ILaiyaraaja-Musician with a Magnetic Charm!

Have we ever thought as to why birds make trees their abode?

Is it a sense of security?
Is it affinity?
Is it natural attraction?

By the way, why should the birds be attracted to trees?

We all know how musical birds are.
But have we noticed that trees are musical as well?

The sound of the tree rustling in the breeze..
The green leaves..
The smiling flowers..
The shining fruits..

We hear the Shruti..Swaras..Ragas..Talas..

Birds and the Trees!

Attached to each other like a magnet.

Said Saint Thyagaraja,’Oh.Rama!I am like a bird going around the tree again and again..’(Chutti Chutti Pakshulella Settu Veduku Reethi Bhuvini Puttagana Nee Padamula Pattu Konna Nannu Brova)

As a divine person, he was attracted to Rama like how a bird is attracted to a tree.

He went on to sing ‘You are the Treasure of Virtues, and the Abode of Mercy’(SuguNa Jaala KaruNaavaala).’

'I have come seeking shelter at your feet surrendering my Body and possessions as they belong to You’(CharaNu Jocchi Tanuvu Dhanamu Needeyandi Thyagaraja Vinuta Rama).

‘Oh Sitarama!Why this undue delay to protect me?’(KaalaharaNamelaraa Hare Sitarama?).

This beautiful Keertanam is in Sudhdha Saveri Ragam.

Talking of attraction, I am also reminded of the divine attraction between Rama and Sita.

As per Tamizh poet Kamban, the love between the two was spontaneous.

Though there are a lot of verses that beautifully describe their relationship (some have already been quoted in this thread!), I would like to take up one very interesting verse.

It is the night before the wedding.

Looking at the moon, the Love Struck Rama sees Sita’s face in it. For a moment he feels the moon is Sita.
And says, ‘You are the seed of my love;not just the seed but also the manure for the tree called Love.’

Then he realizes that it is the moon and not his beloved Sita.

He now says’ You have the face of Sita. Probably you are related to her. By reminding me of her face, you are troubling me so much.Why don’t you become my relative as well?’

திருவே அனையாள் முகமே! உயிரின்
கருவே!கனியே!விளைகாம விதைக்கு
எருவே!மதியே!இதுஎன் செய்தவா?
ஒருவேனொடு நீ உறவாகலையோ?


What Kamban means here is that unable to bear the torment Rama pleads with the moon not to trouble him!

Poetic Beauty..

Magnetic attraction..

I find this kind of a magnetic charm in ILaiyaraaja’s music.

Many times when I listen to his musical pieces, I ask him (of course to myself!),

‘Why do you trouble me by producing such great music?’

Trouble that is a pleasure.

Today, we are going to see yet another great composition.

It is ‘Raamudu Kalaganaledhu’ from the Telugu film ‘Rajkumar’.

The composition is based on Sudhdha Saveri.

Sudhdha Saveri is a oudava raga(raga with 5 swaras in the Aarohana and Avarohana) and is derived from the 29th melakartha DheeraShankarabharanam.

Its Structure is:
sa ri2 ma1 pa dha2 Sa/Sa dha2 pa ma1 ri2 sa.

Replace the ‘ma’ with ‘ga’ and we get Mohanam.
Replace the dha’ with ‘ni’ and we get Madhyamavati.

Sing this raga in Madhyama Sruti and we get Pahaadi.

However, Sudhdha Saveri is unique and different.

As the name suggests, it is indeed a very pure raga.

Maestro has scored some amazing songs in this ragam.

Let us now look at today’s composition.

It starts with the very auspicious Nagaswaram and Tavil.

The Veena plays with finesse.Then a surprise awaits us.It is not the violin or flute that gives a reply to the Veena.

It is the Baas Guitar that gives the repartee.
Though Maestro is very well known for his bass work (in fact he was the one who pioneered this in films), the resplendent flashes of Bass Guitar in this composition is unique and great!

The Flute now appears with beauty and grace. The violins and electronic instruments follow suit.

The Pallavi is exquisite and gives distinctive shades of Sudhdha Saveri meticulously.
Suseela and SPB give soft radiance to the already beautiful Ragam.

The last line in the Pallavi ‘Aa Ramayanam’ gives a spell of fascination!

The aesthetic flute now sings like a cuckoo while the guitar fluently expresses itself.

It is the turn of the violins to decorate the raga.
The Bass Guitar surrounds us melting us in the process!

The CharaNam is sobriety personified.

The first two lines are pithy and poignant.
The next two lines slither through wonderfully.
The last two lines stir us melodiously.

The Sangati at the end of the CharaNam shows us the finer nuances of the raga.

In the second interlude, the violins move daintily.
The alluring Shehnai is courted by the Flute.

We suddenly see a shift here as we hear the subtly shaded alien swaras. This infuses delicacy.

The modern instruments are deftly interwoven exemplifying refinement.

The composition breathes graciousness.

It is delicately eloquent.

It is piercing.

It is enticing.

It is magnetic..

Rama and Sita..
The Bird and the Tree!

Raaja’s music and us…

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

ILaiyaraaja-The Lovable Musician!

