Choreographed beautifully on Kamal Hasan and Jayaprada, this song brings distinctive orchestration to synchronise with the dance steps. And all of these superb combinations and blends are in addition to a wonderful vocal classical based melody!Ĥ) Nada Vinodamu from Sagara Sangamam – Telugu. In his arrangements and orchestration, there are sounds of western symphonies, ‘conversations’ between the keyboard and violin, beautiful use of humming, seamless transition from western to traditional instruments and as a final flourish in the song, the blending of the sounds of violin and the humming. An innovative song – notice how the tune has controlled and endearing use of gamakas. The accentuation of the last syllable of each line in the antra (charanam) gives the song a lilting touch.ģ) Poongathave from Nizhalgal –Tamil. Shreya Ghoshal must be commended for singing this song with a clarity of diction in Telugu, though she does not speak this language. Note the beautiful orchestration in the prelude that brings out a ‘grand visual’ feeling of Sri Rama’s pattabhishekam. This mythological required music on par or better than the music of 1960s. Perhaps the only composer alive who can really show that he is equal to the music directors of the golden era of south Indian film music. Ilayaraja tried to simplify the classical ragas with a ‘lighter’ touch and add innovative elements to make them appealing to everyone, like this song from Paadum Paravaigal.Ģ) Jagadananda Karaka from Sree Rama Rajyam – Telugu. There are plenty of other innovations in all the other songs from this movie. He brought a refreshing trend of using violins in a manner never attempted before in South Indian film music. Note the distinctive use of double and overlapping vocals sung by S P Balasubrahmanyam. The player will continue to play Ilayaraja songs in the current window while you are browsing)ġ) Keeravani from Paadum Paravaigal – Tamil: ( A tip to enhance your listening pleasure: When listening to the songs in any of the players, if you want to browse further on this site or another one, open a new window for further browsing. You can skip tracks if you like (limited to a few skips though). If you are in the USA or Canada, you can also listen to all the 8 songs on the player below. Listen, enjoy and admire the genius of Ilayaraja!!!! These 8 songs have been carefully chosen and attached here for the ‘special something’ of Ilayaraja. The end result retains the beauty of any classical based song, yet has a ‘special something’ that is a stroke of Ilayaraja’s genius. He brought innovation through arrangements, introduced variations in the flow of the tune and added distinctive vocals to the tunes. Ilayaraja did not compose classical raga based tunes in the orthodox and conventional manner of the composers of 1960s. However, I have listed here a small collection of songs that can be easily identified by listeners as ‘classical based’. I will draw from a pool of Tamil and Telugu songs – Ilayaraja composed mainly in these two languages.Īlmost every song in film music, can be linked to a classical raga.
In later posts, I will share my views and some of Ilayaraja’s top songs – that show strong classical flair, the brilliant orchestration and the amazing innovations. He brought innovation in many forms – in the use of specific instruments like violins, flute and guitar, in the arrangements and orchestration that is a blend of western symphonies and Indian music and in the amazing and distinctive use of vocals and choral effects. There are many facets of Ilayaraja that makes him a legend and a genius.
He continues to delight fans with seemingly unending sources of innovation, talent and inspiration. His music continues to enthrall fans all over the world even now, when he is well past his “golden reign at the top”– whether it is a recent mythological in Telugu or a new romantic movie.
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