An Interview abt TBI

i think all this month, my blogs would feature only TBI..cant help it..just like to share..to keep the enthu on..

given below is an interview with Ilaiyaraaja.


When Shri Illayraaja soulfully sings "Nama shivaya Vazhga " ,thespiritual vibrations of it fills the whole house.When hefinishes singing and comes out of that state ,his eyes are moistedwith tears .

Says Ilayraaja " This Thiruvasagam project is a result of my intensedesire to do something for the youth generation.(Gives an example ) If you don't clean a house for days ,dust startsaccumulating ;If it is left as it is for four days ,then spiders anddirt starts accumulating ;Left unclean for a month ,rats and mousesettle there ;If its unattended for a year ,even if its a palace itwill be ruined !"(Having Known this fact) ,we haven't preserved our cultural treasureswe have for centuries together !Our precious cultural treasures havewithstood for centuries inspite of our ignorance and negligence -thatstheir power .Having known these facts ,we should keep our house clean .We should prevent our culture getting damaged by external infleunces and so called new-civilization inputs from the outside world.
Well ,i thought on these lines and Thiruvasagam project was born !"This project is a journey that continued for four years -But theactual work(composition ) was done in just 12 days .During those 12days ,i used to start writing music from 4 in the morning to 10:30 inthe night .The day on which i completed writing the score was the guruPoornima day of Manikka Vasagar ( who wrote thiruvasagam) -Thanks toGod ,thanks to his blessings !

Film Music ,Thiruvasagam music - which one gives you thesoulful satisfaction ?

Both appears to be the same .I have done Thiruvasagam kind ofmusic in films and vice versa.You perceive the difference .It appearsthe same for me .Like the breeze is the same everywhere

What attracted you to Thiruvasagam so much ?

As the snow melts and disappears when sunshine pours in , aman's lower form of ego ,selfishness flies away when he readsThiruvasagam.A person of the stature of Manikka Vasagar ,who hasrealized god and is always in union with god ,describes himself as aperson 'who is inferior to dog ' and he surrenders to god.When youread this in our wonderful tamizh language ,you are shaken by the humility and you are moved to tears -It will be surprising if one isnot attracted to this wonderful treasure!

How did you turn your mind towards god ,when your youth wasspent in Communist meetings ? ( as a musician )

I don't have to search anything now .Having known where is'God' .what is there to search now ?People search only those thingsthat they don't have !God has blessed me with its unique gift of musicto immerse in the 7 swaras of music and compose music for others ! Itis a blessing from god that i will be immersed in it and forgeteverything else!

How was the expereince of working with musicians of othercountries ?(like hungary ,US )

This is not the first time that iam working with them .Butthis project has one primary difference-thiruvasagam is atreasure that represents Indian culture -I have to make them feel theIndian culture in thiruvasagam and they have to work with me havingunderstood its importance and essence .Tamil Maiyaam decided that theywill use world class technicians for this project.The sound engineering was done by Five Time grammy award winner Mr.Richard Kingand the orchestra was conducted by world famous conductor Mr.LasloKovacs.He (Laso Kovacs) commented that i write notes in such a speedthat this ( speed of writing notes) will find a place in Guinnes bookof world records !I was concerned that they might play withoutunderstanding the beauty of this treaure(Thiruvasagam) .But ,everybodyperformed wonderfully .I was happy when they said " We never knew thatsuch a treasure exists in India

" How was the experience of working with a christian priest( Fr.Jegath Gasper ) for composing a symphony for hindu literature ?

This musical form which is used in this project is not of'symphony' type .This form is called 'Oratorio' .perhaps ,this is thefirst time in India that a musical piece of this form is coming.But weused a full fledged orchestra for this and hence they started calling this as symphony.I was involved in this projectfor the past five years .Well ,this project required good financial backup .And my nature did not allow me to sell this commercially .Somepeople approached me with some commercial gains in mind and hence the delay ( as i don't prefer that ) .Catholic Father has huge intrest in Tamizh Literature and devotionalrespect for Thiruvasagam. By chance ,i mentioned to him about this idea -Its divine play that who says what and who does what !After hewas ready to manage the project financially ,the one thought thatflashed in my mind " God is above all religions ' !

Do you have any plans to compose for any other tamizhliterature works ?

(Gives an example) Thiruvalluvar did not pre plan to writeThiru Kurral.It just happened naturally ,without any consciouseffort.This is how any good work will come .I don't carry a list of'to-do' items and then execute it.To be open ,this format of music (in which Thiruvasagam is composed) is new to you .When i first readThiruvasagam ,i did'nt read it literally -instead ,thiruvasagam versesappeared to me in a musical form that you are going to hear in this !

After you ,so many peopel from the current generation havecome to the cine music field !-What do you think about that ?

Its a good thing ! Whetever passion i have for music is frommy (music ) ancestors .With no conscious effort ,quite naturally ,myveins are filled with the music of Pavalar Vardha Rajan ( his latebrother ). I appear tall if i stand on the shoulders of myancestors.If they keep me down ,iam just as like anybody .Like anillayraaja came from Pavalar ,a Yuvan Shankar Raaja from Illayraaja !Illayaraaja's Thiruvasagam is going to get released in the 'MusicAcademy' on Jun 30 rd th .Raaja says that 'This is the penance of mylife .My dream '