'Bigger Than The Earth, Certainly,
Higher Than The Sky,
More Unfathomable Than The Waters
Is This Love For This Man
Of the mountain slopes where
Bees make rich honey from the flowers of the Kurinchi
That has such black stalks'.

நிலத்தினும் பெரிதே வானினும் உயர்ந்தன்று
நீரினும் ஆரள வின்றே சாரல்
கருங்கோற் குறிஞ்சிப் பூக்கொண்டு
பெருந்தேன் இழைக்கு நாடனொடு நட்பே.

The Sangam Tamizh Poetry from the early classical era (100BC-AD250) is among the finest India has ever produced. Not to know them is not to know a unique and major poetic achievement of Indian Civilisation..

The aforementioned verse is from Kuruntokai-which is part of Sangam Literature.This poem is about lovers’ union but the union is not talked about nor is it described. It is enacted by the inset scene of the bees making honey from the flowers of Kurinchi.

This technique of using the scene to describe is called as ‘ullurai uvamam’ in Tamizh meaning ‘hidden or implicit metaphor’.

Furthermore, the poem opens with large abstractions like the Earth, and the sky, but it moves towards the concreteness of the black stalked Kurinchi flowers. This progression moving from the first elements to native elements to human feelings forms the intellectual framework of the poetry.

I was reminded of this verse when I was listening to.. Raja’s music…

Our love for him and his music is unfathomable. His music pierces the Heart and touches the Soul.

His era, like the Sangam era is among the finest Indian Film World has ever produced. Not to know him or his music is not to know a unique and major achievement in the Music World.

His music also moves subtly from abstract to concrete to human feelings.

It is a well- known fact that he is an erudite person with profound knowledge in Music. But what stands out is the way he conceives and composes Music intuitively.

Today, let us take up another beautiful composition of his..

It is ‘Radha Radha’ from ‘Meendum Kokila’.

The composition is based on Suddha Saveri, a pentatonic Raga.The structure of the Raga is:

sa ri2 ma1 pa dha2 Sa/Sa dha2 pa ma1 ri2 sa.

The Hindustani equivalent(with a slight variation in avarohana) is Durga.

Sometime back, we saw the Raga Mohanam. If the ‘ga’ in Mohanam is replaced by ‘ma’, it is Suddha Saveri.

However, Suddha Saveri has a beauty of its own.

One of the most popular krithis of Thyagaraja, ‘Dhari ni Telusu Konti’ is in Sudhha Saveri. Thyagaraja, the Genius composed this on Tripurasundari ,the goddess at Tiruvotriyur. The first line itself gives the avarohana of the raga-Sa dha pa ma ri ….In the next line , he wonderfully adds the phrase ‘Tripura Sun..dari nee’. Sundari means one who is beautiful.

That is Thyagaraja.

ILaiyaraaja has also done some wonders with this classical raga. He has composed many songs in this raga and my personal favourite is the evergreen ‘Kovil Mani Osai’ from ‘Kizhakke Pogum Rail’. In fact he even composed a duet in this raga in a typical Rajini Masala movie (‘Sugam Sugame’ in ‘Naan potta Savaal’).

That is ILaiyaraaja.

Radha Radha’ starts with the wonderful aalap. Sometime back, I had mentioned as to how his aalaps too follow tala beats(without any percussion).

The ‘ aa.. aa.. aa..’ of Janaki and SPB follow the 3 beat Tisram.
He has beautifully used counterpoints and the harmony is smooth and sublime.

We see two horizons at the same time!

The love struck violins appear now and the Flute celebrates Love singing like a Honey Bird!

The Tabla watches the lovers and starts playing only after the first ‘Radha Radha’.
The Tisram beats follow a wonderful pattern
‘Ta ta-‘.
The stress is on the first Ta and the third is left alone…

In the first interlude, the Violins play with eloquence. The solo violin plays with grace to the ‘Ta - - Ta ka dhi mi Ta - - ta ki ta’ pattern with the flute enjoying the spectacle. The Guitar comes marching in to join the party playing Ta Ka Dhi Mi Ta Ka with stress on the first ‘Ta’,’dhi’ and the last ‘ka’.

The Charnam is like the Shimmering Silver Waves glistening with the beauty of Suddha Saveri. And we travel with the waves that follow ‘Ta – Ta ka dhi mi Ta ki Ta’ and then ‘Ta ki ta Ta ki ta Ta ki ta’ with the third ‘Ta ki ta’ equaling the first two ‘Ta ki ta’.

It is Romance personified as Janaki renders ‘Kanna Kanna’..

The Guitar piece in the second Interlude is clothed in phrasings that abound with Melodic Tints!It is Laya Raja again as it plays ‘Ta ka dhi mi ta ka’ 4 times followed by ‘Ta - Ta Ta Ta - Ta Ki Ta’

The brief excursions of the Raga are shown in the Question –Answer Session that follows this.

The composition is an eloquent delineation of the structural beauty of Suddha Saveri..

It is vibrant.

It is resonant.

It is Lovable.

It is Adorable.

In his Music, even the subtle sound of the feet is melodious..

அவரது இசையில் காலடி ஓசையிலும் யாழிசை கேட்கும்..