Voice of the Veena: S Balachander, a biography
‘Voice of the Veena: S. Balachander, a biography’ traces the life of the Veena maestro and Carnatic musician Dr. S. Balachander. This book has been translated into Tamil.
Of all the stars in the Carnatic music firmament from the 1930s through the 1980s, there was one star that glimmered a bit more, that outshone the brilliance of the rest. The irrepressible genius, S Balachander, stormed into the prim Madras music scene with a panache, eccentricity, charisma and verve that no contemporary of his could match.
Born in 1927 in Madras, Balachander was a child prodigy and self-taught musician with no formal training or gurus in music. He began performing since the age of five and after experimenting with several instruments, he taught himself the art of playing the Tabla, Mridangam, Harmonium, Dilruba, Shehnai and even mastered the Sitar, playing Carnatic music on it. He soon lost interest in all the other instruments and became wedded to the Veena making it an indispensable part of his personality. In just about two years he emerged as one of the most respected vainikas (Veena player) of the times.
He began his music career at a time when stalwart vocalists ruled the roost and instrumentalists played second fiddle to them. But being an independent-minded and self-taught artiste, Balachander carved a unique niche for himself as a veena soloist, breaking free from the conventional stranglehold of past masters. He boldly changed the grammar of instrumental music, contemporized the veena and created a legacy known as the Balachander bani, or style.
Today, Balachander's memory lives on in the minds of the connoisseurs and music lovers. The book attempts to recreate the towering personality that he was, researched from his elaborate personal diaries, extensive interviews with surviving contemporaries and family members. It brings back to life this much maligned and forgotten maestro whose contributions to the world of Indian art have been immense. As the maestro would himself have smugly said: "Veena is Balachander, Balachander is Veena."
Agent: Anuj
