New age IR's Raga Choices

Continuing on the topic, folks like us will continue to try and box him with more boxes. I do not see any way to categorize him under one box - it's sort of searching for a unified field theory. We must however, in this journey of trying to uncover him, should not timebox him:smile2:

The man is wired in a basic way and that has not changed in any way. He had a strong WCM and CCM basics, but quickly learned how to integrate disco, rock and roll from his own senior orchestral colleagues. He was at the same time, doing unconventional things like integrating shehnai into his mostly South Indian music! While he was trying to do this, he also jumped on to integrating the synthesizer into his music selectively.

The 90s saw him trying to replace some parts of his 'hit combination' - replace strings with synthesized versions, replace percussion with synthesized ones. There were hits and misses. We must remember that he worked as a music assistant for about 150 films under GKV. He has enough time to figure out what will and will not work. That carried him through the first 10 years of his career. The next 10 years was augmented by his additional CCM learning and inputs from his senior orchestral colleagues. 20 years into his career, he tried to re-engg his running train - hard stuff to do. Some of his experiments failed (it continues to fail even today, in my view). Such is the world of musical experimentation with such wide choices that he is expected to dish out.

Most of the popular MDs in IFM today are going through what Raja did in his first 10 years. However, they are nowhere close to what he did in his first 10 years, nor do they have enough opportunity or the output or the quality of 76-86 Raja. All of them without exception run out of steam quickly.

To illustrate one more case of Raja's 90s and how I saw it differently, try this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32S3qjLk4t8

Vicky and Vel saw Chakravagam being used very well by Raja. I saw the choir arrangement and the synthesizer wonders that he has executed in the same track. Please ignore the childish visuals. Even today, I keep wondering how you can integrate scat singing, a complex choir with a brilliant synthesized flute into a chakravagam melody. Hear the second interlude and it will blow the socks of any serious music lover. I am not complaining that he used chakravagam as he has used it several times before. I am only delighted by the modern treatment he gave to this ragam.

For every one of this, there will be 3 others that did not work that well.

In short, he is the best thing that happened to music before him and after him. He has managed to take the best of both Thiagaraja and Bach and add his own flavor and elevate mean mortals like me to levels that cannot be imagined otherwise.

Welcome here Ravi. :D Very nice to see you here. Loved the way you see Raja and all interesting view points. Aha! Like they say in The Lord of the Rings, 'Once ring will rule them all', you said it, 'He is the best thing that happened to music before him and after him. Great statement with a perfect example. Like to hear more from you.

Before I forget.

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Originally Posted by Sureshs65

Jai,

I want to start a thread on Raja's 90s song, rarely heard ones. I did put out around 80 songs on twitter before work pressure overtook me. Will start this here after some time. I don't want to restrict it only to raga choices there but we can discuss ragas when it is relevant.

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I'm ok with this. btw, what's your twitter id?

Ravi Natarajan,

Welcome.. Good to read your posts! I think 'boxing him' is not the main point. Most of us know how futile the exercise is.. :D Right from early days he has kept us guessing.. 'kuyile kavikkuyile', 'andhi mazhai' . People have been branding them safely as 'fusion' - which really doesn't say much. Anyway now that we generalized, can discuss all perspectives in trying to understand our man - the enigma..

'alli sundaravalli' is a good song to show that raga name doesn't really matter for him. He can do the same, be it sahana or desh. However, in 'alli' case, I am unable to call it great even through there's catchy tune, good raga, orchestration. Something's lacking - sorry..

Suresh,

Both are pretty good sivaranjani's. Even though hundreds of sivaranjani's come out in films & other genres, we can see IR's edge so dramatically in these songs.

I too can't find much to pick one over the other. Maybe they are somewhat close in timeline. Interestingly, the rasathanthram is more TFM-y than the other IR mallu songs I've heard.

RR,

My twitter id is @Raaga_Suresh

RR,

Those Sivaranjanis are separated by a decade I think. 'Sakkar Deva' was a 1993 release and 'Rasathantram' was probably a 2002/2003 release.

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Originally Posted by Sureshs65

RR,My twitter id is @Raaga_Suresh

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God.. you are a tweet-aholic ! will have chances to interact once a while there..

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Those Sivaranjanis are separated by a decade I think. 'Sakkar Deva' was a 1993 release and 'Rasathantram' was probably a 2002/2003 release.

