For reasons unknown and quite inexplicable, I had not heard about Sri T K Rangachary at all, till I was given a cassette and told to listen it by a good friend of mine. In particular, he wanted me listen to an alapana and find out the ragam in the first 30 seconds, not as a challenge, but to illustrate how skillful TKR was in holding back the key characteristic of the ragam for more than 2 minutes. In this concert, his alapana between the gandharam (ga) and nishadam (ni) with may be a occasional touch of upper shadjam (sa) keeps you wondering when he is going to reveal the ragam, if at all. And after a couple of minutes, he lands on the rishabam (ri) revealing the ragam to be vAgadeeswari. After a detailed alapana, he goes on sing ‘paramAtmuDu’ beautifully. Perhaps Balamuralikrishna is the only other artist who has shown such a prowess in keeping the listener guessing the ragam to reveal itself.

For certain that was an unforgettable concert. I have run into a number of people who have had a hard time dealing with such an approach!! And, of course, the purists would be horrified at this model of not exhibiting the characteristic of the ragam right away in an alapana.

Only after that I started listening to more of his concerts, which are not easy to come by and also unfortunately suffer from sub-par recording quality. He clearly has a distinct style, his favorite ragams & compositions and conversing with the audience.

You can read more about him in an article written by his grandson D B Ashwin at https://dhvaniohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/tkr-centenary.pdf. I do not know Ashwin personally, but I have heard about him.

Let me start with the first recording that got me started listening to him followed by some more concerts. For some of the concerts, I have added the time marker as a guide.

M S Gopalakrishnan
Tanjavur Upendran
Vilvadri Iyer

• 0:00 varNam – kAmbhOji (aTa)
• 4:49 endarO mahAnubhAvulu – sri
• 17:36 vADErA – pantuvarALi
• 45:52 ilalO praNatArti – aTANA
• 1:07:30 kA vAvA – varALi
• 1:20:40 paramAtmuDu – vAgadeeswari
• 1:48:42 nijadAsaa varada – kalyANi
• 2:31:42 tatvameruga taramA – garuDwani
• 2:51:05 RTP – tODi – incomplete
• 3:04:00 parulannamATa – kApi
• 3:10:18 tirupugazh & mangalam

M S Gopalakrishnan
Karaikudi Mani
T H Vinayakaram

• 0:00 varNam – kalyANi (aTa)
• 6:32 endarO mahAnubhAvulu – sri
• 16:43 gurulEka eTuvanTi – gowrimanOhari
• 31:20 srikAnta – bhavapriyA
• 38:49 nArada gAna lOla – aTANA
• 49:11 nAdalOluDai – kalyAnavasantam
• 1:16:04 brOvavamma – mAnji
• 1:28:41 nijadAsa varada – kalyANi
• 2:05:09 pAlincu kAmAkshi – madyamAvati
• 2:19:31 tatvameruga taramA – garuDadwani
• 2:28:31 chintA nAstikila – chandrakauns
• 2:31:32 varuvArO – sAmA
• 2:35:21 mAmava paTTAbi rAma – maNirangu
• 2:38:49 tirupugazh & mangalam

M S Gopalakrishnan

• 0:00 varNam – sAvEri
• 2:53 sAkEta nagara – harikAmbhOji
• 32:13 nichittamu – dhanyAsi
• 53:53 jootAmurArE – Arabhi
• 1:29:46 entavEDkO – saraswatimanOhari
• 1:33:44 indu enagE – bhairavi
• 2:08:45 slOkam – rAgamAlikA
• 2:20:59 tillAnA – jayantasEna

M S Anantaraman
Tanjavur Upendran
Alangudi Ramachandran

• varNam – kAmbhOji (aTa)
• parama pAvanA – poorvikalyANi
• E pApamu – aTANA
• evarurA ninnuvinA – mOhanam
• paramAtmuDu – vAgadeeswari
• evarimATa – kAmbhOji
• sarasijanAbha sOdari – nAgagAndhAri
• paridAnamichidE – bilahari
• RTP – amrutavarshiNi + Anandabhairavi
• viswEswara – sindhubhairavi
• various

