Lessons from Maestro Ilayaraja

Date: September 01 2001

Lesson 1

Bringing Classicism with Lalitha Raga

                  Song:

Idayil Kadhai Ezudum Nerum Idhu.....(Tamil version)

Lalitha Priya Kamalam Virisinadhi...(Telugu version)

                 Film:

Unnal Mudiyum Thambi (Tamil)

Rudra Veena (Telugu)

Based on Raga :

Lalitha

Listen to this song.
[Audio Courtesy: RaajaNGAHM.com ]

The Mood of the Song

This song is a masterpiece in Lalitha raga, a raga that has been used rarely in film music. The composer has beautifully explained how this raga could be used to explain the like-mindedness and mutual understanding between two people (the actor and actress in the film). He has demonstrated how the sanctity of the relationship between the characters can be brought out, by giving a classical touch to the song. (Also, since the story of the film has a backdrop of classical music and dance, the composer would have probably made it sound classical).

The Raga

While on one hand, the composer brings out the above mentioned feelings in this song, he explores the sound scope of the raga on the other. Lalitha raga is very close to its parent raga Mayamalavagowla (15th. Melakartha). It differs from its parent in only that it excludes the note Pa from its parent, in both ascent and descent.

One can easily grasp the ascent and descent of the raga after listening to this song. Throughout the song, the composer has made the shadjyamam as his home (mostly higher sa) and has visited the other locations in the raga, returning back to his home. This is a common practice in carnatic music where in the performer rotates round a single note. The genius (the composer) has shown how this technique can be used in a film song like this one.

The song is loaded with a number of soothing phrases that are possible in Lalitha raga. The composer touches the higher dhaivatham during the end of the charanam. This is a unique feature in this song since it is a rare event in south Indian classical music to reach as high as the dhaivatham in the higher octave (generally Pa is the limit). The song does not go deeper than the nishadham in the lower octave. One of the reasons for this could be to maintain the feel of joy, happiness and togetherness, in the song situation and to avoid the feeling of pathos that the lower notes ( given the scale of the song) are known to evoke. The composer stamps the song with his trade mark of unique landing notes. This stamp can be found in a tune in the charanam, which lands on the nishadham and stands out at that point of time during the flow of the song.

The Orchestration

The composer demonstrates how a prelude of a song could be used to pull the minds of its listeners into the mood of the song. This song starts off with notes that sound like temple bells and that captivate the heart and soul of its listeners.

The interludes have been written beautifully with a domination of violins and the flute. In the second interlude that starts with violins backed up by the piano, the composer shows how shades of the western classical music in a raga based song like this one, could be used to bring variety in music. This ten second piece (violins and piano) creates a mood that is beyond verbal description and proves the novelty and uniqueness of the composer.

Thanks to Maestro Ilayaraja for teaching such a useful lesson in this article from his musical journal.

Author: R.S.Balaji

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