A Tamil couple living in Germany thanked maestro Ilayaraja, which also left the music director stunned, for the great medical miracle that he performed unwittingly. The incident was reported in a well-known magazine recently. Well, it seems that a few months ago the young couple was told by the doctors in Germany that the child in the mother's womb showed no movement. The worried couple went back home and turned on their music set to listen to Ilayaraja's Thiruvasagam. Surprisingly, the lady started to feel the baby kicking. They repeated the music many times and felt the same result. The doctors were also surprised when the lady delivered the baby a few months later through normal labor.

Source: http://www.behindwoods.com

Ilaiyaraaja unplugged

Ilaiyaraaja

This is good news for everyone who admires the genius of music composer . Ilaiyaraaja

He is preparing for his first ever live concert in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai in collaboration with the Hungary Symphony Orchestra. He will perform on January 26 in Mumbai. The maestro is currently in Budapest, recording for Pankaj Kapur’s forthcoming film Mausam with producer Sheetal Talwar and his wife, filmmaker Bhavna Talwar.

The couple has planned Ilaiyaraaja’s three concerts where he will play Tiruvacakam, the ancient sacred hymns. Accompanying Ilaiyaraaja will be the Hungary Symphony Orchestra and its conductor Laszlo Kovacs.

Speaking to us from Budapest, the soft-spoken musician says, “Yes, we’re planning a concert in Mumbai and other places.” Ilaiyaraaja, who often visits Budapest for music collaborations, adds, “Working in collaboration with symphonies is not difficult for me. It only requires a lot more preparation. All the music has to be written down in detail before work begins.”

He says that live concerts are not an extra burden. “It is music in another form. Whether I’m composing for a film or playing at a concert, I’m doing music. The medium is secondary. I’m only concerned with music.”

We ask Ilaiyaraaja about his renowned aptitude for reflexive composition, and he laughs and says, “Who knows how many births I had to go through before music came so easily to me? It’s not about how much music I know but about how well music knows me. The greatness is not in me, but in the music. I don’t compose the music. It’s just there within me and it comes out. I don’t make an effort to create music. It just flows out, like the conversation I’m having with you.”

Ilaiyaraaja unplugged

Ilaiyaraaja

This is good news for everyone who admires the genius of music composer . Ilaiyaraaja

He is preparing for his first ever live concert in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai in collaboration with the Hungary Symphony Orchestra. He will perform on January 26 in Mumbai. The maestro is currently in Budapest, recording for Pankaj Kapur’s forthcoming film Mausam with producer Sheetal Talwar and his wife, filmmaker Bhavna Talwar.

The couple has planned Ilaiyaraaja’s three concerts where he will play Tiruvacakam, the ancient sacred hymns. Accompanying Ilaiyaraaja will be the Hungary Symphony Orchestra and its conductor Laszlo Kovacs.

Speaking to us from Budapest, the soft-spoken musician says, “Yes, we’re planning a concert in Mumbai and other places.” Ilaiyaraaja, who often visits Budapest for music collaborations, adds, “Working in collaboration with symphonies is not difficult for me. It only requires a lot more preparation. All the music has to be written down in detail before work begins.”

He says that live concerts are not an extra burden. “It is music in another form. Whether I’m composing for a film or playing at a concert, I’m doing music. The medium is secondary. I’m only concerned with music.”

We ask Ilaiyaraaja about his renowned aptitude for reflexive composition, and he laughs and says, “Who knows how many births I had to go through before music came so easily to me? It’s not about how much music I know but about how well music knows me. The greatness is not in me, but in the music. I don’t compose the music. It’s just there within me and it comes out. I don’t make an effort to create music. It just flows out, like the conversation I’m having with you.”

Not our duty to worry about trends, says Ilaiyaraja

Meera Srinivasan

Deepa H Ramakrishnan

CHENNAI, January 13, 2010

The Hindu Music director Isai Gnani Ilayaraja during an interview with The Hindu in Chennai on Tuesday. Photo: R. Ravindran

“One could work on a lot of albums such as ‘Thiruvasagam in Symphony,’ but with issues such as illegal downloading from the internet and piracy, it is difficult,” says music composer Ilaiyaraja, who recently entered into an agreement with Malaysia-based Agi Music to administrate all of his work before the year 2000.

In an interview to The Hindu on Tuesday, he says: “If a big company comes forward to take care of these matters, one could. I am doing music for myself and I don’t have the time and inclination to address these issues.”