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Interesting.. I see only the synth usage as a major difference. Sivaranjani & 90's remind me the irresistible 'kuyil paattu'..

This may not be not specific to IR's raga choices, but this nice article by a westerner shows how they perceive raaja's music -- cheeni kum, naan kadavul and mumbai xpress....


An "Unknown" Indian Film Music master

Posted By: Steven A. Kennedy on March 9, 2009 - 9:00 PM -- Film Score Daily magazine

While “Bollywood” films tend to claim a more universal appeal, India’s cinema has unique regional flavors which are as equally prolific. Many of the films tend to last an average of an hour more than the typical American film. Composers are generally musical directors whose instrumental underscore often is minimal with a predominance of songs. One of the most prolific of these composers is maestro Illayaraja.
Ilaiyaraaja has composed over 900 film scores (take that Morricone!) and a host of crossover albums. Many of the films he writes for though tend to be in more regional languages which tends to limit their marketability. Limit seems an odd word to choose given the 200 million or so people for whom Ilaiyaraaja is a more familiar name. Over the years, the composer has explored combining Western and Indian musics to create an intriguing blend of sounds and is credited with writing the first Asian symphony. One of his other superb accomplishments is an oratorio, Thiruvasagam,which is a massive work for chorus and orchestra. Born in the Tamil region of Southern India in 1943, Ilaiyaraaja began his career in the 1970s in the Tamil film industry sometimes referred to as Kollywood. With over 4500 songs to his credit as well, he is undoubtedly one of India’s best kept secrets.
Before sharing much about the music, it must be pointed out that for this reviewer, getting a handle on the extensive career and music of this composer is a bit overwhelming. Imagine summing up the career of say John Williams or Ennio Morricone with three film scores and a couple of instrumental classical albums. To say we are scratching the surface would be a gross understatement as the best one can hope to do here is to prick the skin.
For those however looking to hear how Ilaiyaraajacombines Western styles with Indian ones there are two albums which can be recommended. One of the things the composer is noted for is his exploration of Western classical traditions melding them into an Indian musical context and sensibility. In two crossover discs, imported on Oriental Records (www.orientalrecords.com) you can hear two distinct approaches. In How to Name It?, the composer focuses primarily on exploring the Italian Baroque period. With a prominent solo violin often playing a raga-inspired melodic idea, strings churn away underneath in a rather intriguing fusion of two ancient traditions (though the one is far more ancient than the other!). There are some modish moments as well here recalling the odd funky music of 1960s pop sounds as well, but the bulk of the album maintains this Baroque sensibility. One gets a sense of the inventiveness of Ilaiyaraaja in this disc due to the semi-improvisational feel that is created by the melodic direction of the music—perhaps a true melding of East and West. A second release from the same label, Nothing But Wind, shifts into the next Western musical soundworld of the later 18th century with a Mozartian orchestra supporting a rather beautiful flute line, played by Hariprasad Chaurasia (sort of the Indian answer to Jean-Pierre Rampal or James Galway). The five tracks of this latter release might be an easier entry into this unique blending of musics for most Western listeners.
Three film scores representing different genres were available to sample all from more recent films. The first of these is for a 2005 comedy, Mumbai Express (Venus Records 1542). Over the 6 ample tracks here, we here the jazzy funky sounds of “Aila Re” to samples of underscoring with dialogue in “Pyaar Chahiye” which give way to another beautiful lyric song. As all good film music does, Illayaraja’s score simply supports narrative with appropriate melodrama cast in moving string sounds. In “Bander Ki Dug Dugi” Indian percussion give way to an almost Grusin-like 80s jazz sound with vocals. This blend of dialogue that moves into song is indicative of Indian cinema and what this disc allows is fans of the film to hear the complete context of the songs that are used in the film and how the instrumental music weaves into and out of the song material. The one instrumental track, “Monkey Chatter,” is actually an 80s-ish jazz instrumental piece that uses a variety of electronic keyboards and some acoustic instruments (or an extremely dryly recorded live orchestra) for a suberb jazzy track. Most listeners would be hard pressed to know that this track was composed by an Indian composer demonstrating Illayaraja’s complete mastery of the Western forms explored here (this can be heard equally in the more classical crossover releases available for review as well). The melodic content of the score has an almost spiritual quality at times that makes it quite an engaging listen. The disc runs to 45 minutes but note that 16 minutes of that are repeated as bookends to the central material.
