Ilaiyaraaja. Introduction to a Unique Music Genius!!

irir123

Banned
Hi Jette - it is a trendsetting song of the late 80s, about a young girl wooing a brooding, introverted young man by singing this song on stage - the entire song was shot MTV style with that grungy modern pop look!

Yes, they are indeed violins and that short 30 sec violins/strings that you hear is a creative exploration of Raag Mohanam! you need not know Indian classical music, but still you enjoyed it right ?! such creative usage of violins is a salient trademark of Ilaiyaraaja - there are other pieces

it is from the album AGNI NATCHATIRAM, which you can get from any Indian music store

Give me some time, I will upload a few more pieces, to showcase the composer's versatility - btw, I have attached another score in the MOVIES SCORE thread - would appreciate your feedback to that as well!
 

irir123

Banned
One more score attached here - it is another theme music written by Ilaiyaraaja - let me know your feedback
 

Jette

Rear Admiral of O Theatre & the 4 - 1 + a few more
I like listening to a lot of different music, depending on my mood
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. I enjoyed the 2 songs I mentioned earlier in this thread and actually I have been listening to Indian music before, but that`s many years ago, when I visited Sri Lanka. I have allways enjoyed listening to music, from countries that I visited (or lived in), it`s like beeing there again (cheap holiday
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Jette
 

irir123

Banned
Crossover score

The score I am attaching here starts with Raag PANTHUVARALI (a Raag meant to bring out melancholy) and then seamlessly changes to baroque style music with some modern elements thrown in as well!
 

irir123

Banned
Re: Crossover score

And the score is composed by Ilaiyaraaja, year - 1981, available in coolgoose site
 

Yuvan

New member
Re: Links of interest!

I RE-Discovered Sri Ilaiyaraaja about a decade ago. I can vouch that He is the worlds most underrated artist EVER, in ANY form of art!

I've been "blessed" to have experienced Sri Ilaiyaraaja! I am VERY VERY LUCKY!!

I registered here, not knowing anything about this forum, just so I could reply to this thread.
 

AKBAR BASHA S

New member
Dear all,

This is AKBAR BASHA S, from Chennai.
I do not know anything about music - technically.
I do not know what is Indian Classical or Westren Classical or any form of music.

Since, This is about Ilaiyaraaja. I do involve.
Indeed, I do not know about RaviShankar or Zubin Metha, etc,.

I was only exposed to film music. Dominant in South India is Ilaiyaraaja.
HE is the only composer who writes scores using pen and paper only. He does not require a key board or any such musical instruments to write the score.
here I would like to higlight one thing - THE SPEED OF WRITING NOTES. THough I do not know ABC of music, I can say that no one can write such great and precise music score at the speed of Ilaiyaraaja. Such a confidence is provided for me, so people with great musical knowledge will very appreciate his highly expressive music.

His music is simple but nice & high-level music. Simple in sense everyone can understand easily.

ALso I need to mention about the FLOW - the musical notes to flow very fleuntly than any other fliud in nature.

About music recently Ilaiyaraaja said that - music does not belong any place - if you talk about tones, it comes to frequencies and it is above the surface - once it comes to frequencies - you cannot find differences in music. This you can realise if listen for instance "Polla Vinayen" of "Thiruvasagam - a symphonic oratoria - by Ilaiyaraaja".

This I realised very long ago by listening to his film compositions.

I would like add my experience of listening that Polla Vinayen for the first time.
'I was not able to listen to lyrics or verses either in Tamil or English (due to my concentration on the orchestral sounds). I listened only the tune or melody (not technically) along with the orchestral backing. I started moving to music. I given myself completely to the notes. Tears came out of my eyes - they dried by the music itself. This kind of tears coming out and drying up, repeated for througout the song. At one stage I felt I am at very new place. I can only name that palce as eternal world. I felt the presence of God very close to me in the form of light-rays ( I cannot explain completely as this experience is sub-consious - only I write what I could retrive).
Yes, I saw GOD. This is really true feeling not anything else. Later only I heard the feeling of "Balamurali Krishna - a great musician - master of Ilaiyaraaja also", which completely coincided with my feelings.

This kind music is written by this simple Indian born homosapien.

This lfetime will not suffice to listen or explore his musical scores. But he has done all this with very schooling and other facilities.

Thanking You,

Yours,
AKBAR BASHA S
 

AKBAR BASHA S

New member
In my previous mail, I made few typing mistakes as it was my real raw feeling directly came out of my heart.

now, the corrected lines:
Also I need to mention about the FLOW - the musical notes will flow very fleuntly than any other fliud in nature.


This lifetime will not suffice to listen or explore his musical scores. But he has done all this without any schooling (only little) and other facilities.

AKBAR BASHA S
 

AKBAR BASHA S

New member
Dear All,

To write about Ilaiyaraaja's music, this lifetime, is not enough.

I do not know anything about music, kindly help me to learn about process of musical communication.

But, only I read about, the analogy between music and painting as Tone-painting, the analogy between music and architecture as "stones in space whereas tones in time" and the analogy between music and literature. And also heard about the metaphors used in music.
Never realised all these things completely.
Only, I may understand a bit while I listen to Ilaiyaraaja. But, I feel much of those elements are there in his music.

Anyhow I do move to music very well and I can realise so many things about the expressive quality of music.

Yes, I am a baby. Without any language of speech or music, the baby can communicate/express its feelings. Of course baby's communication is a kind of music.

Ilaiyaraaja has also said dogs do bark with different ragas (scales) depending on their mood.
Ilaiyaraaja's music is for all life-forms not only for rational beings.
I do feel with music we can communicate to all kind of species in the universe (not only with human beings).

AKBAR BASHA S
 

corno

Vice Admiral of Notes, Dots & at times also Slurs
Sr. Regulator
Hi irir123,

Could you please elaborate on your links, maybe write why you're posting them, so as not just to "clutter up" the thread with links?

Thanks,
Thomas
 

onesuch music

New member
so of the issues really brought out, not clarified, I would like to comment on: (just did an ilaiyaraaja google search after a very long time, and found this site!)

1 billion people and only one composer like Ilayaraja per 1000 people or square footage or per century or some benchmark that we can relate to? Actually, there are several Indian geniuses and IR may be equal or lesser in terms of substance, however greater than all of them in style, orchestration, concepts, innovation and complexity. In fact greater than any composer of any period or any place.

One must measure a person' genius not by his wishful thinking or works, but by what he does for a living and that is 99% of his life!!!!

(Thiruvasagam Symphony or other non-film works liek HTNI or NBW do not have any immediate impact of a 25th Symphony or a Four seasons or the intellectual contemplative gait of a Enperor concerto or even the infinite variety of a Ilayaraja film song.)


Here it is, and let me know if I am wrong about the "unparallelable" genius of this man!!!

So, for "corno" here is one of say 2000 hit songs:

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/l/26/s/movie_name.5143/music_director.504/

a great song for download

http://as01.coolgoose.com/music/song.php?id=62238

P.S.: as regards Ilayaraja' versions of Star Wars themes, there are abundant interludes and preludes that have more originality and thrill factors that are hard to achieve.
 

onesuch music

New member
Anyone like to learn more about Indian film music pls don't hesitate to write me. I would like to colloborate in mutually beneficial musical ventures in the US. My location is Texas.
 
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