On how ‘Paa’ happened, Mr. Ilaiyaraja says: “Balki [director of Paa] is a big fan of mine, and he asked me if I could give some of my older songs for the film, saying that the audiences in the north had not heard this kind of music.” But the composer told Balki that he would think about what kind of music would be suitable for the subject of the film. “A mother cooking exclusively for her child might be preparing just rice and buttermilk, but it will be immensely tasty. Fast food, on the other hand, may be very tasty, but it has not been prepared exclusively for you, you see.” Asked if raga-based compositions were becoming scarce in film music, he quickly intercepts: “It is not our duty to worry about trends. We cannot criticise anybody’s music. Each one works according to a requirement,” and it was not necessary to sit in judgement over music. “If some prefer fast food, what’s wrong?”

On some kinds of music being branded as having appeal to the youth, he says: “Branding music as “for the youth” is only an escapist tendency. Preference in music is only about restrictions of the mind. On singing for his son in the film ‘Goa’, he smiles and says “I only do my role. In fact, I have not taught my children anything.” Sometimes, he does make suggestions on the lyrics.

“I often ask them why they use lyrics that explain the visuals on the screen when the sequence is self-explanatory? We could avoid redundant lyrics,” he notes. “I have had the opportunity to see how the lyrics complement the tune during my experience of working with greats like Kavignar Kannadsan.”

Emphasising the need for a “natural sense of aesthetics” in the arts and films, he says: “Theory or vidwat might appeal to the intellect, but it is what you experience that will touch the heart…no one can form any rule for the arts. It’s all in the way you look things.”

“Good compositions are those that seem fresh even years after they were composed. When you listen to a song, it should make you sit up and wonder, “Hey, what is this!” or give you an inexplicable feeling of joy or relate beautifully to the music in you. Without any of these three, it would be sheer noise.”

On what appeals to him about his own music in retrospect, he says: “Everything has to. I should have first enjoyed it myself before it came out. When the note ‘sa’ synchronises with the pitch, my identity simply vanishes. Then there is no question of “I composed it.” It just comes!” Mr. Ilaiyaraja also speaks about Ramana Maharishi, whom he has been reading and thinking about. He has also made some compositions on the subject.

“Some are complicated venbaas. I don’t know how, but the lyrics just happen,” he says signing off with a recently-composed song, playing his dear harmonium

Noted mridangam exponent Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, former Reserve Bank of India Governor Y.V. Reddy and nonagenarian artiste Zohra Segal were honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian awards at a glittering ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's ‘guru' Ramakant Achrekar, boxer Vijender Singh, leading actor of yesteryear Rekha, sound technician and Oscar Award winner Resul Pookutty and car racer Narain Karthikeyan were among those conferred with the Padma Shri.

The Ashoka Hall reverberated with applause as actor Saif Ali Khan walked up to to receive his Padma Shri at the function attended by Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other guests. Painter Akbar Padamsee, former Cabinet Secretary and a current Planning Commission member B.K. Chaturvedi, Moosa Raza (civil service), educationists Anil Bordia and G.P. Chopra were honoured with the Padma Bhushan.

Other Padma Bhushan awardees were: cardiologist B.M. Hegde, nuclear scientist Bikash Sinha, historian Bipin Chandra, kathak exponent Kumudini Lakhia, panchavadya exponent Kuzhur Narayana Marar, versatile artiste Mallika Sarabhai, banker N. Vaghul, eye specialist Noshir Minoo Shroff, music composer Shrinivas Khale, sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan and ayurveda practitioner E.T. Narayanan Mooss.

Nemai Ghosh, , music exponent Shobha Raju, environment activist Ranjit Bhargava, TVS Motor Company Chairman Venu Srinivasan, businessmen Irshad Mirza, Kapil Mohan (trade and industry), founder of Nirma Karsanbhai Patel were among those who received the Padma Shri.

On a day when A R Rahman missed the Golden Globe, there was an announcement that provided some solace to music buffs, that too from the hometown of the Mozart of Madras.

For, the Tamil Nadu government on Monday announced that maestro Ilayaraja will be honoured with an award named after legendary Carnatic music exponent M S Subbulakshmi.

According to an official release, ace writer Jayakanthan and danseuse Padma Subramaniam will also be honoured along with Ilayaraja. While Bharathi award will be presented to the Sahitya Academy Award winner, the Bharathanatyam guru will be given with Balasaraswathi award.

