Live in San Jose - the Prince of Music: Prelude

Having born in a remote village in India with little exposure classical music of any kind may lead to inexplicable command over Indian folk music, but what does it take to (1) become the first Asian to compose a symphony; or (2) be praised as a "Maha Vidwan" (a.k.a. "great scholar", in the context of Indian classical music) by one of the greatest stalwarts of Carnatic music, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. Whatever it takes, we may never know, but it is true beyond doubt that Ilaiyaraja has conquered immeasurable heights from most humble beginnings. His name may simply mean that he is a "prince", but so long as he keeps churning out tunes such as this and this, he will remain the untold King of music. 

Given the musical genius this person is, it is very surprising to learn that he hates any sort of publicity or marketing. Worse, he has given only 6 public concerts over an illustrious career of over 35 years - two in Chennai (2006 and 2011), one in Dubai (was it in 2007 or 2008?!), one in Canada and two in the USA (the three North America concerts in early 2013). As a result, a modest, reclusive introvert has been commonly mistaken for a narcissistic, arrogant egotist by several who hail from the same place as Raja does. Hence, at this juncture, I am extremely tempted to repeat fellow blogger and Ilaiyaraja passionate Sirumazai’s disclaimer at this juncture: those who tend to associate “pride”, “arrogance”, “running after awards”, “extremism”, and all other negative feelings to Ilaiyaraja, may stop reading this post any more. On the other hand, in order to continue, you really don’t have to be a die hard fan of Ilaiyaraja (referred to as Raja, hereon) - all you need to have is some passion for music and/or ability to appreciate certain technical aspects of music (which you may already know and/or are willing to learn). I am not an authoritative expert in music, but in all humility, believe that I possess some technical knowledge to understand and appreciate music, in general. The rest of this post is a rather long account of his latest concert in San Jose, CA. Have your cup of coffee/tea and some snacks ready - you may need it simply on the account of the sheer amount of your time reading this post in entirety may consume!

I was originally scheduled to attend a research conference in the aerospace industry in an exotic skiing location in northwest USA from Mar 1st until Mar 10th. I was supposed to give a talk on the morning of Mar 4th, spend the following weekend in Yellowstone National Park and return back after ten days of sulking in the cold. Exciting, is it not!? Frankly, I was looking forward to the trip. A couple of months ago, I had booked my tickets to leave San Jose on the evening of Mar 1st and return back on the evening of Mar 11th. Almost as soon as I booked my tickets, it was confirmed that the Raja concert (which was previously scheduled to be held in November 2012) was going to be held on the evening of Mar 1st. My first thought was that I felt sorry for myself - sorry that I had booked my tickets too early and made plans for my trip to Big Sky. But on Feb 28th, folks higher-up at my office pulled the plug on my conference trip, and I went immediately running to HP Pavilion to secure two tickets to witness the legend in action. As a result, I had to miss out on all the expectation build-up to the concert, and I just went there just like that, carrying two pairs of binoculars (one for wife and another for me), and my iphone to record the entire thing (I have and would not share any part of it, since its purely personal!).  

Before I begin, let me declare some prejudice right away and try to provide technical reasons for such prejudice. Well, if I can reason it out, it is not prejudice anymore, is it?! I am a very ardent fan of Raja, period. I sing his songs everyday, hum his Nothing but Wind and How to Name it, and know by-heart every string of Thiruvasagam. I have shown keen interest in all of his ventures. I am still dying to listen to his (secret!?) symphony composed at London. Being a Tamilian also helps me to understand and appreciate his writings (sample “Pichai Paathiram” in your mind) better. I first thought of writing this post in Tamil, but later changed my mind so that this write-up is accessible to all music lovers. For those who would be interested in reading such items in Tamil, here is Sirumazai’s beautiful post on Raja’s previous concert in New Jersey.

To appreciate Raja's music in all depth, it only helps that I am a student of Carnatic music. Amongst so many other reasons, I find Raja’s songs most appealing to me because his music is extremely intelligent that understanding them would actually require deep thought; even better is the fact that I learn/observe something new every time I listen to the same song. It is no surprise that, with his impeccable technical expertise in Carnatic music and Western Classical music, he is able to intellectually tease our brains. On the other hand, what is surprising is that he is equally able to reach out to the common man who is uninitiated in any form of classical music. That is what I believe has made Raja truly amazing. What I still don’t understand is Raja’s ability to fuse all of these music forms together and produce music enjoyable by almost everyone. For example, let us look at Raja’s use of Mayamalavagowlai Ragam (this is the first ragam taught to those who learn Carnatic music). I can write about Raja’s usage of this Ragam for several pages, but let me give a quick observation, and move on to the concert. He is able to tune a song like “Rama Nama” (from Sri Raghavendra) with enough Carnatic expertise. On the other hand, he churns out folkish melodies like “Madhura Marikkozhundhu” or even better (or worse, depending on who you are), “Machi Mannaru” (my father would question: Why does he compose such ridiculous songs, when he can tune other gems?!) from En uyir thozhan. He uses the same Ragam in a philosphical sense in “Appan Endrum” from Guna, and can give soothing romantic melodies like "Kaadhal Kavithaigal Padithidum" or “Allah Un Aanaippadi”. On the other end of the spectrum, he also gives azhuvachi songs (i.e., pathos - sorry, it just sounds better in Tamil) like “En Thaayenum Koyila” for the great (pun intended or not, depending on who you are!) Raj Kiran in the same Ragam. I can only say one word - “Wow!” The fact that his music is absolutely soul stirring is an altogether different story.


Please continue reading about the concert here! By the way, do you know that STARVijay uploaded Ilaiyaraja's entire concert (Part 1 and Part 2) in Toronto on Youtube?!