Excerpts from Dr.V.Raghavan's article titled 'muttuswAmi dikshitar' 
Journal of the music academy

We might appropriately begin with the high conception of music that Dikshitar had.It is well-known that Tyagaraja has expressly voiced forth the philosophy of music in several Kritis of his.Suchreferences are not wanting in Dikshitar's Kritis.That Divinity is itself an embodiment of Nada, that God is the prime promulgator of music, that as Siva, Krishna or Devi,Divinity is always revelling in Sama-gana, Venu or Vina, that Pranava is the quintessence of Nada and source of all music, that there is nothing that God loves more than the nectar of Nada,—is conveyed by Dikshitar not infrequently in his Kritis.In the Ratipriya piece,mAraratipriyam he describes God as the embodiment of Bhava,Raga and tAla bhAvarAgatAlasvarUpakam

In the Vamshavati Kriti, Vamshavati Shivayuvati , Devi is addressed as embodying in Herself the twentytwo Srutis and the Svaras , dvAvimshat shruti svara svarUpiNi.In ShrI dum durge in Shriranjani, the Goddess is said to have attained oneness with Svaras and music - svara samgIta laye.In gauri girirAjakumAri in Gauri, Devi is said to be the Pranava which is the sonant imagevAchaka of the nAdaBrahman nAda brahma vAcakatAre. The two breasts of the Mother that sustain the whole world are sweet song and poetry sarasa samgItasAhitya sthanadvayayA in the anupallavi of the Chayagaula piece on the Goddess of arts. That the goal to be attained by the practice of melody and rhythm is Godhead is seen in the description of abhayAmbika as the 'gati' or goal of Nada and Laya in the Kedaragaula piece on that Goddess. That no greater Puja can be thought of than the offer of song is seen in ShriguruNA in Padi where the nectar of Nada is described as the best pAdya to be offered to God. It is God who gave us this precious lore of music - gAna vidyA pradeshvara in pAlaya mAm on BrihadIshvara of Tanjore in nAyaki.The vINA-vAdana, which YaJnavalkya referred to as an easier sadhana for moksha and which Shiva in his Vina-Dakshinamurti-form taught before He sought to teach in his Yoga Dakshinamurti form, is mentioned in the song in Phenadyuti on Dakshinamurti , 'vallakI nAdAnubhava modam'.

Both Shiva and Devi are described as. the repositories of the Sangita Shastra in the  Tiruvarur piece on Chandrasekhara in Marga Hindola and in the devaranji song Namaste paradevate - samgIta shAstrAdi saMyutamand samgIta shAstrayukte.It is the Lord that spread the art of dance and music through different sage-teachers - mAruti nandyarjunAdi bharatAcAryaiH Avedita nartana sphUrte  in the bilahari piece on Hatakeshvara at Tiruvarur and in the devi song in rasamanjari matanga bharatavEdinIm. Shiva as the expounder of the different aspects of vocal and instrumental music and the poses of tANDava dance cannot be missed in the Kedara kriti - samgItavAdya vinoda tANDava jAta bahutara bheda codyam.That in its different forms Divinity revels in music in different forms is to be found in a number of Kritis in  sAdhujana vinutam in Gitapriya on Guha ; Chandrasekhara loves the eighteen Vadyas but especially so the Suddhamaddala,peculiar to Tiruvarur temple - aShtAdashavAdyAdi priyam , atishuddhamaddalavAdyapriyam

In Devi, object of Dikshitar's regular worship, the composer had a deity who was Herself the presiding deity of music - sangIta-ShyAmala as he refers to her in his Sanskrit substitute for the English' National Anthem. She could not be contemplated without the Vina; through it She is expounding the true form of the ten gamakas not only in Her own playing, but in the music of others too. mANikyavallakIpANi in the beautiful Varali piece on mInAkshi; navamANikyavallakIvAdini in the nIilambari piece on Nilayatakshi; vINAvAdana dashagamaka kriye in the other well-known Minakshi song;

She is delighting and expressing Her appreciation by nodding Her head: sAmagAna shiraH kampini in Nilotpalamba in Ritigaula ; sAmagAnalole in a Kamakshi piece in Saugandhini raga and vINAbheri veNuvAdyAdi vinodini  Abheri; bhAva rAga tAla modinIm (bhaja re re citta)muralI vINA gAna vinodini (SharAvati); gAnalole (in Gaurivelavali) dundubhi vAdya nAda bheda nAdavinodini (shrI dum durge) bhAva rAga tAla vishvAsinI  (in both pancAshaTpITharUpiNi in Devagandhara and abhayAmba in Kalyani);  samgIta sAhitya sAraGNAnnute in a Malavasri piece relating to Shrivanchyam.

It follows that according to these composers, Dikshitar, Tyagaraja and the like, the fit object  of adoration by the art of music is God Himself and no mortal being, however eminent he may  be. If  to Tyagaraja, the Rasika-siromani to enjoy his songs is Rama Himself, to Dikshitar also  the enjoyer par excellence of his music is Divinity itself.In vATIvasanta bhairavi, Prasanna  Venkateshvara is described as the  rasika-shekhara; in the kamalamba navavarana kritis  Devi figures as the Sangita rasika (Todi and Punnagavarali songs)  and in the  rasamanjari   piece, GuruGuha is  referred to as rasika pungava. Dikshitar says in his mayamalavagaula  piece 'Shrinathadiguruguho Jayati Jayati' which is deemed to be his dedicatory song   "Guruguha the Lord is seated in my Sahasrara-Lotus  and is drinking the nectar of my sweet music"  mAmakasahasra kamalAsInO mAdhuryagAnAmR^itapAnaH