Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu


Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu was one of the most important carnatic music violinists of the 20th century. Naidu was partially blind. He played at the National Physical Laboratory auditorium, New Delhi in 1952, to raise funds for the Blind Relief Association and he is the relative of famous kuchipudi dancer Padma sri Dr Shoba Naidu.

Early life

Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu was born on 8 November 1893, which happened to be Deepavali day, in Bangalore, India and was raised in Visakhapatnam. He was appointed Professor of violin in the Maharaja's Music College in Vijayanagaram, at the young age of 26, and became its principal in 1936.

Performing career

His first solo concert was given in Vellore in 1938. He was known for his extremely well developed soft bowing technique combined with a firm fingering technique. He wrote several articles on music, like an essay on the "Peculiar characteristics of the tambura". He cautioned his disciples against missing practice even for a day. “If you don’t practice for one day, you will notice your mistakes, if you don’t practice for two days the audience would notice your mistakes!!”. He often used to say, "Music is an audible tapas."
Yehudi Menuhin, a world-renowned violinist, was greatly impressed when he heard Dwaram play at Justice P. V. Rajamannar's house. The famous playback singer Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao learned Carnatic music under Naidu. Kalaimamani SMT.Radhanarayanan is also a disciple of V.naidu. Shri Venkateshwaran, vocalist is a student of Radhanarayanan.

Awards and honours

The Sri Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu Memorial Trust was established in Chennai. Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu Kalakshetram was established in Visakhapatnam.
Statues of this notable musician have been erected in Visakhapatnam and Chennai, India.

Personal life

Family