SOTD #650: puRRil vaazh from Thiruvasagam

[sugrutha]

Just finished listening the first time at one go.

Grand and dramatic !! And oh, yes. I cried.

[sugrutha]

Here's my detailed response after the first listening:

Finally received my copy of TIS yesterday. Took it with me to work to listen there. I had already read all the mixed reviews - the kudos as well as the criticism. So I think I really listened to it without expecting good or bad. Also I knew that much of the music/tunes/style might seem familiar. Afterall, we have been listening to his music for 30 years now. Also if the music sounds familiar to his flm music, it is not as if he has filmised this music rather he classicalised film music all along.

I dont know if it was this ambivalence or whether I really loved this music but I was greatly moved by TIS. Especially the 20-minute long second song - polla vinayen. The overall bhakti experience felt wholesome, comparable to what one experiences when MS sings 'kurai onrum illai, malai murthi kanna'.

I am sure the music has plenty of flaws, but I did not feel like listening to it critically as soon as the first couple of minutes passed. Ilaiyaraja sounds rustic and folksy as usual - perhaps that is the kind of effect he wanted. And I think it has worked. Also the genuinity he imbues into the words is very real. Of course I followed the words as he sang, with the song book-let bundled with the CD. That may be made the words more meaningful.

The only thing I noticed is that this is more distanced from his film music and style than his earlier non-film albums 'How to name it' and 'Nothing but wind'. He has not used any of his clever or catchy prayogams of tune or timing. I think that is because of the humility with which he has approached this album.

Grand, dramatic and sublime is my summary.

[shiva]

Dear friends,

Hope all heard IR's TiS, when i heard for the first time it was not impressed, but later when i heard several times, tears roll uncontrollable over my cheeks. I am working in an oil field for which i have to travel for 1 hour in a jeep at morning and evening. Now, my soul plays the song by itself when i hear the thiruvasakam i am reaching to high excitement.

Even some persons driving near me may have witnessed my tears .
One thing here i have to convey to my fellow tamils that only IR's voice matches fully to this sympony , because he sings from his soul and show great emotions according to the meaning of the words.

Further more comments can be asked to Mr sujatha, he is the right personality to give suitable answers.

And, here in kuwait also pirated TiS is selling in pirate - a sad news.
I am waiting now to get the cd of IR music journey in Italy, which i ordered through internet.
Finally, i am very happy to born in this period because this period I am with IR,s creations.
Bye
shiva

[Durai Ramesh]

I thank for Mr.Ilayaraja for his memorable Thiruvasagem Presentations.
God Gives More and more life for that enthusiastic Divine Falvour Music presentation for him.
I'm fallen with that Thiruvasagam in my lot of nights.
So thanks for this Presentations.

[Guest]

thanks for the songs

[find person]

Thiruvasagam is a massive subject and Western Classical /Oratorio is another massive subject. The composer who tries to merge both the subjects is expected to know at least 80% of both the subjects. I need not vouch for Ilayaraja’s knowledge in both the areas. In order to review such works the reviewer should have considerable knowledge on both the subjects. I have not come across anyone yet who knows the grammar of an Oratorio and Thiruvasagam together. What I mean is the reviewer’s knowledge should be more than what “Google” search offers. I feel this is essential in order to understand this genre of music. In the world of Amateur reviewers and Bloggers, I see this. Play the CD and listen to all 6 tracks and start writing a review, “song-A” has mesmerizing counter points all over the track. I bet from the technical side, only a minority would really know about a counter point. There will be just a handful who really understands counter points placed between Thiruvasagam verses. The next comment, The pitch and landing problems during the rendering. “Many have commented verses are off key in few places and bothering”, I find this to be totally superficial. This is what Ilayaraja has been singing in the movies. This is a known fact that he goes off-key on various occasions in film songs. Nothing new, we need to remember this is not a song, This is a verse so I really do not know if this would fit into the grammar of Carnatic music while rendering. Yes! I hear "Picth is important in any kind of music" Frankly, this issue does not write off the entire effort. If you don’t agree with me, you should be ready to write of all the songs sung by him in the past.Crossover or not? How many really know what crossover is all about? Or I would rephrase, what is crossover music? From what little I know - If you remove the lead vocals, this would be a top class western classical work and if you remove the backgrounds scores this would be a Thiruvasagam rendering. Nothing would change; The scores blends well in most “points” when mixed, frankly the blending and negotiations seemed seamless in most places. Why does it blend? Harmonies, Harmonies blend both the forms perfectly and in fact I was amazed to find we can do such things in harmony construction. When a new genre is born there would be confusion that could draw criticism due to lack of knowledge. Tamilians have been exposed to Ilayaraja’s style of western classical arrangement for 2 decades now. Hence most would not hesitate to second-guess or compare musical parts from his earlier movie tracks. This just shows the enormous following Raja has in film music genre. But think about a westerner who has not heard his work before, he/she would find it unique and talk about this, after all this can encourage more composers to work on this new genre.Considering all these factors, as I mentioned my Blog http://srikanthd.blogspot.com earlier, Thiruvasagam Oratorio by Illayaraja should NOT be reviewed or compared with any kind of film music. This is different and this needs proper mood to listen. The finer points in music needs to be understood as a whole package, this takes time, time in the sense a calendar not a stopwatch. Bottom line as a whole package - this effort is unique and an experiment that will open a new genre for composers. , a good start.The only issue I can question at this point of time is producers missing out or ignoring NRI contributions. When corporate sponsors deserves logo for their contributions, I feel NRI deserves an acknowledgement. Most NRI’s in USA know that Mr. Shankar Kumar, Mr.Sridhar Seetharaman and their team of IR fans worked hard to get the funds. Please remember that many contributed from their personal savings just for the passion they have for IR’s music. I like to ask Rev. Jegath, why NRI contributions were never mentioned anywhere?Cheers.

