MAESTRO ILAIYARAAJA NEWS & TITBITS VER.2010

[Sureshs65]

Sakala,

I think the emotion you felt was the intent of the article. Not music. So in that way the article succeeds but as far as trying to get an handle on music, it is a very pathetic effort.

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

பார்ப்பனீயம், தலித்தியம், வடக்கு தெற்கு பேதம், விருது அரசியல், சூபி இசை/தத்துவம், அகம்பாவம், அன்பு, தொழில் போட்டி/பொறாமை, பெருந்தன்மை, பொறுமை, கடவுள் தத்துவம், ஆதிகம், நாத்திகம் இப்படி பல விஷயங்களும் ராஜாவை சுற்றி விவாதிக்கப்படுன்ற, வெவ்வேறு நபர்களால், வெவ்வேறு தளங்களில். அவரின் இசை??

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

suresh, that i get angry for raja not being given his due is true. but i didnt accept the section on whom the writer points his finger. thatswhy i said "ராசாவிற்கு உரிய அங்கீகாரம் விருதுகள் கிடைக்காமல் போக யார் காரணம் என்று தெளிவாக முடிவுக்கு வரமுடியவில்லை"

So, the article didn't succeed its purpose, in my case

Again, are we forgetting the thing that most of the WCM Gods like Mozart, Beethoven too had barriers at their period? Is the recognition what raja is already possessing, enuf? Or still he and his fans need to propel his talent to the world? Is everything ok?

I am not sure

[Shankar]

Another nice blog post, this one from a carnatic music reviewer

விவரங்களுக்குள் செல்வதற்கு முன்னால் சில விஷயங்களைச் சொல்லிவிடுகிறேன்.

1. நான் ஷாஜியை நிராகரிக்கிறேன். முடிவை முதலில் எடுத்து அதற்காக வலிந்து ஆதாரங்கள் தேடும் முயற்சி அல்ல இந்தக் கட்டுரை. உங்கள் நேரம் விரயமாகாமல் இருக்க இப்போதே கூறிவிடுகிறேன்.
2. நான் இளையராஜாவின் ரசிகன்.
3. எட்டு வருடங்களாய் இசை பற்றி எழுதி வந்தாலும், முழுக்க முழுக்க கர்நாடக இசை பற்றியே எழுதி வருகிறேன்.
4. சேதுபதியும் ராமசந்திர ஷர்மாவும் என் கல்லூரி கால நண்பர்கள்.

2,3,4-ஆவது விஷயங்களாக நான் கூறியிருப்பன என் கருத்துகளை பிழையாக்கக் கூடும் என்று நினைத்தால் உங்களுக்கு வேலை மிச்சம்.

This is Ram's blog (Ex DF'er, author of books on GNB (published by Vikatan), archeologist, and a solid carnatic music critic/listener.

[rajasaranam]

Suresh,

the magazine which published the article was a Political Magazine & the Blog which is re-publishing it is also a Political blog. You can't expect them to write music articles. The Casteist Dirty politcs had always played bigger role in ups and downs of many artists in this country cannot be denied.

Think about a scenario 'if there was a composer from upper caste saywith 50% of talent of Raaja' do you still think that the composer would've been neglected by the mainstream media?

Raaja was neglected and marginalized by many (Not all - I know personally many friends who are die- hard fans of Raaja) upper caste people during the 70's & 80's is a FACT. The Article written almost 20 years back is an anger - Anger that was kept under bounds for more than 2000 years. When it gets unleashed its destined be full of mistakes. So? we can brush aside the article without trying to understand the intent and go back to read Shaji! if thats the only way I'am sorry, there is no way that this society is going to come out of its hypocrisy.

I know the flaming words which are going to cause people to take a defensive stand against this article. Reading the article objectively without getting angry may give a proper perspective on this 'Socio-Political critique'.

Whether the writer knows music or not he knows history well. His background of seeing facts with the philosophy of 'Historical Materialism' has helped him to see Beethoven to have been sympathetic towards working class. he was a Romantic era composer and like any other Romantic Era artist he would've been driven by Reaction against Industrial Revolution. Not sure about his philosophies his works and some incidents in his life gives hope that he was not a Personality to create music for his inner personal artistic urge, rather he was creating music for the universal brother hood.

Beethoven was attracted to the ideals of the Enlightenment. In 1804, when Napoleon's imperial ambitions became clear, Beethoven took hold of the title-page of his Third Symphony and scratched the name Bonaparte out so violently that he made a hole in the paper. He later changed the work's title to "Sinfonia Eroica, composta per festeggiare il sovvenire d'un grand'uom" ("Heroic Symphony, composed to celebrate the memory of a great man"), and he rededicated it to his patron, Prince Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz, at whose palace it was first performed.

that he was against imperialism

The fourth movement of his Ninth Symphony features an elaborate choral setting of Schiller's Ode An die Freude ("Ode to Joy"), an optimistic hymn championing the brotherhood of humanity.

and that he was a champion of humanity, and freemasonic thinker shows clearly his stand on music and philosophy and the working class. Too bad that Karl Marx published his '
Communist manifesto in 1848, 20 years after Beethovens Demise. Iam sure Beethoven would've written a grand symphony welcoming it.

