Shyama Shastri

Shyama Shastri (26 April 1762–1827) was a musician and composer of Carnatic music. He was the senior most among the Trinity of Carnatic music, Saint Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar being the other two.

Shyama Shastri was born on 26 April 1762 in a Brahmin family in Tiruvarur. He received his instruction in the vedas, astrology, and other traditional subjects early on and learned music from his maternal uncle. He was later trained in music by Adiappayya, a noted durbar musician of Thanjavur.

Although Śyāma Śastri did not compose as so many kritis as his two prolific contemporaries, his compositions are still well known due to the literary, melodic and rhythmic proficiency. It is said that he composed about three hundred pieces in all.

He did not have many disciples to propagate his compositions, nor was the printing widely accessible during his time. More importantly, the scholarly nature of his compositions made them more appealing to the learned than to the lay. His compositions are far fewer in number than Saint Tyagaraja or Muthuswamy Dikshitar. Additionally, they feature a more formal form of Telugu which borrows heavily from Sanskrit. In contrast, Tyagaraja composes in this form of Telugu but also resorts to a more colloquial dialect to which Shyama Shastri does not.

There are also a number of krithis in Tamil attributed to him. Most of his compositions propitiate the goddess Kamakshi.

He composed kritis, varṇa(s) and svarajati(s) with the ankita or mudra (signature) Śyāma Krishna. He was probably the first to compose in a new form of the svarajati musical genre, where the compositions could be rendered solely in a singing or instrumental manner. Prior to this, the svarajati was primarily a dance form, and was close in structure to the dance Varṇaṃ (padavarṇaṃ).

His set of three famous svarajati(s) are intended to be sung in concert rather than danced, and are sometimes referred to as "Ratnatrayam" (Three jewels). They are Kāmākṣhī Anudinamu, Kāmākṣhī Padayugamē, and Rāvē himagiri kumāri, composed in the ragas Bhairavi, Yadukula kambhoji and Todi respectively. The former two are set to Miśra Cāpu Tāḷa, while the third is set to Ādi Tāḷa.

He was known for his ability to compose in the most complex of tāḷas.He was also widely revered for his voice and singing ability during his time.

Today(06/02/2019) being Shyama Sastrigal's Samadhi day our Durga Sangeetha Sabha planned to post this article on him. We have also planned to conduct a music concert commemorating Shyama Sasthrigal's Samadhi day in the years to come. Let us all remember the Mahan on this wonderful day.