M S Anantaraman
Tanjavur Upendran
Pudukotai Mahadevan

• 0:00 varNam – kAmbhOji (aTa)
• 5:37 endarO mahAnubhAvulu – sri
• 18:24 parama pAvanA – poorvikalyANi
• 35:05 paramAtmuDu – vAgadeeswari
• 1:11:01 evarimATa – kAmbhOji
• 2:14:28 sarasijanAbha sOdari – nAgagAndhAri
• 2:17:54 paridAnamichidE – bilahari
• 2:24:11 E pApamu – aTANA
• 2:40:47 evarurA ninnuvinA – mOhanam
• 3:09:54 RTP – amrutavarshiNi + Anandabhairavi
• 4:07:40 Aanirai mEikka – kAnaDA
• 4:11:19 viswEswara – sindhubhairavi
• 4:16:49 praLaya payOdijalE – durgA – incomplete

Lalgudi Jayaraman
Tiruchi Sankaran

noisy or not so great recording

• varNam – sankarAbaraNam (Adi)
• endarO mahAnubhAvuklu – sri
• sArasAksha paripAlaya – pantuvarALi
• sabApatikku – AbhOgi
• Ela nee daya rAdu – aTANA
• orajoopu – kannaDagowLa
• En paLLi konDeerayyA – mOhanam
• vandE sadA – navarasa kannaDA
• kaDaikkaN nOkki – tODi
• tatvameruga tarama – garuDadwani

Lalgudi Jayaraman
U K Sivaraman

1968

• 0:00 tera teeyaga rAdA – gowlipantu
• 6:03 meenAkshi mEmudam – poorvikalyANi
• 33:10 vEnugAnalOla – kEdAragowLa
• 47:06 seetamma mAyamma – vasanta
• 55:02 dAriNi – suddhasAvEri
• 1:29:29 kaNNAr – vijayanAgari
• 1:33:41 kArtikEya – tODi
• 2:09:52 slOkam – rAgamAlika

Sikkil Bhaskaran
Tiruchi Sankaran
Pudukottai Mahadevan

• nikE teliyaka – Anandabhairavi
• tatvameruga taramA – garuDadwani

M Chandrasekaran
Vellore Ramabhadran

Noisy recording

• 0:00 varNam – bhairavi (aTa)
• 6:06 mudAkarOtta mOdakam – mandhAri
• 24:46 bhajana sEyu mArgamunu – nArAyaNi
• 38:46 evarimATa – kAmbhOji
• 1:17:02 sogasugA mrudanga tALamu – sriranjani
• 1:37:26 jagadOdAraNA – kApi

M Chandrasekaran
Vellore Ramabhadran
Palghat Raghu (not sure how both played)

Noisy recording

• 0:00 rAma nannu brOvara – harikAmbhOji
• 11:43 vADErA – pantuvarALi
• 28:39 ksheeNamai tirugA – mukhAri
• 47:49 EmAnaticcEdivO – sahAnA
• 1:12:49 kaNNanai paNi manamE – shanmukapriyA
• 1:17:50 slOkam – rAgamAlika
• 1:28:45 praLayapayOji jalE (ashTapati) – rAgamAlika

T N Krishnan
Palghat Krishnamani

Noisy recording

• 0:00 AnandasAgara – garuDwani
• 9:42 nannu brOva – AbhOgi
• 45:35 sri satyanArAyaNam – subhapantuvarALi
• 1:10:53 ikanainanA – pushpatilakam
• 1:30:10 paridAnamiccidE – bilahari
• 1:34:21 birAnavarA – kalyANi
• 2:09:20 thillAnA – jayantasEnA

T N Krishnan
Palghat Krishnamani

• 0:00 jagadAnandakAraka – nATa
• 9:42 sArasAksha paripAlaya – pantuvarALi
• 28:51 nee bakthi bAgya – jayamanOhari

R K Venkatarama Sastry
Madras Kannan
Umayalpuram Narayanaswamy

AIR Concert

Noisy Recording

• 0:00 kaNNanai paNi manamE – shanmukapriyA
• 6:01 ennagAna rAmabhajana – pantuvarALi
• 28:51 En paLLikonDeerayyA – mOhanam

