Carnatic Summer: Lives of Twenty Two Great Exponents

by Sriram V

Carnatic musichas survives contrary to all the gloom and doom that was predicted this book looks at the lives of a select group of twenty such artists who were at the forefront for most of their lives as top ranking performers

Genres: Music, History, Biography

332 pages, Paperback

Published July 25, 2014

Reviews

[Aswath Venkataraman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt like reading the same story 22 times

[Ramesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I happen to browse this book in Smt Kiranavali Vidayasankar's home one day and few pages I read on Alatur Brothers awere enough to convince me to order it later that day. Fantastic book for music lovers. Sriram blends historical facts with his unique insight making this a very wonderful read. A must have for Carnatic lovers.

[Sathish · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting book on Carnatic masters and their lives of earlier and mid 20th century.

[Hareesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging read about some of the stalwarts of Carnatic music whose musical careers peaked roughly in the 1940 -1970 time frame. Some of the musicians are household names even today (MS, Ariyakudi, Semmangudi, etc), while the others have now perhaps been consigned to the memories and recollections of the older generations of Carnatic music aficionados, and the 78 rpm records the author is fine of mentioning (Palani Subramania Pillai, Papa Venkataramaiah, Kumbhakhonam Rajamanickam Pillai). It is in profiles of the latter category that this book holds it's own. The addition of numerous interesting incidents, anecdotes and asides by the author adds color to what is otherwise fairly conventional biographical fare in terms of structure.The selection of profiles in the book is also not comprehensive in terms of covering all the pioneers of early Carnatic music, but to be fair it does not claim to be so! Looking forward to more volumes on other notable personalities in Carnatic music from the author with emphasis on the early days.

[शिखा · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book with a cup of chai on a cloudy day will almost make you time travel a century back. Sriram's efforts in collecting and compiling the essentials of each musician's journey in life reflect in every word that he has written. Passages are brief with not a single dull moment. The very way I look at a musician has completely changed after I have read this book. It is definitely a very impressionable one for a layman as well.

I sincerely hope that the author considers writing about many more musicians from different parts of the South India who have contributed to Carnatic Music.

[Akshay R · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book to be read in leisure, perhaps sitting on a swing in the balcony, as you let the author transport your mind to the time when legends were unfolding in real time! Truly cherished every page of this book, both content and style. One fascinating aspect about this was seeing how entwined all their lives were, music being the common thread.

[Srinath · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book by V.Sriram titled "Carnatic Summer" provides rare glimpses from the lives of musicians (mainly from Tamil Nadu) who ruled the Carnatic music scene in the past century. I am no expert on Carnatic classical music, but I have always enjoyed the lively beats from the mridangam, the full throated vocals, and the mellifluous flute renditions of music in this genre.

Now, after reading about the lives of many of the great exponents of this genre (including our own violinist Mysore Chowdaiah) my interest in Carnatic has risen up a few notches.