"It has to be said that serious musical work belongs to Ilaiyaraaja." Atrocious, to say the Least !!!
On Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 7:25 AM, Gopal Srinivasan <[email protected]>wrote: > > Jingle-Jangle Morning > Free of cultural colours, Rahman's music rings to global ears > > SADANAND MENON ON A.R. RAHMAN > > | E-MAIL | ONE PAGE FORMAT | FEEDBACK: SEND | > Comparisons are odious. But in south India—and in Chennai at least—you > can’t duck the over > 15-year-long debate on the comparative ‘genius’ of A.R. Rahman and his > musical senior by > twenty-three years, Ilaiyaraaja. Rahman’s double Oscar haul might have been > a seamless moment > of Indian triumph at Kodak Theatre, but in his native Chennai, it reopened > the old debate. If > Rahman is ‘Mozart’ to his followers, Ilaiyaraaja is ‘Bach’ to his. > The connection between the two goes back a long way. In the early 1970s, as > Ilaiyaraaja was > trying to find a toehold in Kollywood, working with hit music directors > like M.S. Viswanathan, > Salil Choudhury, G.K. Venkatesh and such, he was simultaneously trying to > compose his own > music. The instruments he hired for this were from another south Indian > composer, R.K. Shekhar, > who happened to be Rahman’s father. > > Shekhar passed away shortly thereafter, but the family continued to hire > out instruments. By > the early 1980s, Ilaiyaraaja had become the stuff of legend, having already > rewritten the rules > of music composition in south Indian films with his dramatic debut in > Annakkili (1976). As a > good turn to the family that had helped him on the road to fame, he > absorbed the barely > 15-year-old Rahman as a keyboard player in his orchestra. For almost 10 > years, Rahman continued > to perform for Ilaiyaraaja, before Mani Ratnam handed him the baton for > Roja (1992). And the > rest, as they say, is history. > > The hotly debated issue in the south is whether Rahman would have realised > any of his potential > but for the wide door that had already been pushed open for him—musically— > by the pioneering > work of Ilaiyaraaja. Interestingly, both are proficient in western > classical harmonies and > string arrangements. Both have graduated from the Trinity College of Music, > London, though > Ilaiyaraaja bagged a gold medal there. For classical Indian music, both > were students of > Dhanraj ‘Master’ in Chennai. Both have awesome proficiency on the piano, > keyboard and > synthesizer. On top of it, both are versatile vocalists, with a distinctly > nasal tinge. > > Ilaiyaraaja’s over 30-year-long career has seen him compose over 4,000 > songs in six languages, > with a dynamic yoking of south Indian folk tunes to western orchestration, > which brought him > three national awards. Earlier Oscar entries from India like Anjali (1990) > and Hey Ram (2000) > boasted of his music score. Amazingly, he has sung over 400 songs himself. > Rahman has been in > the field for roughly half the time of Ilaiyaraaja. He has won four > national awards and now > holds on to a Golden Globe, a piece of metal from BAFTA and the two Oscar > statuettes. > > While the similarities between the two are significant, it is their > differences that should > interest us. Ilaiyaraaja’s music creates itself around and inhabits > culturally identifiable > frames, whether classical, semi-classical or folk. His compositions are > raga-based and even in > western classical-inspired numbers, he acknowledges the sanctity of its > original structures. > Where he makes a departure is in the polyphonic interludes. A typical > example would be his > amazing foot-tapper, ‘Rakkamma, Kaiyye Thattu...’ (Thalapathi, 1991), in > which he moves with > panache from a swiftly orchestrated popular folk tune to a serene, quiet > solo classical with a > deft, magical interlude of hummed bars. > > Rahman, on the other hand, is a cleverer sound organiser and it is his > artistry with the > synthesizer that is the hallmark of his music. In fact, Rahman is perhaps > the finest tuner of > short jingles that we have, and his early career was built up composing > advertisement jingles > for coffee, sports shoes and such. This also included, for example, the > catchy signature tune > for Asianet, the first private regional language TV channel in India. > > Listening to these, one can construct a fair map of Rahman’s musical > method. Most of his > compositions are, in fact, a stringing together of discrete jingles joined > together by > counterpoints and contrapuntal bridges. A serious examination of his music > will reveal the > carryover of the seductive values of his lineage in advertising. It is > devoid of cultural > markers, unlike in Ilaiyaraaja’s work. This, now, becomes his strength as > it finds ready > resonance in the globalised entertainment industry, which is constantly on > the hunt for ‘sounds > without shadows’. > > It has to be said that serious musical work belongs to Ilaiyaraaja. > Rahman’s forte is packaged > marketing of catchy jingles. Of course, one hums along. > > > http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20090309&fname=Cover+Story&sid=6 > > > -- Cheers, Pradeepan. "All you need to do is, decide what to do with the time that is given to you !"