[2001 a space]

Thiruvasagam is a massive subject and Western Classical /Oratorio is another massive subject. The composer who tries to merge both the subjects is expected to know at least 80% of both the subjects. I need not vouch for Ilayaraja’s knowledge in both the areas. In order to review such works the reviewer should have considerable knowledge on both the subjects. I have not come across anyone yet who knows the grammar of an Oratorio and Thiruvasagam together. What I mean is the reviewer’s knowledge should be more than what “Google” search offers. I feel this is essential in order to understand this genre of music. In the world of Amateur reviewers and Bloggers, I see this. Play the CD and listen to all 6 tracks and start writing a review, “song-A” has mesmerizing counter points all over the track. I bet from the technical side, only a minority would really know about a counter point. There will be just a handful who really understands counter points placed between Thiruvasagam verses. The next comment, The pitch and landing problems during the rendering. “Many have commented verses are off key in few places and bothering”, I find this to be totally superficial. This is what Ilayaraja has been singing in the movies. This is a known fact that he goes off-key on various occasions in film songs. Nothing new, we need to remember this is not a song, This is a verse so I really do not know if this would fit into the grammar of Carnatic music while rendering. Yes! I hear "Picth is important in any kind of music" Frankly, this issue does not write off the entire effort. If you don’t agree with me, you should be ready to write of all the songs sung by him in the past.Crossover or not? How many really know what crossover is all about? Or I would rephrase, what is crossover music? From what little I know - If you remove the lead vocals, this would be a top class western classical work and if you remove the backgrounds scores this would be a Thiruvasagam rendering. Nothing would change; The scores blends well in most “points” when mixed, frankly the blending and negotiations seemed seamless in most places. Why does it blend? Harmonies, Harmonies blend both the forms perfectly and in fact I was amazed to find we can do such things in harmony construction. When a new genre is born there would be confusion that could draw criticism due to lack of knowledge. Tamilians have been exposed to Ilayaraja’s style of western classical arrangement for 2 decades now. Hence most would not hesitate to second-guess or compare musical parts from his earlier movie tracks. This just shows the enormous following Raja has in film music genre. But think about a westerner who has not heard his work before, he/she would find it unique and talk about this, after all this can encourage more composers to work on this new genre.Considering all these factors, as I mentioned my Blog http://srikanthd.blogspot.com earlier, Thiruvasagam Oratorio by Illayaraja should NOT be reviewed or compared with any kind of film music. This is different and this needs proper mood to listen. The finer points in music needs to be understood as a whole package, this takes time, time in the sense a calendar not a stopwatch. Bottom line as a whole package - this effort is unique and an experiment that will open a new genre for composers. , a good start.The only issue I can question at this point of time is producers missing out or ignoring NRI contributions. When corporate sponsors deserves logo for their contributions, I feel NRI deserves an acknowledgement. Most NRI’s in USA know that Mr. Shankar Kumar, Mr.Sridhar Seetharaman and their team of IR fans worked hard to get the funds. Please remember that many contributed from their personal savings just for the passion they have for IR’s music. I like to ask Rev. Jegath, why NRI contributions were never mentioned anywhere?Cheers.

