Sugama Sangeetha

It is unclear when exactly Bhavageethe started but in 1920's and 30's there were many attempts to set tunes to poetry. By the 1950s it started taking a good shape and a highly talented musician - P. Kalinga Rao was instrumental in spreading this art form. He set tunes to the poems of many famous Navodaya poets, and gave performances on All India Radio as well as public gatherings. The art form started gaining popularity through his rendering of Udayavaagali Namma Cheluvu Kannada Naadu, Yaaru Hitavaru Ninage,Anathadim Digantadim,Baarayya Beladingale, Brahma Ninge Jodistheeni etc., He laid the foundation of Sugama Sangeetha and hence is considered to be the father of this form.

The 60s and 70s saw lot of emerging musicians contributing to this field. H.R.Leelavathi, Padmacharan, H. K. Narayana in South Karnataka and Balappa Hukkeri in North Karnataka played a significant role in popularising the art across Karnataka. Their service to the field through lot of compositions also is commendable.

The next major personality in the field was the unparalleled Mysore Ananthaswamy. Till then, though there were lot of compositions, they remained as more or less a subset of classical music from the musical perspective. It was Ananthaswamy who could think out of the box. He not only crossed the barrier of classical music, but was instrumental in adding its own subtleties to Bhaavageethe. With instrumentation also taking different shape by that time, he introduced lot of changes to Orchestration. By that time, Bhavageethe was quite popular and businessmen dared bringing out cassettes of the same. With that, 'Nithyotsava' became the first Bhavageethe Album to be released. There were lot of popular albums to his credit. 'Nithyotsava', 'Bhava Sangama', 'Minchu', 'Rathnana Padagalu' to mention a few.

Another young and dynamic talent emerged in the 70s - C. Aswath. Highly talented and a great visionary was Aswath, that, his way of blending the lyrical and musical dynamics was hard to match. His unique way of rendering a song, with emphasis on lyrical dynamics and word power was amazing. He also bought about lot of changes to the art. Dramatic elements, virtual picturization etc., could be observed in abundance in his compositions. He was instrumental in making Shishunala Sharif's poems popular across the length and breadth of Karnataka. His popular albums are 'Mysooru Mallige', 'Shishunala Sharif Sahebara Geethegalu', 'Chaitra', 'Kannadave Satya' etc.,

...
Wikipedia