Cheeni Kum (2007) is a romantic comedy and features vocalist Shreya Ghosal who sings most of the tracks here (Eros Music 10, www.erosentertainment.com). The title song has a disco back beat with a very catchy melodic idea. Catchy and engaging melodies are part and parcel for illayaraja’s music which truly do grab the ear in such a way that you surprisingly find yourself humming along with them almost upon first hearing. Harder rock sounds appear cast against a semi-improvisational jazz approach throughout this score as well and dialogue can appear at random moments as part of the texture. You can get a sense for the expert combination of raga and Western melodic sensibility in the pop ballad “Jaane Do Na” as the melody is outlined in piano before moving into a more pop style. The primary melodic idea is recast in the other songs here as well with some slight variation. Where that melody ends up is what makes for interesting listening as we hear the primary opening move off into fascinating and beautiful realizations. The orchestral backdrop, with occasional near techno sounds, and interesting electronic keyboard elaborations still gives some of the music an 1980s feel, though the general thrust of the music stands as an easily contemporary as any other new film song and as engaging as those now made famous in Slumdog Millionaire. There are two instrumental tracks to round off the album. The first is a more traditional orchestral piece the second a electronic-laced jazzy number. The former suffers a lot of audio distortion unfortunately. At 30 minutes, this might be a harder disc to recommend. The music contained here actually comes from earlier Ilaiyaraaja songs polished up for presentation in this current film so fans are getting to hear perhaps some older favorites in a new light. The sound quality is not as good in the purely instrumental segments, but it is for the beautiful singing voice of Ghosal and melodic content that can recommend this release.
Finally, the most recent score made available for sampling is Naan Kadavul, released this past January in India (Pyramid Saimara Music 118, www.pstl.in). For this action drama, Ilaiyaraaja explores more traditional Indian melodic content and chanting in choral groupings in the opening track (the disc does not have translated titles for reference) which features traditional instrumental choices (though often cast in a more rocklike sound) and fabulous drumming accompaniments that form an almost hypnotic repetitive motion. The following track tends to continue the focus on an updated Indian music sound and lyric that has a sensuous quality as it winds in a semi-chromatic line which will later be taken on by solo instruments. The music for Naan Kadavul features, if you will, some of Ilaiyaraaja’s most Indian-influenced sounds and musical ideas far nearer to the surface than in the previous discs available for review. Repetitive beats and quasi-chant lines are similar in some respects to African drumming and their minimalist interpretations. Melodic ideas have that ancient ethnic sound that finds distant cousins in the music of the Middle East as well. As with other music heard by the composer, one is never struck that these are derivative, or adapted musics, being exploited. They are part of a masterful technique uniting the various musical sounds at his disposal. At barely 26 minutes, this is a relatively short disc by most standards.
It is quite clear that Ilaiyaraaja’s respect is well-warranted. His music is immediately engaging, with a popular sensibility that gives way to detailed construction upon further exploration. Working with a variety of synthetic production, live orchestra, and fabulous singers and Indian music instrumentalists lends the music a unique quality that one discovers is part of the style of this composer. Here is someone who has discovered a way to fuse musics from multiple periods both East and West to create a sound that serves each subsequent film. There is much of the composer’s music to be explored and even with the language barrier that ultimately exists, the music is immediately communicative and often entrancing.
With access via the internet, tracking down many of these scores with the above links provided, will make it easier for the curious to hear the work of one of India’s finest composers writing music that even as it suggests Western forms has a global transcendence often missing in much of the USA’s simplistic hinting at global cultural styles.

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Originally Posted by vel

It is quite clear that Ilaiyaraaja’s respect is well-warranted. His music is immediately engaging, with a popular sensibility that gives way to detailed construction upon further exploration. Working with a variety of synthetic production, live orchestra, and fabulous singers and Indian music instrumentalists lends the music a unique quality that one discovers is part of the style of this composer. Here is someone who has discovered a way to fuse musics from multiple periods both East and West to create a sound that serves each subsequent film. There is much of the composer’s music to be explored and even with the language barrier that ultimately exists, the music is immediately communicative and often entrancing.

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idhai urakka solvom ulagirrkku .....