T.N. Krishnan performing with sister N. Rajam
| Photo Credit: R_Shivaji Rao
Kiran Seth
| Photo Credit: SHANKER CHAKRAVARTY
Thinking musician
Kiran Seth
Founder, SPIC MACAY
Prof. Krishnan was actively involved in the movement. He travelled across North India performing concerts for SPIC MACAY. He was as comfortable playing in a small setting as he was in a big auditorium. I can never forget an instance when he performed to a small group of post-graduate students at the Mansarovar Hostel of the Delhi University. With a pleasant smile on his face, he would enthusiastically interact with students and had a way of capturing their attention with his steeped-in-tradition music. An iconic violinist apart, he was an introspective musician; someone who did a lot of chintan manan (thinking). This was why his music was more inward-looking. His approach was simple and subtle, he never played to the gallery. A wonderful human being, I always admired how his wife Kamala and he complemented each other. She was his support system. I also worked with him closely when he was the vice-chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
SPIC MACAY has organised a memorial on November 15 (from 9 p.m.) that will be streamed worldwide.
Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam
| Photo Credit: V_Ganesan
Learning experience
Tiruvarur Bhaktavatsalam
Mridangam exponent
Having shared the stage with Krishnan sir for more than 30 years, his demise has created a vacuum in both my music and life. I was 23 when I first met him at Tamil Nadu Music College, where he was a professor before becoming the principal. He complimented me after I performed at one of the monthly kutcheris of the college. He encouraged me a lot. It was from him that I learnt how one should build a performance, the time management, discipline, and professionalism required, and how to structure and present a concert. Melody, sruti suddham and clarity in raga delineations made his music linger in the mind. He won over people with his simplicity and warmth. His life was an example of how a vidwan’s should be led.
Charumathi Raghuraman | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A magnanimous guru
Charumathi Raghuraman
Violinist and disciple
The passing away of TNK Sir has left me desolated. I feel his greatness lay in the fact that in an auditorium brimming with people, one got the feeling that he was playing to each one of them. My tutelage under him started at the age of eight and I remember how beautifully he tiptoed the line between being a strict disciplinarian in the class and an affectionate person outside it. "Azhutthi vaashi!" he would say, stressing the importance of evenness in tone and bowing, which was the secret behind the honeyed sound of his violin. I could receive no greater gift than the opportunity of accompanying Sir on stage; he was a magnanimous guru. His rendition of ragas like Yadukulakambhoji, Suruti, Bilahari, Sindhu Bhairavi etc. created a rasa that permeated the concert hall. He has shown that one can reach out to a wider audience by presenting the raga music in a pristine manner. These attributes combined with a cheerful face and an appealing personality; he was always immaculately dressed, is the image imprinted in my mind of my TNK Sir.