.... his trying to portray that Beethovan could do a symphony only because he was sympathetic to the working class is a joke.

The underlying meaning of the statement is that the thinkers/Artists/Musicians of Europe Post Classical - Baroque -Rococo period were driven by humanity rather than individualism.

[rajasaranam]

அங்கீகாரம் விருதுகள் கிடைக்காமல் போக யார் காரணம் என்று தெளிவாக முடிவுக்கு வரமுடியவில்லை"

ஒரு கும்பலும் அதை கண்டு சமரசத்துக்கு உட்படாமல் இசையிலும் ஆன்மிகத்திலும் மட்டுமே தன்னை ஒடுக்கி புதைத்து கொண்ட ராஜாவும் என இரண்டுமே காரணங்கள். அந்த கட்டுரையில் வளைத்து வளைத்து அரசியலாக சொல்லப்பட்டதை ராஜா எப்படி நச்சென்று இரண்டே வரிகளில் இசையாக்கி சொல்கிறார் பாருங்கள்.

Later, at a pre-launch press conference, Ilayaraja said, "Western classical music is participative. Look at the number of people who are involved in a symphony. Our traditional music is lonely," he says of his experiment that spans cultures.

[raagas]

Looks like the film SRK will never release. The director of the film, Ajoy Verma, has moved on and made another (small)film "Dus Tola". While Ajoy Verma retained SRK lyricist, Gulzar for Dus Tola, he didnt retain Ilaiyaraaja for music. It is by Sandesh Shandilya.

I dont know why some film-makers do not opt for IR more than once.

[Sureshs65]

RS,

I fully understand the stand of that article and I have no issues with the political side of it. About the upper caste - lower caste divide and the upper caste hegemony. That part is fine with me. I would have been fine if the author had taken this article along the lines of 'Upper Caste dominating Carnatic music to the extent of completely keeping lower caste people away from it' and how that has colored the music scenario in India. That is definitely something which can and should be debated.

The comedy comes in when he tries to juxtapose Symphony with Carnatic music and decides that symphony can only be created by humanitarian ideals and carnatic music by people with no humanitarian ideals. As one critic once said (European critic by the way) that though the world praises Greek civilization, it pushes under the carpet the fact that Greece was a thriving slave market. And we can always have someone dig up some fact that Beethovan or Morzart was a racist. That their humanity extended only to Europeans and not to people outside of Europe. It is well known that Wagner's music is considered racist. So once we start looking at music with a political agenda it becomes a free for all. It just depends on the agenda that you have. Was Mozart a feminist? Did Bach cheat on his wife? Did Bahms employ children in his household? I am sure an imaginative guy can pick one of the thousand issues that plague us and paint the concerned musician in bad light. If caste issues plagued (and plague) India, slavery, imperialisam and racism were far stronger throughout the 'developed' world. That may probably not leave us with many musicians. The same way Shaji tries to use a Mozart quote to undermine all that Raja has done, this author uses symphony to undermine all that the great carnatic composers did.

Another aspect which I have the major problem is the complete lack of understanding of music history. The author in a very flamboyant fashion asks why Tyagaraja couldn't create a symphony. The reason is simple. Symphony was never a part of Indian musical ethos ever. Neither in North India or South India. The music here developed on melodic lines and the microtonal effects were more important than two notes sounding together. Every culture has its own music and music taste. It is only in South India that you can get a person to appreciate "Chinna Kannan Azhaikiran" because somehow Reethigowla ragam in our blood, whatever be the caste. The same song will find no takers beyond the Vindhyas since they just cannot relate to that raga. In that way the greatness of Raja is to take a classical form like WCM and get it across to Indian ears unaccostumed to it. Anyone with some musical knowledge could ask the author that while Tyagaraja did not compose a symphony, neither Bach or Beethovan did not know about Ananda Bhairavi or Yadhukula Kambhoji which was known to some unknown folk singers even during the Sangam times. The authors question is very similar to some people claiming their language is better because it has the letter 'z' or 'La' or some such thing. There is no merit in such a question.

[raagas]

Another aspect which I have the major problem is the complete lack of understanding of music history. The author in a very flamboyant fashion asks why Tyagaraja couldn't create a symphony.

Absolutely hilarious!!! I cant stop laughing. I would like to see the clown who asked this stupid(putting it very mildly) question!

[rajasaranam]

Suresh,

In the first post itself I've said I am not in for some of the ideologies in the Article. If you are going to nit pick on some sweeping statements like this and brush away the article as a 'whole', then it doesnt sound different to me from Shaji-Charu likes, who pick some obscure sentences of Raaja and pull him down totally. Whether the Emotion-Intent of the Article was right or wrong should be only question for which we should seek answers.