#Ilaiyaraaja #SymphonyNo.1 #Valiant
History created by a 82 year old young man - with the grand debut of Valiant-Symphony No.1. By none other than our own Pannaiyapuram Beethoven - Maestro Ilaiyaraaja, the first ever Indian / Asian film composer to perform a full fledged western classical Symphony in London with the Royal Philharmonic orchestra. To me, this feat, somehow feels like daring a lion at its own den, announcing the grand arrival and marking his own territory. Couldn’t have been any more grandeur than this, right?
It is said, Symphony is an experience - a structured western classical pattern with each section a poetry of its own and all woven together to form a beautiful story. Many of the interludes / BGMs composed by Rajaa in the 70’s & 80’s had all these elements of Symphony. while the Symphony is usually conducted for 45 minutes, this whole concert was scheduled for 90 minutes, just to demonstrate in the second half, the orchestral version of selected songs & background scores composed by Rajaa.
To the world, Valiant may be his first Symphony, but it’s neither new to Raaja nor to his fans. His Symphonic touch, has been part of us for the past four decades. The world just got to witness it with the Valiant.
Listening to all the music enthusiasts on various platforms discussing Raja’s intricate Compositions, back ground scores and about his technical genius, makes me wonder, hasn’t he always been giving us all the flavours of symphony in bits n pieces through some of his craziest arrangements?
Looking back, I was probably 13 or 14, when my brother introduced me to the two music albums released by Ilaiyaraaja at that point in time, late 1980 - “How to Name it” & “Nothing but wind” - which in itself is a mini symphony of its own kind, probably, an Indianised version. I was too young to appreciate the musical nuances, back then, but I vividly remember that I was immediately drawn to those beautiful notes flowing through our tape recorder. His music just flows through your heart, caresses your spirit & liberates your soul.
Till my early teens, music meant, Ilaiyaraaja, MSV, MS Amma, Bollywood here and there, bit of Boney M & MJ. That’s it. But, that changed completely around 1989-90, after my eldest uncle moved as our neighbour from Hyderabad, post his retirement. Thanks to his treasure trove of music collections and to him, for playing those every day & night. Suddenly, I was exposed to a variety of music - Hindustani Gazhals / old Bollywood classics / Indian Pop / Pakistani music / Bhajans. Until then, I had never even heard of a Runa Laila or Pankaj Udhas or Usha Uthup or Ghulam Ali or Mehdi Hasan or Hariprasad Chaurasia or Gurdas Mann.
If my mornings began with some devotional songs & artis, the late evenings were filled with beautiful ghazals & hindustani classical music mellifluously resonating from my uncle’s drawing room. Come to think of it, I do feel, I have taken on some of my uncle’s genes. He too, like me, loved to live life large.
It was also around the same time, a young couple moved in nearby, who widened the interest by introducing me to some of the greatest English country songs, blues, jazz & music bands which broadened further with the advent of satellite channels - the Channel [V]s, MTVs & Star Worlds.
Later in life, after a long lull, around 2006-07 when Ilaiyaraaja started doing live concerts, my husband & I, being the ardent Raaja fans that we were, never missed an opportunity to attend his Chennai concerts. It was during these concerts, Raaja spoke about counter-points, explained what a symphony was, inspired by Schubert’s unfinished Symphony, how he composed Idhayam Pogudhe & demonstrated live on stage the bits n pieces he used in the movies from his two albums, how a background score, as a catalyst, completely changed the mood setting of a scene, etc etc.
These overwhelming exposures and the storyline of a fiction novel that I read, paved the way in kindling a basic interest to explore on Internet to listen to the western classical pieces by some of the greatest composers - Chopin / Tchaikovsky / Rachmaninov / Mozart / Bach / Beethoven / Wagner every now and then. Whenever I had my blues and dark moments, my iPad & these extraordinary compositions became my sanctuary. Till today, I have absolutely no knowledge on music, but sounds - especially the strings & piano has always resonated with me a lot.
Now, seeing the posts & videos shared by people who watched the Symphony live, and the announcement that Valiant, the Symphony, is scheduled to be held in 13 countries in the coming months, my heart yearns for a chance opportunity to watch it live. What a memorable and life time experience that would be ! Paulo Coelho once said “Believe in your dreams and the universe will conspire to help you achieve it”. A girl can dream, ain’t it? ❤️