[ms outlook]

Thiruvasagam is a massive subject and Western Classical /Oratorio is another massive subject. The composer who tries to merge both the subjects is expected to know at least 80% of both the subjects. I need not vouch for Ilayaraja’s knowledge in both the areas. In order to review such works the reviewer should have considerable knowledge on both the subjects. I have not come across anyone yet who knows the grammar of an Oratorio and Thiruvasagam together. What I mean is the reviewer’s knowledge should be more than what “Google” search offers. I feel this is essential in order to understand this genre of music. In the world of Amateur reviewers and Bloggers, I see this. Play the CD and listen to all 6 tracks and start writing a review, “song-A” has mesmerizing counter points all over the track. I bet from the technical side, only a minority would really know about a counter point. There will be just a handful who really understands counter points placed between Thiruvasagam verses. The next comment, The pitch and landing problems during the rendering. “Many have commented verses are off key in few places and bothering”, I find this to be totally superficial. This is what Ilayaraja has been singing in the movies. This is a known fact that he goes off-key on various occasions in film songs. Nothing new, we need to remember this is not a song, This is a verse so I really do not know if this would fit into the grammar of Carnatic music while rendering. Yes! I hear "Picth is important in any kind of music" Frankly, this issue does not write off the entire effort. If you don’t agree with me, you should be ready to write of all the songs sung by him in the past.Crossover or not? How many really know what crossover is all about? Or I would rephrase, what is crossover music? From what little I know - If you remove the lead vocals, this would be a top class western classical work and if you remove the backgrounds scores this would be a Thiruvasagam rendering. Nothing would change; The scores blends well in most “points” when mixed, frankly the blending and negotiations seemed seamless in most places. Why does it blend? Harmonies, Harmonies blend both the forms perfectly and in fact I was amazed to find we can do such things in harmony construction. When a new genre is born there would be confusion that could draw criticism due to lack of knowledge. Tamilians have been exposed to Ilayaraja’s style of western classical arrangement for 2 decades now. Hence most would not hesitate to second-guess or compare musical parts from his earlier movie tracks. This just shows the enormous following Raja has in film music genre. But think about a westerner who has not heard his work before, he/she would find it unique and talk about this, after all this can encourage more composers to work on this new genre.Considering all these factors, as I mentioned my Blog http://srikanthd.blogspot.com earlier, Thiruvasagam Oratorio by Illayaraja should NOT be reviewed or compared with any kind of film music. This is different and this needs proper mood to listen. The finer points in music needs to be understood as a whole package, this takes time, time in the sense a calendar not a stopwatch. Bottom line as a whole package - this effort is unique and an experiment that will open a new genre for composers. , a good start.The only issue I can question at this point of time is producers missing out or ignoring NRI contributions. When corporate sponsors deserves logo for their contributions, I feel NRI deserves an acknowledgement. Most NRI’s in USA know that Mr. Shankar Kumar, Mr.Sridhar Seetharaman and their team of IR fans worked hard to get the funds. Please remember that many contributed from their personal savings just for the passion they have for IR’s music. I like to ask Rev. Jegath, why NRI contributions were never mentioned anywhere?Cheers.

[good man]

