T. Ranganathan

Tanjore Ranganathan (b. Madras, India, March 13, 1925; d. December 22, 1987) was a Carnatic musician specializing in percussion instruments, particularly the "mridangam".

Ranganathan began performing professionally in 1938. At the California Institute of the Arts and Wesleyan University he taught many non-Indians Carnatic music, including Robert E. Brown, John Bergamo, Jon B. Higgins, Douglas Knight, David Nelson, Royal Hartigan, David Moss, Glenn "Rusty" Gillette, and Craig Woodson. He began teaching at Wesleyan in 1963, becoming that university's first Artist in Residence in Music.

Ranganathan's brother was the Carnatic flute player and vocalist T. Viswanathan (1927-2002). The two recorded the music for the Satyajit Ray documentary film "Bala" (1976), about their sister, the "bharatanatyam" dancer Balasaraswati.

The American composer Henry Cowell composed the Mridangam part in his "Madras" Symphony especially for T. Ranganathan.

Ranganathan died after a long illness, at the age of 62. He was survived by his wife Edwina, and sons Suddhama and Arun.

External links

* [http://dpnelson.web.wesleyan.edu/ranganathan.html T. Ranganathan page] by David Nelson
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE3D81630F937A15751C1A961948260 Obituary] from "The New York Times"]