Born in 1845 at Tanjavur, Patnam Subramania Iyer was a versatile musician and prolific composer. A torchbearer of Tyagaraja's musical tradition, he was a fine teacher with an impressive array of disciples. His relocation at Chennai to teach there earned him the prefix Patnam to his name. A master of rare ragas, he was also one of the finest exponents of madhyamakala tanam. Pleased with his expertise in the raga the Maharaja of Mysore named him Begada Subramania Iyer. Replete with prosodic beauty, his compositions  are very popular in the concert circuit. His Abhogi tana varnam Evvari Bodhana is a learner’s delight, with its beautiful sancharas and patterns.  

Born in a musical family Subramania Iyer started his training with his uncle Melattur Ganapati Sastri, and continued to learn from Kothavasal Venkatarama Iyer. Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbaiyer honed his talent further. 

Besides Begada, ragas like Sahana and Hamsadhwani acquired special grandeur in his majestic treatment. His tanam and niraval singing was greatly admired, especially in the middle tempo.

Patnam composed many kritis, tillanas, javalis and varnams. His varnams–Navaragamalika and Abhogi–are sung as the starting pieces in concerts to brighten up the atmosphere. His kritis which are prominent for their structure, lyrics and setting. Mariveredikkevarayya in Shanmukhapriya, Mariveredikkevvaru in Latangi, Raghuvamsa Sudhambudi, and Paridana micchite in Bilahari offer great scope for niraval and kalpana swaram. His tillanas and javalis are equally interesting and lively. With his works totaling some 100 compositions, full length concerts have been rendered with his songs alone. He composed in Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil.

He also composed a pallavi in Simhanandana, the longest talam with 128 akshara kalams for a cycle, and sang it to perfection.

Patnam never sang his own kritis unless someone persuaded him to do so.

He trained such fine disciples as Mysore Vasudevachar, Sarabha Sastri, Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar, Tiger Varadachariar, MS Ramaswami and Kakinada CS Krishnaswami. Some of them became worthy composers too.

Patnam Subramania Iyer stood tall in his contribution to Carnatic music, singing, composing and training worthy students. He was a bridge between the Trinity era and the years after them.