Thiruvasagam is a massive subject and Western Classical /Oratorio is another massive subject. The composer who tries to merge both the subjects is expected to know at least 80% of both the subjects. I need not vouch for Ilayaraja’s knowledge in both the areas. In order to review such works the reviewer should have considerable knowledge on both the subjects. I have not come across anyone yet who knows the grammar of an Oratorio and Thiruvasagam together. What I mean is the reviewer’s knowledge should be more than what “Google” search offers. I feel this is essential in order to understand this genre of music. In the world of Amateur reviewers and Bloggers, I see this. Play the CD and listen to all 6 tracks and start writing a review, “song-A” has mesmerizing counter points all over the track. I bet from the technical side, only a minority would really know about a counter point. There will be just a handful who really understands counter points placed between Thiruvasagam verses. The next comment, The pitch and landing problems during the rendering. “Many have commented verses are off key in few places and bothering”, I find this to be totally superficial. This is what Ilayaraja has been singing in the movies. This is a known fact that he goes off-key on various occasions in film songs. Nothing new, we need to remember this is not a song, This is a verse so I really do not know if this would fit into the grammar of Carnatic music while rendering. Yes! I hear "Picth is important in any kind of music" Frankly, this issue does not write off the entire effort. If you don’t agree with me, you should be ready to write of all the songs sung by him in the past.Crossover or not? How many really know what crossover is all about? Or I would rephrase, what is crossover music? From what little I know - If you remove the lead vocals, this would be a top class western classical work and if you remove the backgrounds scores this would be a Thiruvasagam rendering. Nothing would change; The scores blends well in most “points” when mixed, frankly the blending and negotiations seemed seamless in most places. Why does it blend? Harmonies, Harmonies blend both the forms perfectly and in fact I was amazed to find we can do such things in harmony construction. When a new genre is born there would be confusion that could draw criticism due to lack of knowledge. Tamilians have been exposed to Ilayaraja’s style of western classical arrangement for 2 decades now. Hence most would not hesitate to second-guess or compare musical parts from his earlier movie tracks. This just shows the enormous following Raja has in film music genre. But think about a westerner who has not heard his work before, he/she would find it unique and talk about this, after all this can encourage more composers to work on this new genre.Considering all these factors, as I mentioned my Blog http://srikanthd.blogspot.com earlier, Thiruvasagam Oratorio by Illayaraja should NOT be reviewed or compared with any kind of film music. This is different and this needs proper mood to listen. The finer points in music needs to be understood as a whole package, this takes time, time in the sense a calendar not a stopwatch. Bottom line as a whole package - this effort is unique and an experiment that will open a new genre for composers. , a good start.The only issue I can question at this point of time is producers missing out or ignoring NRI contributions. When corporate sponsors deserves logo for their contributions, I feel NRI deserves an acknowledgement. Most NRI’s in USA know that Mr. Shankar Kumar, Mr.Sridhar Seetharaman and their team of IR fans worked hard to get the funds. Please remember that many contributed from their personal savings just for the passion they have for IR’s music. I like to ask Rev. Jegath, why NRI contributions were never mentioned anywhere?Cheers.

[remove vocals from music]

Thiruvasagam is a massive subject and Western Classical /Oratorio is another massive subject. The composer who tries to merge both the subjects is expected to know at least 80% of both the subjects. I need not vouch for Ilayaraja’s knowledge in both the areas. In order to review such works the reviewer should have considerable knowledge on both the subjects. I have not come across anyone yet who knows the grammar of an Oratorio and Thiruvasagam together. What I mean is the reviewer’s knowledge should be more than what “Google” search offers. I feel this is essential in order to understand this genre of music. In the world of Amateur reviewers and Bloggers, I see this. Play the CD and listen to all 6 tracks and start writing a review, “song-A” has mesmerizing counter points all over the track. I bet from the technical side, only a minority would really know about a counter point. There will be just a handful who really understands counter points placed between Thiruvasagam verses. The next comment, The pitch and landing problems during the rendering. “Many have commented verses are off key in few places and bothering”, I find this to be totally superficial. This is what Ilayaraja has been singing in the movies. This is a known fact that he goes off-key on various occasions in film songs. Nothing new, we need to remember this is not a song, This is a verse so I really do not know if this would fit into the grammar of Carnatic music while rendering. Yes! I hear "Picth is important in any kind of music" Frankly, this issue does not write off the entire effort. If you don’t agree with me, you should be ready to write of all the songs sung by him in the past.Crossover or not? How many really know what crossover is all about? Or I would rephrase, what is crossover music? From what little I know - If you remove the lead vocals, this would be a top class western classical work and if you remove the backgrounds scores this would be a Thiruvasagam rendering. Nothing would change; The scores blends well in most “points” when mixed, frankly the blending and negotiations seemed seamless in most places. Why does it blend? Harmonies, Harmonies blend both the forms perfectly and in fact I was amazed to find we can do such things in harmony construction. When a new genre is born there would be confusion that could draw criticism due to lack of knowledge. Tamilians have been exposed to Ilayaraja’s style of western classical arrangement for 2 decades now. Hence most would not hesitate to second-guess or compare musical parts from his earlier movie tracks. This just shows the enormous following Raja has in film music genre. But think about a westerner who has not heard his work before, he/she would find it unique and talk about this, after all this can encourage more composers to work on this new genre.Considering all these factors, as I mentioned my Blog http://srikanthd.blogspot.com earlier, Thiruvasagam Oratorio by Illayaraja should NOT be reviewed or compared with any kind of film music. This is different and this needs proper mood to listen. The finer points in music needs to be understood as a whole package, this takes time, time in the sense a calendar not a stopwatch. Bottom line as a whole package - this effort is unique and an experiment that will open a new genre for composers. , a good start.The only issue I can question at this point of time is producers missing out or ignoring NRI contributions. When corporate sponsors deserves logo for their contributions, I feel NRI deserves an acknowledgement. Most NRI’s in USA know that Mr. Shankar Kumar, Mr.Sridhar Seetharaman and their team of IR fans worked hard to get the funds. Please remember that many contributed from their personal savings just for the passion they have for IR’s music. I like to ask Rev. Jegath, why NRI contributions were never mentioned anywhere?Cheers.

