G. N. Balasubramaniam
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G N Balasubramanian (1910-1965), popularly know as GNB, was a vocalist in the Carnatic tradition. He was a musician par excellence.The name somehow still retains freshness even now, many decades after his passing away and the aura still lives on. A reflection of his style perhaps. This possibly explains why, as we are aware, youngsters born after he passed on having drawn inspiration from his recordings to take to music as a way of life and a means of livelihood. They couldn't have been swayed by his striking personality. His music was rich with culture and his paani of singing was unique and extraordinary surpassing his contemporaries.
His father Shri G V Narayanaswamy Iyer was also a musician. He worked as principal of Swati Tirunal College of Music, Thiruvananthapuram and was a great teacher with many of his disciples attaining fame and fortune. He was affluent and had heart to help the needy artistes.
He was more famous for his amazingly fast brikhas and gamakams rendered with a unique charisma and unparalleled strength and quality. As a result, his music appealed to everyone right from the layman who wanted soulful music to the most scientifically critics and doyens of carnatic music.
His style of Raga elaboration, rendering of standard kritis in the classic traditions and apt swaraprastharas delivered with authority endeared him to the average music hall audience as well as to the knowledgeable musically trained critical audience of his time.
He acted in films like "Bhama Vijayam" and "Sakunthala", the latter as Dushyantha with the popular vocalist M.S. Subbulakshmi. Besides being a great vocalist, he has also composed many kritis and invented new ragas. He had taught and groomed a number of his disciples during his active years. Many had reached the top grade even during his time, chiefly among them are M. L. Vasanthakumari, Radha Jayalakshmi, S.Kalyanaraman and Trichur V. Ramachandran.
Unfortunately, his life was cut short and he passed away at the peak of his career at a young age of 55. It is a shame that world was not fortunate enough to hear more of the amazing music of such a maestro. Please visit [link] for some samples of his concerts.
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