K. S. Narayanaswamy

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = K. S. Narayanaswamy

| birth_place = Palghat, Kerala

| birth_date = 1914

| death_date = {{death_date|1999|12|09}}

| death_place = Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

| instrument = Veena

| genre = Indian classical music

| occupation = Veena player

}}

K. S. Narayanaswamy, (full name Koduvayur Sivarama Iyer Narayanaswamy; 27 September 1914 – 1999) was a Carnatic veena exponent of the Thanjavur style, in which nuances and subtleties are given more importance over rhythm based acrobatics.[https://web.archive.org/web/20020122103411/http://hindu.com/thehindu/2001/08/21/stories/1321017b.htm Homage to a 'Guru'], The Hindu, 21 August 2001 He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1979.

He was born on 27 September 1914 to Narayaniammal and Koduvayur Sivarama Iyer at Koduvayur in Palghat district in Kerala. He underwent initial training in Carnatic music under K.S. Krishna Iyer, his brother, between his seventh and fourteenth years. Later, he joined the Music College at Annamalai University in Chidambaram where he learnt vocal music under stalwarts like Sangeetha Kalanidhi T S Sabesa Iyer and Sangeetha Kalanidhi Tanjore Ponniah Pillai, descendant of the famous Tanjore Quartet. He also learnt the veena under Desamangalam Subramania Iyer and the mridangam under Tanjore Ponniah Pillai. From 1937 to 1946, he served as the lecturer at the Annamalai University, his alma mater, and assisted in publishing the Tamil kritis of Gopalakrishna Bharathi, Neelakanta Sivan and Arunachala Kavi.Kalyani Sharma, Tribute to Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri K.S. Narayanaswamy- 101 Keerthana Mani Malai, 2nd Edition (April 2006), compiled and published by Kalyani Sharma

Upon the invitation of His Highness, the Maharaja of Travancore, he took up lectureship in veena at the Swathi Thirunal College of Music (erstwhile Swathi Thirunal Music Academy) at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.{{Cite web |url=http://geetharaja.com/mygurus.php |title=Geetha Raja on her Gurus |access-date=12 April 2011 |archive-date=7 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407054439/http://geetharaja.com/mygurus.php |url-status=dead }} During his tenure at the academy, he was instrumental, along with Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, then principal of the academy, in editing and publishing the kritis of Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma (commonly known as Swathi Thirunal).{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20110418100350/http://www.hinduonnet.com/folio/fo9811/98110220.htm The Navaratri Mandapam experience]}}, The Hindu, 29 November 1998[http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1522/15220650.htm Semmangudi looks back - at 90], Interview of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer with the Frontline magazine, Vol. 15, Issue 22, 24 October – 6 November 1998 He participated in several international conferences and was a member of the Music and Cultural Delegations to the erstwhile USSR and East European countries in 1954. In 1970, he was invited by Yehudi Menuhin to attend the Bath International Music Festival and perform at London, Bristol, Oxford, Cambridge, and Birmingham. Later, he succeeded Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer as the principal of the academy and retired in 1970.

In 1970, he came to Mumbai, as the principal of the Sangeetha Vidyalaya of Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha and taught both vocal music and veena till 1985. In 1974, he took part as the teacher of Carnatic music and veena at the Eleventh Conference of International Society of Music Education at Perth, Australia. He also participated in the Indian Music and Dance Festival of the International Institute for Comparative Music Studies and Documentation at Berlin in 1977.

He was a recipient of many awards including the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award in 1962;{{Cite web |url=http://www.keralaculture.org/classical-music-a-ksna/464 |title=Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award: Classical Music |publisher=Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala |access-date=26 February 2023}} and the Tamil Nadu State Award in 1968; the National Award of Central Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1968;[http://www.sangeetnatak.org/sna/awardeeslist.htm List of Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217185616/http://www.sangeetnatak.org/sna/awardeeslist.htm |date=17 February 2012 }} from Sangeet Natak Akademi, India (www.sangeetnatak.org) the Padma Bhushan from the Government of India in 1977;[http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/LST-PDAWD.pdf List of Padma Bhushan Awardees from 1954 to 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510095705/http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/LST-PDAWD.pdf |date=10 May 2013 }} from Ministry of Home Affairs, India (www.mha.nic.in) Sangeetha Kalanidhi from the Madras Music Academy, Chennai in 1979;[http://www.musicacademymadras.in/sangita_kalanidhi.php List of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Awardees] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121230220008/http://www.musicacademymadras.in/sangita_kalanidhi.php |date=30 December 2012 }} from Madras Music Academy (www.musicacademymadras.in) the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship in 1991{{cite web|url=http://www.keralaculture.org/classical-music/456|title=Classical Music|publisher=Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala|access-date=24 February 2023}} and the Swathi Ratna in 1999.

Among his disciples, notable ones include Rugmini Gopalakrishnan,{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20050420001300/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2005/04/01/stories/2005040101860300.htm Notes of excellence]}}, The Hindu: Entertainment Thiruvananthapuram, 1 April 2005[https://web.archive.org/web/20071127172754/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/07/21/stories/2006072100380300.htm To honour a teacher], Friday Review Thiruvananthapuram, 21 July 2006 Kalyani Sharma, Saraswati Rajagopalan,[http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/rainbow-resonance-from-musical-strings/article5234804.ece], The Hindu: Arts, 15 October 2013 Trivandrum Venkataraman,[http://www.thehindu.com/arts/article87655.ece Rare artistic acumen], The Hindu: Arts, 21 January 2010 Aswathi Thirunal Rama Varma,{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20110606114705/http://www.hinduonnet.com/mp/2009/01/03/stories/2009010353670700.htm A royal love for music]}}, The Hindu: Metro Plus Kochi, 3 January 2009 Geetha Raja, Nirmala Parthasarathy,[https://web.archive.org/web/20070311234932/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2007/03/09/stories/2007030900100300.htm Rising like the Thanjavur gopuram], Friday Review, The Hindu, 9 March 2007 Jayashree Aravind. Many musicians like M.S. Subbulakshmi and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer have had good association with him and have appreciated his music.