Shivamogga Subbanna excelled at Kuvempu, Shishunala Sharif songs

Shivamogga Subbanna, who died on Friday at 83, was a charismatic singer of 20th century Kannada poetry.

He shot to fame with Kadu kudure odi banditta from the film Kadu Kudure (1978), an energetic number set to a tribal beat, with words and music by Chandrashekar Kambar. The song won him a National award.

Another of his early songs, Chinte yaatake gelati, also by Kambar, was featured in the film Sangeetha (1981) became equally popular, and placed him alongside a galaxy of literary talents exploring an emerging cinema tradition drawing from Kannada literature.

Subbanna’s original name was G Subramanya, and he had to change it because an audio label, unaware of his presence then, attributed a song to the already famous S P Balasubramanyam. Subbanna’s brief romance with films gave way to a more enduring relationship with the world of sugama sangeeta, both as a recording artiste and a stage performer. It was a natural match, given his wide reading and profound interest in Kannada literature. He was a rare singer who could hold forth even on esoteric poetry with passion and insight, and he could be cutting in his criticism.

A fan of Mohammad Rafi in his youthful days, Subbanna sang his numbers in college. In later years, he sang some of the most popular songs in sugama sangeeta. Songs chosen from poetry compilations were being recorded at a feverish pace in the 1980s and ‘90s, following the success of K S Nisar Ahmed’s album Nityotsava. Music composers and labels got busy mining the rich works of Kuvempu, Bendre, Adiga, Narasimhaswamy,

G S Shivarudrappa and a host of other poets of the 20th century. Subbanna was among the most widely recognised voices taking their poetry to homes across Karnataka, in an independent genre that sat equidistant from film music and classical music.

Subbanna’s association with singer-composer C Aswath resulted in memorable songs, and perhaps no song is as famous as Kodagana koli nungitta. Ashwath made earthy tunes for a series of recordings featuring the mystical poetry of Shishunala Sharif, an 18th century poet sometimes compared to Kabir. Biddiyabbe muduki and Alabeda tangi alabeda are among the many Sharif songs Subbanna sang and popularised.

Subbanna’s favourite poet was Kuvempu, and he sang 10 of his poems in a solo album titled ‘Baarisu Kannada Dindimava’ (1980). No concert was complete until he had sung Kuvempu songs, especially Anandamaya ee jaga hridaya and Baarisu Kannada dindimava.

If you had to name the Trinity of sugama sangeeta, you would likely talk about composer-singers P Kalinga Rao, Mysore Ananthaswamy and C Aswath. Subbanna did compose tunes, but not as prolifically as the Trinity. He will be remembered as a singer with a strikingly deep voice, and as an ardent musical evangelist for Kannada poetry.