Module 7: Composers and figures · Lesson 3

Later composers, scholars and performers

◐ Confidence: medium Last verified: 12 Oct 2026

After the Trinity

The tradition kept producing composers who wrote in a variety of languages. Here are some who are often mentioned, with dates as given in the sources checked.

Composers

• Swati Tirunal (born 1813; died 1846 according to Wikipedia, 1847 according to the NIOS textbook): the Maharaja of Travancore, who composed in several languages (over 400 compositions are credited) and signed with the name Padmanabha. He supported many musicians at his court.
• Arunachala Kavi (1711 to 1779): a Tamil poet from Tillaiyadi who is remembered for the Rama Natakam, a musical retelling of the Ramayana in Tamil. He is counted with two others in what is sometimes called the Tamil trinity.
• Gopalakrishna Bharati (1811 to 1881): a Tamil composer from near Nagapattinam, best known for the Nandanar Charitram, a musical story about a devotee who rises above caste barriers to reach the god.
• Papanasam Sivan (1890 to 1973): a Tamil composer sometimes called the “Tamil Tyagaraja”. He wrote many Tamil kritis that became part of concert programmes and also composed for films. He received the Sangita Kalanidhi title in 1971.
• The Tanjore Quartet (early 19th century): four brothers, Chinnayya, Ponnayya, Sivanandam and Vadivelu, who composed varnams and kritis and shaped the Bharatanatyam repertoire.

Musicologists

Some of the greatest contributors wrote about music, rather than composing songs:

• Sarngadeva (13th century): the Sangita Ratnakara;
• Ramamatya (1550): the Svaramelakalanidhi, an early system of 20 parent scales;
• Venkatamakhin (17th century): the Chaturdandi Prakashika, the root of the 72-melakarta scheme;
• Govindacharya (late 18th century in the sources used earlier; the NIOS textbook gives 1857 for his revision of the scheme): the Sangraha Chudamani.

Performers

Concert performers are the third group of important figures. The following are mentioned in the sources checked:

• Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar (1890 to 1967), often credited with shaping the modern concert format;
• M. S. Subbulakshmi, the first woman to receive the Sangita Kalanidhi title, in 1968;
• D. K. Pattammal and M. L. Vasanthakumari, who with M. S. Subbulakshmi are sometimes called the “female trinity” of Carnatic music.

Where to go next

You now have the people; the last module of this part covers the instruments they played and composed for.