The following is a biography of Sri Shyama Shastri in English script.
"If you would sense the thrill, you have to go to the chapu tala for it and if you would like to enjoy its maximum effect you would find it in the compositions of Shyama Shastri", writes the Late T. V. Subba Rao. he adds that the contribution of Shyama Shastri to Carnatic music is of the highest order and that his compositions are replete with the natural pathos and tenderness of a child crying out to reach its mother.
Shayama Shastri was the oldest of the Trinity of Carnatic music. he was a contemporary of the other two, Tyagaraja and Muthuswamy Dikshitar, and was a personal friend of the former. He was born in Tiruvarur (of Tanjavur district in Tamil Nadu) on April 26 1762, into the scholarly and priestly Tamil Brahmin family of Viswanatha Iyer; a family not particularly interested in music. Though Shyama Shastri attained scholarship in Telugu and Sanskrit at a young age, he got no further than the elementary stages in music education, in spite of his melodious voice. When he was eighteen years old, his family moved to Tanjore.
Around then, his family got a chance to host a sanyasi (monk), sangitaswami, a master of dance and music, who was spending some four months in Tanjore. The sanyasi was quick to discover Shyama Shastri's keen intellect, melodious voice and musical talent and foresaw greatness in him. He obtained the father's consent to tutor the son in music and taught Shyama Shastri all aspects of raga, tala and swara prasthara-s. The teacher found that the student could absorb even the intricate details very quickly.. all in a matter of four months or less. Sangitaswami presented Shyama Shastri with a few rare treatises on music and certified that the student had gained full knowledge on the theoretical aspects of music. He advised his student to seek the friendship of and listen to the music (but not learn anything from) one Adiyappayya, a composer of the famous bhairavi ata tala varnam, viriboni, and a court musician in Tanjore. shyama Shastri duly did as he was advised.
Over the years, Shyama Shastri became a well-known and respected musician, scholar and a composer. He was quite admired and respected by Tyagaraja and it appears that the two of them often held scholarly and lengthy discussions on their latest compositions. Shyama Shastri, like his father was the archaka (priest) in the Bangaru Kamakshi Temple in Tanjore. He was a very pious and genuine devotee of Goddess Kamakshi. According to Prfessor Sambamurthy, "He was a person who spoke to the Goddess and to whom the Goddess spoke". He is believed to have lost consciousness of the outside world on several occasions as he prayed to the Goddess. On such occassions, he would sing his kriti-s extemporaneously. His father had the patronage of the Tanjore king. Hence, the family was financially comfortable.
Shyama Shastri had two sons, Panju Shastri and Subbaraya Shastri. The former became a priest and the latter was a versatile musician (and a disciple of Tyagaraja). Through Panju Shastri, the family tree grew and produced quite a few scholars. Shyama Shastri's great grandson was alive till the age of 94 and passed away only in 1950. Hence, many incidents of Shyama Shastri's life are known. He was reportedly a tall and a rather stout person with a fondness for betel leaves! Shyama Shastri, like Tyagaraja and Dikshitar, was well-versed in astrology. Like his great contemporaries, he too correctly predicted the time of his passing. He passed away on February 6, 1827, six days after, his devoted wife passed away.
Although he did not compose as many kriti-s as his two prolific contemporaries, Shyama Shastri's compositions are equally well known. It is said that he has composed about three hundred pieces in all. He did not have too many disciples to propogate his compositions, nor was the printing press an easy convenience during his time! More importantly, the scholarly nature of his compositions was not appealing to the layperson; they needed to be studied to be savoured. He composed in Telugu, Sanskrit and Tamil and mostly on Goddess Devi. He has composed kriti-s in, varnam-s and swarajati-s with the ankita/mudra (signature) 'Shyama Krishna'. He is said to be the architect of the swarajati musical form. His set of three famous swarajati-s is referred to as ratna trayam. These are in Bhairavi, Yadukulakambodhi and Todi. "These stand unparalleled both for the delineation of the raga bhava and the fecundity of musical ideas", writes Prof. Sambamurthy.
Shyama Shastri's compositionsare usually in common raga-s, except for a few in raga-s such as Manji, Chintamani, Kalagada and Karnataka Kapi. His favourite raga-s seem to have been Saveri and Anandabhairavi, judging from the number of kriti-s composed in these raga-s. Anandabhairavi, an old raga that was frequently used in folk music, seemed to acquire a new stature after he composed masterpieces such as mariveregati, himachala tanaya, o jagadamba, pahi sri giriraja and even a couple of varnam-s in it. His rare originality was in swara sahitya compositions and the use of swarakshara. In other words, swara and sahitya having identical sounding syllables such as 'padasarara' corresponding to the swara-s pa da sa in the kriti, devi ni in Kambodhi. Though most of his compositions are on Goddess Kamakshi, he is said to have composed his navaratnamalika on Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai at the request of a person unknown to him. These include kriti-s such as saroja dala netri in Shankarabharanam, mayamma in Ahiri, meena lochana brova in Dhanyasi , etc.
According to Prof. Sambamurthy, Shyama Shastri would perhaps stand out most for the "rhythmic beauties" employed in his kriti-s, such as the use of five-syllable words like sarasamukhi, varamosagu, kamalamukhi, etc. These correspond to the rhythmic phrase "ta dhin gi na thom". His kriti-s feature the abundant use of the misra chapu tala (4+3). He also features dual rhythms as in sankari samkuru in raga saveri, with the inherent rhythm of rupakam and a suggestive rhythm of adi tala. "Shyama Shastri had a rhythmical frame of mind and he was always swimming in the ethereal regions of rhythm and tala prasthara. No other composer has composed songs answering to the rhythmical beauties referred above", concludes Sambamurthy.
Shyama Shastri, though not a prolific composer, has been given a permanent place in the musical Trinity due to the quality, depth, variety, scholarliness and bhakthi bhava in his compositions.
