thiruvasakam in symphony

Thanks tmrrmt!
I am a subscriber, but i forgot the password! he he he he!
However after reading this I m happy that I am not a patient!
Having said that, it is better to suffer from Musical Hallucinations of IR songs!! ;-) :wink:

where can one get TiS in UK ? please guide

Contact sundardhana@aol.com in UK for TbI
Thanks.
YIA!

Srikanth defending TiS in Dhool forum where there are some criticisms like `this doesn't have rich orchestration like a typical symphony' and `Raja sings off-key at many places - should've used other singers' etc.

Please read on as this is kind of educating:

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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.

The only issue I can question at this point of time is producers missing out or ignoring NRI contributions. When corporate sponsors deserves logo for their contributions, I feel NRI deserves an acknowledgement. Most NRI’s in USA know that Mr. Shankar Kumar, Mr.Sridhar Seetharaman and their team of IR fans worked hard to get the funds. Please remember that many contributed from their personal savings just for the passion they have for IR’s music. I like to ask Rev. Jegath, why NRI contributions were never mentioned anywhere?

Cheers.
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Sriks
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app_engine

I dont know if Dr Shankar Kumar or Sridhar Seetharaman is really looking for their name in the back of the cover. It is a team work and they put "TIS-USA" in the back of the cover. I think itis more than enough. What would have been upset for them is to get a song that doesnt meet the expectatino and in that aspect I am sure all who contributed are "more than" happy.

I AM 100% SURE THAT Dr Shankar, Sridhar Seetharama, Ananth Govind and many others who contributed to this are directly or indirectly in maestro's hear/mind. That itself is enough. To my even if I talk to these great people, I get the feeling that I talk to Maestro. Such a diving feeling that you get when you talk to these people. So in a way, they are all "gifted" to have contributed to this task. I joined much later to this effort so I really am missing the finer opportunities, but nevertheless, I will do whatever I can from my contribution for both TIS and any other project that IR comes with (not only IR, but in general any such historical effort, after all it is what Fr Jegath wanted to do, but he wanted to hit big in his first attempt, so IR, so TIS!)

In one way these blogs do popularize the album. So i am happy that people are talking about these.

Quote:

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Most NRI’s in USA know that Mr. Shankar Kumar, Mr.Sridhar Seetharaman and their team of IR fans worked hard to get the funds. Please remember that many contributed from their personal savings just for the passion they have for IR’s music. I like to ask Rev. Jegath, why NRI contributions were never mentioned anywhere?

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Very apt !! Never once did I hear, read or see these hard working guys being mentioned for their extra-ordinary & ginormous efforts. Atleast they should have been honored during the release in Madras. All it would have taken is 2 minutes.

Normal Man,

when TISK et al are quite happy with the 'recognition' 'reward' they received, why are you bothered by the lack of it?

All these talk of lack of recognition seems to go counter to the spirit of the project.

As njv said, the album says TiS-USA. what more is needed? The individual names of all the NRIs? If so how about me and other Eelam Tamils who contributed? Create another category for NREs?

All this talk is 'sinna thanam' nothing more.

NOM

Besides where do you see Fr. Jegath's face or name on the cover?

"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."

That's the best part I liked in Srikanth's posting...That's the unique strength of Raja - to provide high class classicals of east & west together and still maintain them in the possible pure form...and they'll blend so harmoniously together...