Yes, I agree with you Vishwesh.. I felt the same after reading this article..
On Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 6:27 PM, || V i s h w e s h || <[email protected]>wrote: > Article title says "so & so on A R Rahman" but what follows after that > can be summed up as "All the praises belong to all mighty IR & AR is justa > cleverer sound organizer 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. > > These guys are never gonna accept AR's greatness no matter what he > achieves! > > *" *The *search* is more important than the destination " > - a r rahman - > > --- On *Sat, 28/2/09, Pradeepan R <[email protected]>* wrote: > > From: Pradeepan R <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [arr] Jingle-Jangle Morning > To: [email protected] > Date: Saturday, 28 February, 2009, 11:24 PM > > > "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 <catchg...@yahoo. > com<[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. >> > > > ------------------------------ > Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! 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