Kannada music composer C. Aswath dead

Bangalore, Dec 29 (IANS) Well-known Kannada composer-singer C. Aswath died Tuesday after a prolonged illness in the Asian Columbia hospital here on his 70th birthday. He suffered kidney failure which triggered off multiple health problems.

His last rites will be performed at Banashankari in the evening. Before that his body will kept at Kannada Bhavana near Ravindra Kalakshethra.

The Karnataka Assembly and the Legislative Council expressed deep sorrow over the death of the musical genius who was trained in Hindustani music under the guidance of Devagirl Shankara Rao.

Just a few days ago Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa had said that the government will bear all the medical expenses of Aswath who had also written many books on music.

Well-known lyricist Doddarange Gowda said that Karnataka has lost a brilliant music composer who dedicated his entire life to music.

"He was a highly emotional singer who had added lot of strength to the lyrics of a song by his variety and range," said Gowda.

Well-known Kannada actor and producer Raghavendra Raj Kumar remembered the close association his late father Raj Kumar had with the singer.

"His range of music was vast. His creative musical talents were yet to be fully tapped. But his body of work is so vast that any music lover would instantly like his music," he said.

Chandrashekhara Kambar, former vice chancellor of Hampi University and a well known poet, said Aswath's songs spread awareness about Kannada literature among the masses.

Born Dec 29, 1939 at Channarayapatna in Hassan district, Aswath sang songs of several top literary personalities including Jnanpeeth Award winners D.R. Bendre and Kuvempu.

He also sung lyrics written by G.S. Shivarudrappa, H.S. Venkatesha Murthy and N.S. Lakshmi Narayana Bhat. He has left behind scores of musical talents trained by him who have now acquired separate identities of their own.

Aswath was known for his musical passion and had worked in many segments of the performing arts like theatre, film and television. He brought out over 100 CD albums in different genres.

He started his career in the early seventies by composing music for popular play "Kakanakote". Later he composed music for more than 35 Kannada plays.

Aswath moved over to films as a singer and then started composing music there too. He has composed music for 28 Kannada films including award winning movies "Shgishunaal Sheriff", "Spandana", "Chinnari Muththu" and "Meera Maadhava Raaghava".

His popular songs inlcude "Uluva Yogiya Nodalli" in "Kamana Billu". He also sang "Thappu MaadadhavaruYaaravre" in the hit movie "Mata".