Ilaiyaraja is a music composer whose music has received world wide appreciation.
Ilaiyaraja
Ilaiyaraja was born as Daniel Rajaiyya on 2nd June 1943 in Pannaipuram, Tamil Nadu. His parents are Ramaswamy and Chinnathayammal.
His wife is Jeeva and they have three children – Karthik, Yuvan Shankar and Bhavatharini.
Getting Started
Ilaiyaraja was fourteen years old when he started accompanying his step brother’s music troupe. He composed the music for a poem written about Jawaharlal Nehru by the poet Kannadasan.
He studied music under Professor Dhanraj and later earned a gold medal at the Trinity College of Music in London.
He was influenced by folk music when he was young and was exposed to Western classical music later. These influences are evident in the music he composes today.
Making Music
Ilaiyaraja played the guitar and keyboard for music directors and worked as an assistant to G.K.Venkatesh, a film composer.
Albums
In 1986, his first album, How To Name It, was released and was a clever mix of Carnatic and Bach. This was followed by Nothing But Wind (1988) which featured the flautist, Hariprasad Chaurasia and captured the different moods of the air element.
Other albums are Ilayaraaja’s Classicals on the Mandolin (1994), Guru Ramana Geetam (2004), Thiruvasakam: A Crossover (2005), The Music Messiah (2006) and Manikantan Geet Mala (2008).
Movies
Movies danced to his tune, starting with a Tamil movie, Annakkili. This was followed by 16 Vayathinelle, Thalapathi and Nayakan among other Tamil movies. He has also worked on many Tollywood and Bollywood projects like Hey Ram, Lajja, Cheeni Kum and Abhinandana.
Rakamma Kaiya Thattu from Thalapathi was selected as one of the Top Ten songs through a poll conducted by BBC.
Recognition
Ilaiyaraja walked away with the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for the movies Sindhu Bhairvai (1986), Rudraveena (1989) and Saagara Sangamam (1984).
He’s been honoured with many awards by State Governments across India including the Tamil Nadu’s Kalaimamani.
His contribution in the field of music has been recognized by honorary doctorates from Annamalai University and Madhurai Kamaraj University in Tamil Nadu as well as the World University Round Table, Arizona, USA.
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