# Ilaiyaraaja - Background Score
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# Credits: kanniks@uceng.uc.EDU (k kannikeswaran)
# Author: K Kannikeswaran
# (posted in soc.culture.tamil)
#

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Addendum to the five part series
Ilaiyaraaja - Background Score
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In the five articles, we discussed the glory of Ilaiyaraaja"s contribution to the world of music. Most of our discussion was focussed only on songs that he tuned in movies.

Let us now switch gears and talk about his background score. Raaja gave a new dimension to background scores altogether. Ilaiyaraaja"s music lends wonderful support to the flow of a movie..

Raajapaarvai:

There is this violin piece that Kamal plays at a recording, that is on the movie record too. (Its proabably a 78rpm with andi mazhai on one side and this piece on the other; ive seen only badly scratched discs!). VS Narasimhan (who later on was to direct music himself) played the lead violin. This piece is probably known to one and all. Now, there is another violin piece which is only on the soundtrack. The accompanying scene is one wherein Madhavi watches with appreciation Kamals rendition and breaks into applause and disturbs the recording..; also, the theme music in this film is based on a little hymn like song sung by the school choir; this song directly precedes andi mazhai; a much grander version of this piece is played at the conclusion of the film. Remember the song "Vizhiyorattu kavidai"; A theme based on this song repeats throughout the film, growing in intensity/richness, as the relationship between Raghu and Nancy develops; played several times on several instruments, this piece repeats during the church scene at a faster pace. The background score in this movie is worth paying attention too.

The above illustration should give a general outline of what to expect in Ilaiyaraaja"s background score. The title music is usually special. There are themes for various contexts and these themes repeat themselves in various forms. Such conscious scoring frame by frame really builds up the power of a movie..

Nenjattai killade:

Title music, along the lines of Paruvame, - with appropriate sitar/guitar pieces, coming to a grand end with a lead violin and strings in the baroque style. There is also a theme that is used to show the growing warmth between Suhasini and Pratap. This tune has been reused in the Penn Serial which came on TV several years later. The first interlude in Paruvame - was later on reset as a portion of a song "Malaiye paniye alaigalin nuraiye" - in the song "Alaigale vaa" for the movie Kavidai malar or so (i think) that was never released..

Going forward 6 years, lets look at Mouna raagam. The haunting music that echoes throughout the Kartik flashback still lingers in my mind. There is also a theme based on the scale of pantuvarali that shows the affection that revati"s family has for her..

Alaigal Oivatillai had a very good background score. So did Salangai Oli. A choir based humming in the scale of keeravani interspersed with powerful mridangam, with small counter melodies on the synth, dominate the section first half of the movie..

Again, it is in these background scores that a music director has a full unlimited range of options (is it an appropriate word?) to create a listening experience, with his choice of the medium, in order to get the emotion/event at that point in time, at that situation get to the listener in a very powerful manner. It also calls for a great deal of creativity on the part of the director to capitalize on the music director"s skills to express his message more effectively. There are scenes in films where there are no dialogues, no songs (of course no fights/chases), where music alone dominates. you can see a lot of such scenes in bharatiraaja"s films. The interlude from the song "idayam pogude" is used repeatedly in Pudiya vaarpugal for example..

The lp from the film "Ninaivellam Nitya" has a number of small instrumental pieces, from various films. One of these, if I am not mistaken, is the title music from the film Ullasapparavaigal.

Raaja has also contributed a lot to the orchestral interludes in film songs. Most of these are highly intricate (especially during the Golden Age); some of them deviate from the main theme, wander systemmatically (not aimlessly - imitations meander aimlessly!), sometimes involving (in technical terms what is called) a modal shift and finally return to a comfortable starting point for the next passage. Take the second interlude in Aananda raagam from panneer pushpangal for example. Other memorable interludes are those from my all time favourite Andi mazhai and Poonkadave. One other song with a striking contrast in the interlude is "Engum nirainda iyarkaiyil". In most cases the deviations are subtle; it often seems like each interlude (actually each line) has a story to tell. Nenjattaikkillade - Yentenrale- effective use of a choir..

There are songs that i listen to, primarily for the orchestration.. such as "Kaadal oviyam" in alaigal oivatillai and "Metti Oli" from metti; togai illamayil from payanangal mudivatillai; unakkenattane/saamakkozhi from ponnu oorukku pudusu; Adi Penne from Mullum malarum..