Profile:
Brinda
and Mukta were the most important Carnatic vocal duo of the middle 20th
century. As grand daughters of the legendary Veena
Dhanammal, they were the
inheritors to her legacy and they popularized her school of Carnatic
music (Bani). 
Brinda
and Mukta were born in 1912 and 1914 to the fourth daughter of Veena
Dhanamaal, Kamakshi. Initial music training for the sisters was from
their mother. Later they were sent to legendary vocalist Naayana Pillai
of Kanchipuram. Pillai directly taught only Brinda, while Mukta learnt
by just listening. After four years of regorous traing, they were
taught by their aunt, Lakshmiratnam with supervision by Dhanammal, till
her demise in 1938. Their younger sister Abhiramasundari learnt violin
from Papa Venkataramiah.
Brinda
and Mukta started giving concerts with Abhiramasundari accompanying
them on violin. Quickly they became popular and invitations from
various music sabha-s poured. They had a huge repertoire. Naina Pillai
had taught them a large number of Thyagaraja krithi-s and many old
tamil compositions from Tiruppugazh and Tevaram. Brinda and Mukta
started giving concerts with Abhiramasundari accompanying them on
violin. Quickly they became popular and invitations from various music
sabha-s poured. They had a huge repertoire. Naina Pillai had taught
them a large number of Thyagaraja krithi-s and many old tamil
compositions from Tiruppugazh and Tevaram. Their aunt had taught them a
large number of Dikshitar and Shyama Sastri compositions. They were
never tired of learning new compositions from various musicians of the
time. All these were sung in the typical Dhanammal style, full of raaga
bhava and appropriate gamaka-s. They continued to to sing together for
several decades until late 60's when they split and started giving solo
concerts. They were particularly known for their javali-s and padam-s.
Brinda
and Mukta were also good teachers. They taught a large number of
disciples. Even great musicians like M S Subbulakshmi and Semmangudi
Srinivas Iyer learnt many compositions from them. In 1976 Brinda was
awarded the prestigious Sangeetha Kalanidhi by the Madras Music
Academy. She passed away in 1996. Mukta was presented the Nageeth Natak
Academy award in 1973. With the passing away of T
Viswanathan in 2002, Mukta is
the only surviving member of the grand old Veena Dhanammal family now.
When it
came to recording music, like their guru Naayana Pillai, the sisters
belonged to the old school. They didn't want to record because they
didn't want the music to be played in tea shops and saloons.
Brinda never recorded commercially. Mukta recorded some Jaavali-s only
recently, at the age of 85.
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