Thiruvasagam is a massive subject and Western Classical /Oratorio is another massive subject. The composer who tries to merge both the subjects is expected to know at least 80% of both the subjects. I need not vouch for Ilayaraja’s knowledge in both the areas.
In order to review such works the reviewer should have considerable knowledge on both the subjects. I have not come across anyone yet who knows the grammar of an Oratorio and Thiruvasagam together. What I mean is the reviewer’s knowledge should be more than what “Google” search offers. I feel this is essential in order to understand this genre of music.
In the world of Amateur reviewers and Bloggers, I see this. Play the CD and listen to all 6 tracks and start writing a review, “song-A” has mesmerizing counter points all over the track. I bet from the technical side, only a minority would really know about a counter point. There will be just a handful who really understands counter points placed between Thiruvasagam verses.
The next comment, The pitch and landing problems during the rendering. “Many have commented verses are off key in few places and bothering”, I find this to be totally superficial. This is what Ilayaraja has been singing in the movies. This is a known fact that he goes off-key on various occasions in film songs. Nothing new, we need to remember this is not a song, This is a verse so I really do not know if this would fit into the grammar of Carnatic music while rendering.
Yes! I hear "Picth is important in any kind of music" Frankly, this issue does not write off the entire effort. If you don’t agree with me, you should be ready to write of all the songs sung by him in the past.
Crossover or not? How many really know what crossover is all about? Or I would rephrase, what is crossover music? From what little I know - If you remove the lead vocals, this would be a top class western classical work and if you remove the backgrounds scores this would be a Thiruvasagam rendering. Nothing would change; The scores blends well in most “points” when mixed, frankly the blending and negotiations seemed seamless in most places. Why does it blend? Harmonies, Harmonies blend both the forms perfectly and in fact I was amazed to find we can do such things in harmony construction. When a new genre is born there would be confusion that could draw criticism due to lack of knowledge.
Tamilians have been exposed to Ilayaraja’s style of western classical arrangement for 2 decades now. Hence most would not hesitate to second-guess or compare musical parts from his earlier movie tracks. This just shows the enormous following Raja has in film music genre. But think about a westerner who has not heard his work before, he/she would find it unique and talk about this, after all this can encourage more composers to work on this new genre.
Considering all these factors, as I mentioned my Blog
http://srikanthd.blogspot.com earlier, Thiruvasagam Oratorio by Illayaraja should NOT be reviewed or compared with any kind of film music. This is different and this needs proper mood to listen. The finer points in music needs to be understood as a whole package, this takes time, time in the sense a calendar not a stopwatch. Bottom line as a whole package - this effort is unique and an experiment that will open a new genre for composers. , a good start.
