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2002|4|1|1923|11|15}}
|death_place =[[Chennai]], Tamil Nadu, India
| genre = [[Carnatic classical music]]
| years_active =
| website = www.narada.org
| background=solo_singer
}}
'''Palghat Kollengode Viswanathan Narayanaswamy''' (15 November 1923 – 1 April 2002), often referred to as K. V. Narayanaswamy was an Indian musician, widely considered to be among the finest [[Carnatic music]] vocalists of the 20th century. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's [[Sangeetha Kalanidhi]] in 1986. He was described as the "Perfect Knight" of Carnatic music, a phrase from [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], by [[V. K. Narayana Menon]], art critic of India and recipient of the [[List of Sangeet Natak Akademi fellows|Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship]].<ref>Dr. Narayana Menon, ''An Essay on Shri K.V.Narayanaswamy'', 1986</ref>

==Early life and background==
Narayanaswamy was born to Kollengode Viswanathayyar and Muthulakshmi Ammal in [[Palghat]], Kerala, to a Palakkad [[Iyer]] family, a district renowned for its cultural and musical traditions, on 15 November 1923. Narayanaswamy was born into a family of illustrious musicians and artists. His great-grandfather Viswam Bhagavatar was renowned for his evocative [[Ashtapadi]]s and rendered services for [[Maharaja]] [[Ayilyam Thirunal]], ruler of the [[princely state]] of [[Travancore]] from 1860 to 1880. In return Viswam Bhagavatar was bestowed with government aid and hereditary royal privileges. Viswam Bhagavatar's son, Narayana Bhagavatar continued his father's legacy. His son was violin maestro, Viswanathayyar (soon came to be known as '[[Fiddle]]' Viswanathayyar), His father. K.V. Narayanaswamy learned basic music lessons under his father and grandfather. After studying in [[Palghat]] till the fifth form, he moved to [[Coimbatore]], where he briefly dabbled in theatre. Narayanaswamy even managed a role as the young Kanappan in the movie [[Kannappa Nayanar]]. The movie bombed at the box office.<ref>Neelam, K.V. Narayanaswamy: Foremost Disciple of Ariyakudi, pp. 25–31, 2001</ref>

Narayanaswamy began extensive training under [[Mridangam]] maestro, [[Padma Bhushan]], [[Palghat Mani Iyer]]. Mani Iyer proceeded to place Narayanaswamy under the tutelage of ''Sangeetakalacharya'' [[C.S. Krishna Iyer]], a highly competent vocalist, [[musicologist]] and composer in [[Palghat]], and then under violinist and [[Sangeetha Kalanidhi]] [[Papa Venkataramiah]]. Viswanatha Bhagavatar was however very keen that Narayanaswamy should train under [[Sangeetha Kalanidhi]]
[[Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar]] or [[Sangeetha Kalanidhi]] [[Padma Bhushan]] [[Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar]], who were two of the four most dominant musicians of the first half of the twentieth century along with the likes of [[Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer]] and [[G. N. Balasubramaniam]]. Mani Iyer soon judged Narayanaswamy to be ready for ''gurukulavasam'' under Ariyakudi and in 1942, Narayanaswamy took the giant step. He entered the home of [[Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar]] and remained an ardent disciple until the latter's death in 1967.<ref>Hemmige. V. Srivatsan, ''Palghat K.V. Narayanaswamy: Quiet flows a river of music'', ''Sruti Magazine'', Issue 27/28, December 1986</ref>

==Performing career==
Narayanaswamy's major break came at a [[Madras Music Academy]] concert in 1954, when he was unexpectedly forced to substitute for his guru, [[Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar]] who was not in a position to attend the conference under unforeseen circumstances. Accompanied by doyens [[Palghat Mani Iyer]] and [[Papa Venkataramayya]], this concert proved to be a milestone in Narayanaswamy's career. The training under [[Palghat Mani Iyer]] allowed Narayanaswamy to develop a solid knowledge of rhythmic nuances. This in turn would enable him to be at ease in the company of such legends of percussion as [[Palani Subramaniam Pillai]], [[Palghat R. Raghu]], [[Mavelikkara Velukkutty Nair]], and [[Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman]] to name a few.<ref>Neelam, K.V. Narayanaswamy: Foremost Disciple of Ariyakudi, pp. 34–41, 2001</ref> Narayanaswamy, [[Palghat R. Raghu]], and violin maestro [[T.N.Krishnan]] soon became a frequent and much admired combination on stage.

K.V.Narayanaswamy was intimately connected to the [[Travancore Royal Family]] following his skilful rendition of [[Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma]]'s [[Navaratri]] compositions. Another landmark in Narayanaswamy's life came in 1964 when he participated in the ''East-West Encounter'' concerts in New Delhi. This was followed by a widely acclaimed concert at the [[Edinburgh Festival]] in Scotland in 1965.<ref>Neelam, K.V. Narayanaswamy: Foremost Disciple of Ariyakudi, pp. 54–56, 2001</ref>

