Music Composer M.S. Viswanathan Passes Away Tuesday July 14,2015

 

 

June 24,1928 - July 14,2015

                                                              

M.S. Viswanathan, whose film compositions transcended every known category of music and refused to be pinned down to musical traditions, died here on Tuesday July 14,2015. 

He was 88 and is survived by four son and three daughters. 

MSV's funeral will be held on Wednesday morning at his residence on Santhome High Road in Chennai

It is not just for many of his ever green songs, but also for the anthem — Neerarum Kadalodutha — MSV will ever be part of the Tamil psyche. In the Tamil film music world, no other composer was as diverse as MSV was and he had composed music for over 1,700 films in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada and worked with four Chief Ministers — N.T. Rama Rao, M.G. Ramachandran, M. Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa.

MSV's first film was Jenova and the hero was M.G. Ramachandaran

 

MSV's career in the film world started with the Jupiter Studios in Tirupur. An office boy, his regular work involved cleaning the harmonium of the S.M. Subbiah Naidu, the music director of the studio.

 Later he joined C.V. Subbaraman, another music director. Both Ilayaraja and A.R. Rahman have worked with MSV. 

Lyricist Vaali would say that he used to struggle for a regular income before teaming up with MSV. "After joining hands with him paying income-tax was a major issue," he would say. Vaali's first song for MSV was Poovaraiyum Poongodiyey Poomalai Soodava rendered by P.B. Srinivas was a hit. 

"Great music should hold a listener spellbound. Athan Yennathan in Pava Mannippu, Iravum Nilavum in Karnan, Yennai Yar Endru in Paalum Pazhamum and Nenjam Marappathillai in Nenjam Marappathillai and Nilave Yennidam in Ramu give the feeling that we have association with these songs in all our births," Ilayaraja in his afterword to MSV's biography. 

The MSV-Kannadasan combination also proved a great success in devotional music. The album Krishna Ganam bears testimony to this. Pullanguzhal Kodutha Moongilkaley by T.M. Soundararajan has few equals in devotional music. After the release of the album, Kannadasan requested MSV to begin all his concerts with the song. MSV would emotionally sing the line 'Pullangulal Kodutha Moongilkalay Yengal Kannadasan Pugazh Paadungaley.'  

The title ‘Mellisai Mannargal’ was coined by the poet Kannadasan and conferred on him and T.K. Ramamoorthy by Sivaji Ganesan at the inauguration of Kasturi Srinivasan Library in Triplicane