Kumbakonam Rajamanikam Pillai
Palghat Mani Iyer

Starts from the middle of the first piece
Noisy Recording

• ragunAyaka – hamsadwani
• anupama – aTANA
• ADamODi – chArukEsi
• mOkshamu galada – sAramati
• chentanE sadA – kuntalavarALi
• kaddanuvAriki – tODi

M N Ganesa Pillai
T Nagaraja
M N Kandaswamy

1968

• 0:00 varNam – pantuvarALi
• 12:05 mAgElara – ravichandrikA
• 25:11 eTula brOtuvO – chakravAgam
• 38:31 ElA nee dayarAdu – aTANA
• 48:05 manasA eTulO – malayamArutam
• 1:09:01 En paLLi kondeerayyA – mOhanam
• 1:44:04 anda rAma soundarya – kEdaragowLa
• 1:56:38 sanAtana – phalamanjari
• 1:59:59 eppaDi manam – husEni
• 2:08:30 dEvAdi dEva – sunAdavonOdini
• 2:32:41 slOkam – rAgamalikA
• 2:44:24 rAma nAma – dEsh
• 2:48:25 pArukuLLE nalla nADu – jOnpuri

Chalakudy Narayanaswamy
Palghat Raghu

Speed variations 😦

• 0:00 sri mahAgaNapati – gowLa
• 8:10 nAdasudArasam – Arabhi
• 16:30 nE pogaDakunTE – varALi
• 28:26 tera teeyaga rAdA – gowLipantu
• 31:53 alakalla – madyAmavati
• 50:51 vAsudEvayani – kalyANi
• 1:29:04 EtAvuna nErcitivO – yadukulakAmbhOji
• 1:33:41 kaNNanai paNi manamE – shanmukapriyA
• 1:36:48 RTP – mOhanam
• 2:05:29 vagalADi – behAg

T Rukmini
Guruvayur Dorai

Scratchy recording 😦

• 0:00 mEru samAna – mAyamALavagowLa (Alapana & tAnam)
• 38:03 valli nAyakanE – shanmukapriyA
• 1:06:56 nAdupai – madyAmavati
• 1:16:31 divAkara tanujam – yadukulakAmbhOji
• 1:23:10 gAnAmudapAnam – jyOtiswaroopiNi
• 1:32:39 dEvAdidEva – sunAdavinOdini
• 1:33:41 dAcukO valenO – tODi
• 2:13:19 slOkam – rAgamAlika

• 0:00 kaDavuL aruLai – keeravAni
• 13:30 venkaTasaila – hameerkalyANi
• 23:49 slOkam – rAgamAlika (incomplete)

• 0:00 niravati sukada – ravichandrika
• 4:26 rAgaratna mAlikacE – reetigowLa
• 11:38 ninnu vinAgati – kalyANi
• 27:01 sankari nivE – begaDA
• 38:23 praLayapayOti jalE – rAgaMalikA
• 45:46 thillAnA – jayantasEnA

• 0:00 varNam – bhairavi (aTa) – incomplete
• 5:17 vinAyaka – hamsadwani – incomplete
• 21:32 gurulEka eTuvanTi – gowrimanOhari – incomplete
• 30:58 sujanajeevana – kamAs
• 53:15 nannupAlimpa – mOhanam
• 1:50:31 entanErcinA – suddhadhanyAsi
• 2:00:21 amba neelAyadAkshi – neelAmbari
• 2:25:58 nagumOmu – AbhEri
• 2:33:34 RTP – tODi – incomplete
• 3:10:42 slOkam – rAgamAlika – incomplete
• 3:18:24 yArE rangana – hindOLam

Have doubts that it is T K Rangachari. Could it be Vairamangalam?
Bothersome violin accompaniment 😦

• 0:00 varNam – kAnaDA (aTa)
• 4:38 kanchadaLayadAkshi – kamalAmanOhari
• 11:14 sankari sankuru – sAvEri
• 26:45 kAmAkshi – bhairavi
• 38:49 gOpikAmanOharam – mOhanam
• 43:33 dayalEni – nAyaki
• 54:31 taruNam eedammA – gowLipantu
• 56:44 mahita pravrudda – kAmbhOji
• 1:22:45 slOkam – rAgamAlika (incomplete)