On being made professor of music at [[Wesleyan University]], [[Middletown, Connecticut]], between 1965–67, he went on a ''coast-to-coast'' concert tour of US. He was one of four artists including [[Bismillah Khan]], [[Ali Akbar Khan]], and [[Ravi Shankar]] who participated in the hugely popular [[Hollywood Bowl]] music festival in Los Angeles in the summer of 1967.In 1974, Narayanaswamy went to teach in [[Berkeley, California]] for a year, in the company of dancer [[Balasaraswati]] and sitarist [[Nikhil Banerjee]]. Invited by the ''American Society of Eastern Arts'', he travelled to North America, Europe (Berlin Music Festival in 1976) and Australia (Adelaide Arts Festival in 1988) multiple times thereafter on various concert tours. He also joined the Music College in [[Madras]] as a lecturer in 1962 when [[Musiri Subramania Iyer]] was its principal, and retired as Professor of Music in 1982.In 1984, Narayanaswamy was to become the first Indian musician to be awarded the [[Fulbright Scholarship]] and went to [[San Diego State University]] in California as an artist-in-residence under the scholarship. For nine months he taught at the university and gave performances all over North America.<ref>Hemmige. V. Srivatsan, ''Palghat K.V.Narayanaswamy: Quiet flows a river of music'', ''Sruti Magazine'', issue 27/28, December 1986</ref>

==Musical style and song repertoire==
Though Narayanaswamy's singing bore his master Ariyakudi's ''Bani'', over the years he evolved a unique style of his own. Strict classicism and blemish-less singing are some of the obvious facets of his music. His vast repertoire included songs that encompassed every genre, a number of languages and composers belonging to different ages.<ref>Hemmige. V. Srivatsan, "The Master's Concert Repertoire", ''Sruti Magazine'', pp. 25–28, issue 212, May 2002</ref> ''Endaro Mahanubhavulu'' in [[Sri Ragam]], ''Sri Subrahmanya Namaste'' in [[Kambhoji]], ''Bala gopala'' in [[Bhairavi (film)|Bhairavi]], ''Satatam Tavaka'' in [[Kharaharapriya]], ''Pahi Janani'' in [[Natakuranji]], ''Enneramum'' in [[rāga]] [[Devagandhari]], ''Pirava varam tarum'' in [[Latangi]] and ''Kanavendamo'' in [[Sriranjani]]'' ''are some of the songs that have come to bear his distinct signature. ''"The depth of emotion and the pathos he invested in singing certain compositions of [[Gopalakrishna Bharathi]], especially VarugalAmo ayya and his incomparable and unique presentation of Krishna nee beganey in the style of Jayammal and [[Balasaraswati]], in which he caressed the words and phrases exquisitely and had the audience in a trance as if he were a pied piper"''<ref>N. Pattabhi Raman, "A True Nada Brahmam", ''Sruti Magazine'', pp. 49–51, issue 212, May 2002</ref> are noteworthy. Strict adherence to ''Shruthi'' ([[pitch (music)|musical pitch]]), lyrical purity and a poignant rendition were distinctive features of Narayanaswamy's music.

==Leading disciples==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2010}}

Some of Narayanaswamy's leading disciples were Padma Narayanaswamy, renowned flautist [[Shashank Subramanyam]], vocalist Ashwath Narayanan, vocalist K.V.Ananthan, violinist and vocalist Hemmige V. Srivatsan, Padma Sandilyan, Padmasri Veeraraghavan, Hemmige S. Prashanth, Pattabhirama Pandit, Sathish Rao, M.R.Subramaniam, T. S. Ranganathan, Manipallavam K.Sarangan, Balaji Prasad Krishnamurthy, Ravi Srinivasan, B. Raman and Ramanujan.<ref>G.S. Satya, "KVN & Carnatic Music in the US", ''Sruti Magazine'', p. 33, issue 212, May 2002</ref> Also French Algerian Toufiq Touzene AKA Tulsi Ram.

==Personal life==

In 1948 Narayanaswamy married [[Palghat Mani Iyer]]'s cousin Annapoorni. They had three daughters and a son: Muktha, Lalitha, Viswanathan and Ramaa. She died in 1962.<ref>Hemmige. V. Srivatsan, ''Palghat K.V. Narayanaswamy: Quiet flows a river of music'', ''Sruti Magazine'', issue 27/28, December 1986</ref> In 1965 Narayanaswamy married Padma, a talented musician and disciple who continues to train her husband's students in his style. Their daughter Anuradha is a trained vocalist<ref>Neelam, K.V. Narayanaswamy: Foremost Disciple of Ariyakudi, pp. 32–33, 2001</ref> and television actor.

==Recognition==
* [[President of India]]'s [[Padma Shri]], 1976
* Central [[Sangeet Natak Academi]] Award, 1976
* [[Fulbright Scholar]] and visiting professor at [[University of California, San Diego]], 1984–85
* [[Madras Music Academy]]'s [[Sangita Kalanidhi]] Award, 1986.<ref>Neelam, K.V. Narayanaswamy: Foremost Disciple of Ariyakudi, pp. 63–65, 2001</ref>
* The Fine Arts Society's [[Sangeetha Kalasikhamani]] award (1989)

==See also==
* [[Carnatic music]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.narada.org/ K. V. Narayanaswamy Home Page]

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Art}}
{{Padma Award winners of Kerala}}
{{Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Winners of Kerala}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Narayanaswamy, Palghat Kollengode Viswanatha}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:Male Carnatic singers]]
[[Category:Indian Tamil people]]
[[Category:Tamil musicians]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts]]
[[Category:Sangeetha Kalanidhi recipients]]
[[Category:Wesleyan University faculty]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian singers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Palakkad]]
[[Category:Singers from Kerala]]
[[Category:Indian male classical singers]]
[[Category:20th-century male singers]]

K. V. Narayanaswamy - Revision history

imported>JJMC89 bot III at 14:16, 24 July 2021