Syama Sastri

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Syama Sastri was born to Visvanathayya and Vengalakshmi on April 2, 1762. He was a Telugu speaking Brahmin known as Auttara Vadama. Visvanathayya and his forefathers were archakas in the temple of Goddess Bangaru Kamakshi, Thanjavur. Syama Sastri's actual name was Venkata Subrahmanya.

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He did not have many disciples to propagate his compositions, nor was the printing press an easy convenience during his time. More importantly, the scholarly nature of his compositions was not appealing to the layperson, they needed to be studied to be savoured.

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Although he did not compose as many kritis as his two prolific contemporaries, Syama Sastri’s compositions are equally well known. It is said that he composed about three hundred pieces in all. He composed in Telugu, Sanskrit and Tamil and mostly on goddesses.  He was probably the first to compose in a new form of the svarajati (precursor to varnams) musical genre.

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Tyagaraja

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Saint Tyagaraja was born in 1767 in Thiruvaiyaru, Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu to Kakarla Ramabrahma and Sitamma in a Telugu Brahmin family. Tyagaraja began his musical training under Sonti Venkata Ramanayya, a music scholar, at an early age. He regarded music as a way to experience God's love. His objective while practicing music was purely devotional, as opposed to focusing on the technicalities of classical music. He also showed a flair for composing music and, in his teens, composed his first song, "Namo Namo Raghavayya", in the Desika Todi ragam and inscribed it on the walls of the house.

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The 20th-century Indian music critic K.V. Ramachandran wrote: "Tyagaraja is an indefatigable interpreter of the past... but if with one eye he looks backward, with the other he looks forward as well". It is this facet of Tyagaraja that distinguishes him from his illustrious contemporaries. In other words, while Tyagaraja's contemporaries were primarily concerned with bringing to audiences the music of the past, Tyagaraja pioneered new musical concepts.

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It is estimated that he composed over 24,000 songs although this is disputed due to the lack of concrete evidence of these numbers.

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Muthuswami Dikshithar

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Muthuswami Dikshitar (March 24, 1775 – October 21, 1835) was a South Indian poet and composer. His compositions, of which around 500 are commonly known, are noted for their contemplative nature and for capturing the essence of the raga forms through the vainika (veena) style that emphasises gamakas (ornamentations of music). Muthuswami Dikshitar was born in Tiruvarur (of Thiruvarur district in what is now the state of Tamil Nadu) to a Tamil Iyer Brahmin couple Ramaswami Dikshitar (creator of the Raga Hamsadhwani) and Subbamma, as the eldest son. He had two younger brothers Baluswami, Chinnaswami and a sister Balambal.

In keeping with the tradition, Muthuswami learnt the Sanskrit language, Vedas, and other important religious texts. He obtained his preliminary musical education from his father.

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According to legend, his guru asked Muthuswami to visit Tiruttani (a temple town near Chennai). There, while he was immersed deep in meditation, an old man appeared and asked him to open his mouth. He dropped sugar candy into his mouth and disappeared. As he opened his mouth, he had a vision of the deity Muruga and Dikshitar burst forth into his first composition "Shri Nathadi Guruguho" in the raga Mayamalavagowla.

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On his return to Tiruvaruar, he composed on every deity in the Tiruvarur temple complex including Tyagaraja (an amsham of Lord Shiva), the presiding deity and the Goddess Kamalambal an independent deity of high tantric significance in the same temple complex.

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Muthuswami Dikshitar was approached by four dance masters from Tanjavur: Sivanandam, Ponnayya, Chinnayya and Vadivelu. They expressed their desire to learn music from him and entreated him to accompany them to Tanjavur. There, Dikshitar imparted to them the 72 mela (grouping of ragas) tradition handed down by Venkata Vaidyanatha Dikshita.

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On Deepavali day, in 1835, Dikshithar performed prayers as usual and asked his students to sing the song "Meenakshi Me Mudam" in the raga Gamakakriya.

As his students sang the lines "Meena lochani pasa mochani" he raised his hands and saying "Sive Pahi" and passed on.