The award carries a purse of Rs one lakh each, the release added. The State government, while moving the demand for grants for Tamil Nadu Tourism and Culture department for the year 2008-09, had announced that eminent literary scholars and artists would be honoured with awards on the lines of ‘Kalaimamani’ award. Accordingly, the awards were announced on Monday.

Epithets about his music acumen are redundant. Connoisseurs, the world over, treasure the compositions of this wizard from Pannaipuram. Yet Ilaiyaraja bowed down before the audience and touched the stage in supplication. The act of humility was worthy of emulation. His joy on sharing the proscenium with inimitable achievers of the calibre of Balamuralikrishna who came up to sing the ever-fresh ‘Chinna Kannan Azhaikkiraan …’ that evening at the Nehru Indoor Stadium was genuine. Singing, conducting the orchestra along with Purushothaman and indulging in friendly banter with the effervescent emcee of the evening, Prakash Raj, it was a Raja show all the way. And like in the good old days, it was a full-fledged orchestra that dazzled on stage.

The presence of musicians from Budapest, who had come down to dedicate a couple of their compositions to Ilaiyaraja was a reiteration of the renown of this magician with the baton!

“You are all seated while I stand before you. And like me, my music will also ‘stand’ in your hearts forever,” began Ilaiyaraja. “But now shall I sit down and present this song?” ‘Janani Janani …’ his melodious Kalyani creation, followed.

Raja’s compositions about the greatness of a mother’s love are most cherished. When Jesudas entered, it was only natural he would open with ‘Amma Endrazhaikkadha …’ in Kalyani again. He did. SPB, for his part, came up with a very expressive ‘Naanaaga Naanillai Thaayae’ to round off the sentiment in scintillating fashion. The eyes of many in the audience had turned moist. “I lost my mother recently,” said the person beside me, as he wiped away his tears.

“The mother singing for her baby is a norm. But Ilaiyaraja’s lullabies were for the mother herself,” Prakash noted. “His songs make you forget your sorrow and help you unwind,” he added. Kamal Haasan’s thoughts were similar. Though not present in person, his bytes that were beamed on screen said enough about his admiration for Raja.

Some of Prakash’s posers resulted in ecstatic music sojourns. “Tell us about symphony,” he requested. “This is a show for cinema numbers. Are you sure you want it,” Ilaiyaraja queried back. “I’m a rustic and you are asking me such things,” he chuckled. And the next moment the imposing string section offered an aural fiesta – a Schubert piece that culminated in Raja’s own ‘Idhayam Pogudhae’! Amidst deafening applause he explained, “If you are made to listen to the verses of four lyricists at the same time, can you appreciate it? But listen to this once again,” he suggested and made his violins alone play, and then the cello and others. “The beauty of the blend, when played together, is immeasurable. Simply put, this is symphony. Schubert composed the piece in the first part of the 1800s. I was so inspired by it that I created ‘Idhayam Pogudhae,’ but it is original,” he explained. The initiated in the crowd sat rapt in attention.

The combo of director Mahendran and Ilaiyaraja has resulted in some wondrous music. “But the ‘Paruvamae …’ duet with its montages that had the lead pair on a jog is intriguing Sir! The visual and aural effect it had on us was tremendous,” began Prakash.

When Mahendran told Raja that the pair would keep running as the song was played in the background, the composer decided that the sound of footsteps would form the beat for the entire song. “I made a person stomp his feet standing stationary before the mike. It was an ear sore. I tried all kinds of sounds but nothing worked. So I had two of my musicians – Kanniah, my tabla player, [he couldn’t make it to the show because of his delicate health] and Jayacha, who is here, to tap their thighs with both their hands, because the soles of two pairs of legs had to be heard,” laughed Raja.” And soon came the mellifluous song in the voices of Chitra and SPB.

Dedicating ‘1000 Thamarai Mottukalae,’ to the memory of Malaysia Vasudevan, Raja dwelt on his experience working with Kannadasan, who had penned the lines. It turned out to be a veritable exercise in hilarity.

“This is one of my favourites,” announced Jesudas, as he sang, ‘Poove Sempoovae.’ The minor misses and gaffes weren’t glossed over. The verses were sung again. As Jesudas mentioned, it was as though the audience got an opportunity to witness a recording session in progress!

The singers were many. And each did well. The crowd whistled in joy, but he gently ticked them off saying that catcalls ought to be reserved for shows where jigs and jokes dominate. “Not here, we have worked hard to offer you an appealing fare. We made around 10 lists before we zeroed in on the final pick,” he smiled.

The hero of the evening handled his music and his mass base with ease.