To draw some respect towards them we need to invent a homely nomenclature for them: gEyakkAras!
Obviously this could not have happened in isolation. All the principles set by existing compendium of musical output and the wisdom gained from them plays into doing this!
Is Venkatachala Nilayam tuned by MLV? What other songs were tuned by her?
T.K.Govinda Rao I think. As also many other kritis.
PS: Just noticed this thread.
What about Lalgudi pancharatna Kritis?Were they tunes by sri Lalgudi Jayaraman?
These Kritis were composed by Thyagayya when he visited Lalgudi as per reports.
Interestingly, Lalgudi pancharatnam don't have multiple versions.
Lalgudi Jayaraman did make a lot of effort to bring the 5 kritis to their present form. I guess one reason they didn't have multiple versions was because it stayed in their parampara? Even someone as traditional as Brindamma vouched for his versions.
Is it possible that these great vocalists set the tunes themselves? What is improbable about it? May be , they might have taken help from close friends.
Are all those pre-1950 plates set to music by S.V.Venkataraman, perhaps ? Likely?
TM Thiaarajan tuned many songs for MLV including Sharanambhava karuna mayi in Hamsavinodini and also Sakala Lokadhara in Valaji.