Thiruvasagam in Symphonic Oratorio

Thiruvasagam in Symphonic Oratorio, Composer and Orchestrator: Ilaiyaraaja, Conductor: Laszlo Kovacs, Orchestra: Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Publisher: Tamil Maiyam



For an Indian, Ilaiyaraja does not require any introduction. Non-Indians, please visit his site to learn more.

Thiruvasagam is a collection of classical hyms in Tamil written by a twelth century Saint called Manickavasagar. The album is a symphonic adaptation of the ancient literary text. The Tamil and English verses are seamlessly blended into the western classical with ample Hungarian choruses adding to that enigmatic effect of the mood.

Now the back story. Raaja, began as a film music composer, has been, in his own hadwork and passion, evolved beyond simply writing and orchestrating 'running-around-the-tree' songs. He innovated with carnatic classicals, created new ragas and ventured to write western classical pieces. He made certain valiant yet half-hearted shot at western/classical fusions in the past.

Some years ago, he made waves by announcing that he has composed a symphony which will be conducted by the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The whole of Tamilnadu erupted with joy at the thought that the first Asian to ever compose a western symphony was a Tamilian. The joy, though didn't last long as the 'symphony' never got released and there were mixed reports about the validity of the composition. Raaja then began evading questions on the symphony. Then, a kid called A R Rahman stormed in, swept everyone off their feet and the new era of Indian music was born. Subsequently Raaja's fame waned.

I -as an ardent fan of Raaja- was and is still upset with him for not hanging his boots. I would rather have preferred him to continue his experiments and focused on symphonic compositions rather than trying to prove a point with Rahman.

Well, it seems that he has got the hint finally. His 'Thiruvasagam', thankfully is not a symphony. It's technically an Oratorio. The hyms are sung by Raaja himself with chorus from the Symphony Orchestra. The English verses of the hyms and certain choruses are breathtaking. Raaja's soothing violins, which lost their magic in the 90s are back with their magical touch. There are certain moments in this piece that may give you goosebumps. And I had tears rolling in the last number where Raaja actually enacts discovering an orchestra and attempting to fit in a Tamil verse within the symphony format. That's what you call a genius stuff. The sound is fresh and the blend of western in an ancient text is simply brilliant.

And mind you, this music is not done using a computer with couple of synthesisers and edited with SoundForge. It's a real music written with real notes and conducted using real instruments by the real people. And such an event is a rarity in today's India. In the sad, gloomy days of ear-numbing synthesised sound being dished out as music from sound engineers who call themselves composers, blending two different centuries of two different corners of the world takes hardwork, passion and more importantly, genius. Listening to this album proves that there's still hope left in this world. Welcome back Raaja.