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Analysis of Maestro Ilayaraaja's works

Topic started by Music fan (@ 208.154.130.13) on Tue Oct 10 14:34:19 EDT 2000.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Dear fans of music

Of late, there have been many threads in this forum discussing about IR and his music in general. I don't deny that. But many have been just discussing his new albums, his new projects or in general very superficial which does not delve much into the analysis of his compositions. Maestro Ilayaraaja is a peerless composer and he is one of the very few to compose around 4000+ songs and compose music for around 800 movies. He writes music and his creations show his ingenuity. In this topic, I request the musically learned people to analyze some of his great works.

As a starter, please analyze the song "thendral vandhu theendum bodhu" from Avatharam. Please let us know the intricacies the Maestro has used to create this number. Since I am a lay man in music, I do not have much to say about this song, except that the song is in the lines of western classical music. The song is harmonious and great to listen to.

Needless to say, I believe this topic is never a waste of time. Not many have the opportunity/skill to analyze a great composer's music. So, on behalf of music lovers and fans I request people to participate here and analyze many of the gems given by Maestro.

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Responses:

• From: rjay (@ 208.51.40.112) on: Tue Oct 10 16:05:42 EDT 2000
  
  Music fan,
  
  The song is one of my all time favorites. I want to review and learn from the song. Is there an online version on the net, that I can listen to?
  
  Thanks for starting the thread. My request to everyone is to forget personalities and talk about music.
  
  rjay
  
  
• From: Vijay (@ 195.44.165.40) on: Tue Oct 10 17:54:59 EDT 2000
  
  That is a brilliant song. It's one of the best songs in Tamil film music. I'd like to join rjay in thanking Musicfan for starting this thread. I know a little bit about music (only a little bit), and I'll try my best to find out what I can can about the song (I mean the technical aspects of it) for this thread. One more request, can we include works of other composers here? A R Rahman has also composed a number of great songs, I would also like someone to help me analyse some of his work.
  
  
• From: rjay (@ 208.51.40.112) on: Tue Oct 10 17:59:36 EDT 2000
  
  Vijay (poison dart1),
  
  Visham(am) vendamae, please.
  
  RJAY
  
  
• From: hari (@ 129.116.226.162) on: Tue Oct 10 18:15:47 EDT 2000
  
  Thendral Vandhu theendum bodhu..
  
  Ok. One thing I observed in this song is - the Pallavi - Thendral - Manasula.. is in 10 beat. (or 5 beat?) Then the anupallavi Vandhu vandhu pogaiyilaa.. upto end of anupallavi are in 4 beat!! I find this totally fascinating. In fact, only the pallavi is in 10 beat, the rest of the song is entirely in 4 beat. Its kind of tricky.
  
  I have observed this in some other songs too.. For eg. in Meetaadha Oru Veenai (Poonthottam) - a friend pointed out that the 1st interlude is in 6 beat (the song is in 5 beat) But u can keep track of the interlude in 6 beat easily. But u can also keep track with a 5 beat thaalam (though its very difficult!) and it wud correctly end in the beginning of 1st charanam and the 5 beat tempo continues... Can somebody give the technical aspects of this usage.. and the history of such usage in TFM?
  
  Also, can the funda people explain if this is an example of mixed meter that my WC Music Teacher was talking about? (she mentioned Sting having done this in one of their songs - the song goes like 2 bars of 3 beat, 2 bars of 4 beat and 2 bars of 5 beat and then the whole thing repeated..or some such thing! u cant keep beat at all unless u know that this is the way it goes!!)
  
  
• From: fan (@ 63.225.174.193) on: Wed Oct 11 01:37:59 EDT 2000
  
  Cello/double arragements of raja:
  
  I would like discuss cello and double bass couter points of raja.
  
  1.Oh priya priya - first bgm
  How many have heard the cello arrangement in this song,
  
  2. puthu mappilai ku... second bgm.
  the double bass scores in chormatic scales,
  
  
  please listen to these scores we can discuss more. I am ready to explain the parts.
  
  
• From: Venkatesh (@ 206.49.110.156) on: Wed Oct 11 04:22:25 EDT 2000
  
  Thanks to MusicFan for starting a nice topic.
  
  I wish somebody takes up the following songs to analyze the technicalities/highlights.
  
  1) Yedho Mohan (Kozhi Koovudhu) - I believe this is a personal favourite of IR and has been appreciated by lot of
  foreigners.
  
  2) Kathum Kadal Ulle oru (Kattumarakkaran) - This came around IR's symphony period. I think it has some
  shades of WC to it, especially the awesome chorus in the 2nd interlude. Ironically, the BGM for the movie
  was done by Deva(!). I liked the rhythm and sound effects (sounds of sea gull, etc) in this song. However,
  this film has got some mediocre songs also (like Banana Banana). Any comments?
  
  TIA.
  
