Background
Rajarathinam Pillai was born Balasubramanian to his parents, Kuppuswami Pillai and Govindammal at Thiruvaduthurai in Thanjavur District in South India. His father was an exponent of Carnatic music
Rajarathinam Pillai was born Balasubramanian to his parents, Kuppuswami Pillai and Govindammal at Thiruvaduthurai in Thanjavur District in South India. His father was an exponent of Carnatic music
He was titled popularly as Nadaswara Chakravarthi (literally, the Emperor of Nadaswaram) Rajarathnam Pillai received his musical training under the noted Carnatic violinist, Thirukodikaval Krishnaiyer and learnt nadaswaram from Ammachatram Kannuswami Pillai, an eminent musician. He started giving vocal concerts and moved to giving concerts on nadaswaram on the advice of the pontiff of the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam. In a short time, Rajarathnam was made a nadaswaram player in the temple at Thiruvaduthurai.
lieutenant is said that his unique style attracted many visitors to the morning prayers in the temple where he played a raga, Bhupalam, (that suits the morning hours) with the dexterity and originality of a veteran artiste.
He grew to become a well known and sought-after concert player and gave a very large number of concerts live as well as over the radio. He acted in the lead role in the Tamil movie, Kalamegam, directed by Ellis R Dungan (released in 1940).
His fame as an outstanding practitioner of nadaswaram music has overshadowed his talent as a vocalist. During his musical career, Rajarathnam Pillai was known for his improvisations of ragas that could last several hours.
He was particularly known for his improvisation/elaboration of the raga, Todi.
His rendering of compositions in Tamil, Telugu or Sanskrit was considered to be flawless. His immense knowledge of tempo in Indian music is also widely recognised. Rajarathnam Pillai took a number of younger nadaswaram players as his accompanists.
Some of them, such as Kuzhikarai Pichaiyappa, Karukkurichi Arunachalam and Thiruvarur Latchappa, became highly regarded exponents of nadaswaram on their own.
Famous thavil players, such as Needamangalam Meenakshisundaram Pillai often gave him the laya support. In a departure from the tradition, Rajarathnam Pillai had used violin as an accompaniment.
The influence of his style as instrumentalist on vocalists in Carnatic music, such as Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer is also well known and is considered to be rare.