GO TO SOURCE


DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, February 20, 2002: The country mourns the end of an era in the passing of an incomparable violinist and music teacher, “Sangeetha Kalaimani” Arunajalam Govindsamy Pillay. Born in Pietermaritzburg in 1924 he came under the tutelage of Edward J. Govindaswami who taught him classical music and Tamil literature. In 1948, Pillay went to India to further his studies in music and literature. He took his training in violin from his guru Vidwan N.G. Krishnamurthy Iyer and after achieving proficiency in the art, the title “Sangeetha Kalaimani” was conferred upon him. Upon return to South Africa he found that opportunities in his field of expertise were limited, so he worked in the Department of Justice as a Tamil court interpreter. Pillay accompanied local and visiting carnatic musicians and taught music to his many students, mostly children. He served on the adjudication panel for the Tamil Eisteddfod and was an active member of the Vivekananda Mission of South Africa. He was articulate in both Tamil and English, but had a profound love for the Tamil language and literature. A close friend of Pillay’s, Palanisamy Devan, a retired superintendent of education, eulogized him. “He played with incredible accuracy and dexterity…..and the most difficult passages were effortless. He truly believed that music is divine,” Devan said. In a foreword to her dissertation on Music Amongst Indian South Africans submitted to the University of Natal for the degree of Master of Music, Melveen Jackson, lauded Pillay for “teaching me much about Indian music, music in South Africa, Indian literature, spirituality and humanity in general.”

Post Views: 213