  
• From: prakash (@ 202.54.33.22) on: Wed Oct 11 05:18:01 EDT 2000
  
  also my all time favorite-poomaalaiye thol sera vaa-this one of the most complicated sounding songs i have heard in film music.
  
  
• From: prakash (@ 202.54.33.22) on: Wed Oct 11 05:23:10 EDT 2000
  
  also please include poomaalaiye thol sera vaa from pagalnilavu-this one of the mot complicated sounding songs in film music.
  
  
• From: eden (@ 61.1.250.188) on: Wed Oct 11 05:26:23 EDT 2000
  
  fan!
  I have only a very minimal theory knowledge of the parts (from a friend) that there are essentially 4 in WCM (bass, alto, tenor & suprano) and often we sing the suprano portion while the others are support accompaniments by instruments. (In my song book there are four parts in the notation, 2 above the printed vocal lines & two below). In choral (such as hymn choir) singing, each part is supposed to be sung by a group of people, which when listened in toto at proper timing etc, giving a nice harmony. Please correct me if my understanding is not OK...
  
  Being a person of immense WCM knowledge, can you kindly explain more on the `parts' area of Raja scores, including those you have quoted...dying to read...
  
  
• From: prakash (@ 202.54.33.22) on: Wed Oct 11 05:26:48 EDT 2000
  
  regarding thendral vandhu-I dont want to be a spoilsport-but I definitely remember reading a snippet that it was karthickraaja who actually composed the song.remember this was a long time ago.I dont know how true this is.
  
  
• From: Venkatesh (@ 206.49.110.156) on: Wed Oct 11 06:35:28 EDT 2000
  
  It is high time we also delve into WC-based songs like:
  
  1) Unnai Ethirparthen (Vanaja Girija)
  2) Vandhal Vandhal Rajakumari (Oru Ooorla Oru Rajakumari)
  3) Indha Poovukkoru Arasan (Poovarasan)
  4) Ennulle Ennulle (VaLLi)
  5) Amman Kovil Ellame (Raajavin Paarvayil)
  
  Srikanth & others - can u enlighten us?
  
  Cheers.
  
  
• From: fan (@ 63.225.174.193) on: Wed Oct 11 07:10:24 EDT 2000
  
  Eden, yes you are right.
  raja often follow this rule, take raja kaiyavecha or pudhu mappilaiku, check the violins parts in the second bgm.
  How many parts do you hear ?
  
  
  
  
• From: rajkumar (@ 202.151.192.59) on: Wed Oct 11 07:40:03 EDT 2000
  
  hi guys another super hit IRR is THALATHUM PUNGATRUM NAAN ALLAVA - GOPURA VASALILE sung by janaki
  
  
• From: Prasad Gopal (@ 207.225.105.189) on: Wed Oct 11 10:23:43 EDT 2000
  
  Prakash:
  This is for you:-)
  
  Ilayaraaja (over phone from US): Karthik appO "thendral vandhu theendumbOdhu" paattai sample listla pOda solliduvOmA?
  
  Karthik: Kandippa. Andha paattai ippakooda kEttukittE irukkEn...yeppadipatta paattupOttirukkeenga...andha oru paattu pOdhumE...yellArum asandhiduvaanga"
  
  (as told by Maestro after the conversation)
  
  Maestro selected the following songs as his favorite ones, to included in the sample list to be forwarded to a conductor in US.
  
  1. Thendral vandhu theendumbOdhu
  2. Kaadhal Oviyam paadum kaaviyam
  3. Yedho mOham yEdho dhaagam
  4. Thaththaaram - Guru Malayalam
  5. Dheva sangeetham - Guru Malayalam
  6. Composer's Breath - NBW
  
  Regards
  
  PG
  
  
  
• From: kiru (@ 192.138.149.4) on: Wed Oct 11 10:51:56 EDT 2000
  
  If we discuss the technicalities of Maestro's songs one-by-one we will be in this thread till our old age :-)
  So my idea is - we should try to classify Maestro's songs into different categories, atleast superficially.
  I am not musically knowledgeable to suggest the categories. But excuse me for trying to -
  1) Indian Classical
  (eg. Sindhu Bhairavi type songs)
  2) Western Classical
  (Ennulle)
  3) POP/Dance
  3a) POP Indian
  (AttamA theRottama)
  3b) Pop Western
  (rAjA rAjAthi rAja)
  4) Fusion - Indian Classical + WCM
  4a) Fine grained
  (Deva Sangeetham)
  4b) Rough grained (only interludes or WCM
  touches here and there)
  (many songs will fall into this
  category. If the pallavi or
  charanam is minimally
  orchestrated..the interludes are
  rich WCM orchestrations).
  5) Fusion - Folk + WCM
  (Thendral vandhu theendumbOdhu)
  6) Folk
  (mangkuyile ..poongkuyile )
  
  We should list techniques both Indian/WCM which are commonly/widely used.
  
  I would appreciate if people can contribute to fine tuning the categories or adding more definition/detail to it. Also, we should come up with examples for each categories.
  
  
  
  
• From: rjay (@ 208.51.40.112) on: Wed Oct 11 11:46:32 EDT 2000
  
  If the Rajangam team or PG can get Raja to
  describe the structure and nuances (lak
  I am tempted to analyse "Aedho moham" first.
  If some one can create MP3 clips of the sections
  of the song, it will be helpful.
  
  We have also created a rough MIDI interpretation,
  which you can see track by track. That is on my
  www.geocities.com/rjaymidi page.
  
  Here is how I see the sections:
  
  1. Pre-intro by String section and a small canon.
  2. Intro water sound, guitar ostinato and theme by solo flute
  3. Pallavi by girl & group
  4. Pallavi with percussion
  5. 1st BGM guitar arpeggios & flute solo
  6. 1st BGM break and String section transition
  7. Guitar solo
  8. 1st BGM recap by string section
  9. Charanam theme and elobaration (pretty much a single mood and style)
  10. Charanam ending (vidiyacholli kozhi koovudhu)
  11. Pallavi repeated
  12. String section leadin
  13. String quartet theme
  14. Flute calls - break
  15. Flute solo followed by strings
  16. Charanam 2
  17. Pallavi recap
  18. Ending
  
  These sections are just for our convenience in
  discussion. The composition is so complex and well
  integrated that if we listen to any of this section, we will feel dissatisfaction. This is
  a mark of great music which is well balanced. Remove a section or a track and you will see the imbalance!
  
  Let us take one by one each section and try to listen closely.
  
  Intro
  Here are some principles which I use to understand
  a composition:
  
  1. The purpose of an intro is to get the listener into the mood and also strongly state the main theme of the music.
  
  2. The texture of the sound, either its pace or
  layers or volume increases gradually in the intro.
  
  See how masterly Raja does this.
  
  The intro begins with a rather slow (quarter note
  based) string quartet. Flutes (picollo) play
  a counter theme. Then flutes repeat what the
  strings say with a nice delay. This is a canon
  form is WC, because the repetition has to be
  harmonious to the new theme being played by inst 1.
  
  Keyboard like instrument ends the pre-intro with
  a simple falling 4 note pattern played many times (it is called as an ostinato). A guitar repeats
  a rising ostinato which has same rhythm as the
  falling ostinato. There is some water bubbling
  noise that creates an ambience of being outdoors.
  Maybe taking bath.
  
  Picollo (high pitched flute) plays the theme in
  short two note themes. Held notes. If you notice
  it is the pallavi itself: Ae dho ..... Mo ham....
  Ae dho.... Dhagam. then it rounds it off.
  This solo is very soul stirring. The style of playing is very western, the flute does not use
  any sliding notes or gamakam. In spite of that there is so much emotion there.
  
  See how the context of silence is set by the
  guitar ostinati and enough space is created
  for the solo to impact the listener.
  
  Let me know if we can continue
  
  
• From: rjay (@ 208.51.40.112) on: Wed Oct 11 12:10:30 EDT 2000
  
  
  The girl sings the aedho mogam pallavi.
  She sings it in a longing voice as if a whisper.
  Chorus girls say a-a-a-a, in a two or three part
  harmony!
  
  There are many things to learn here itself!
  
  Principle 3: Balance
  While the flute sang the notes as sustained notes,
  the girl sings them abruptly, like played in piano. To counteract that the choir girls sing
  a smooth harmony as a call-response. Aedho is
  the call, A-a-a-a is the response. The call response is one of the most favorite features of
  Raja.
  
  Balance is acheived in many many ways. Aedho is
  a rising note pattern. First A-a-a-a is a falling
  melody. Dhagam - is a single note melody. The
  second a-a-a-a is a holding pattern. (neither rising
  nor falling) Final dhagam is a falling pattern
  and the corresponding a-a-a-a is a rising pattern!
  
  So melody wise, rising and falling patterns are
  interwoven. A composer does not calculate them
  as an algorithm, but when is mind is filled with
  the musical sensibilities whatever he hums or plays is balanced by natural instinct.
  
  See the difference between neththuvarai section which is very low and soft and the sudden 'Devi'
  rise which dramatically increases the musical tension and the recapture of 'vanakkiliyae'
  
  
  Principle 4: Repetition with a variation
  
  When the girl sings the pallavi, we already have
  heard it in the flute solo, so we recognize it.
  It increases its impact.
  
  But see how different this pallavi used as prelude
  is from some-other MDs style who play the entire
  pallavi without a variation. I am sure Ilayaraja
  wrote the prelude much after composing the pallavi, but he gives only the core of the pallavi
  in the flute solo, not the entire pallavi and anupallavi and he even adds a variation to it.
  
  Finally, the pallavi has been sung by the girls, but I think it
  is still part of the intro, the texture has
  thickened from flute solo, to voices, but only
  at vanakiliyae the rythm, bass everything jumps in
  and we see the pallavi sungs with full force.
  
  Already our intro/pallavi distinction is breaking up.
  
  

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