[Graphic Arts]

Thiruvasagam is a massive subject and Western Classical /Oratorio is another massive subject. The composer who tries to merge both the subjects is expected to know at least 80% of both the subjects. I need not vouch for Ilayaraja’s knowledge in both the areas. In order to review such works the reviewer should have considerable knowledge on both the subjects. I have not come across anyone yet who knows the grammar of an Oratorio and Thiruvasagam together. What I mean is the reviewer’s knowledge should be more than what “Google” search offers. I feel this is essential in order to understand this genre of music. In the world of Amateur reviewers and Bloggers, I see this. Play the CD and listen to all 6 tracks and start writing a review, “song-A” has mesmerizing counter points all over the track. I bet from the technical side, only a minority would really know about a counter point. There will be just a handful who really understands counter points placed between Thiruvasagam verses. The next comment, The pitch and landing problems during the rendering. “Many have commented verses are off key in few places and bothering”, I find this to be totally superficial. This is what Ilayaraja has been singing in the movies. This is a known fact that he goes off-key on various occasions in film songs. Nothing new, we need to remember this is not a song, This is a verse so I really do not know if this would fit into the grammar of Carnatic music while rendering. Yes! I hear "Picth is important in any kind of music" Frankly, this issue does not write off the entire effort. If you don’t agree with me, you should be ready to write of all the songs sung by him in the past.Crossover or not? How many really know what crossover is all about? Or I would rephrase, what is crossover music? From what little I know - If you remove the lead vocals, this would be a top class western classical work and if you remove the backgrounds scores this would be a Thiruvasagam rendering. Nothing would change; The scores blends well in most “points” when mixed, frankly the blending and negotiations seemed seamless in most places. Why does it blend? Harmonies, Harmonies blend both the forms perfectly and in fact I was amazed to find we can do such things in harmony construction. When a new genre is born there would be confusion that could draw criticism due to lack of knowledge. Tamilians have been exposed to Ilayaraja’s style of western classical arrangement for 2 decades now. Hence most would not hesitate to second-guess or compare musical parts from his earlier movie tracks. This just shows the enormous following Raja has in film music genre. But think about a westerner who has not heard his work before, he/she would find it unique and talk about this, after all this can encourage more composers to work on this new genre.Considering all these factors, as I mentioned my Blog http://srikanthd.blogspot.com earlier, Thiruvasagam Oratorio by Illayaraja should NOT be reviewed or compared with any kind of film music. This is different and this needs proper mood to listen. The finer points in music needs to be understood as a whole package, this takes time, time in the sense a calendar not a stopwatch. Bottom line as a whole package - this effort is unique and an experiment that will open a new genre for composers. , a good start.The only issue I can question at this point of time is producers missing out or ignoring NRI contributions. When corporate sponsors deserves logo for their contributions, I feel NRI deserves an acknowledgement. Most NRI’s in USA know that Mr. Shankar Kumar, Mr.Sridhar Seetharaman and their team of IR fans worked hard to get the funds. Please remember that many contributed from their personal savings just for the passion they have for IR’s music. I like to ask Rev. Jegath, why NRI contributions were never mentioned anywhere?Cheers.

[product group]

Thiruvasagam is a massive subject and Western Classical /Oratorio is another massive subject. The composer who tries to merge both the subjects is expected to know at least 80% of both the subjects. I need not vouch for Ilayaraja’s knowledge in both the areas. In order to review such works the reviewer should have considerable knowledge on both the subjects. I have not come across anyone yet who knows the grammar of an Oratorio and Thiruvasagam together. What I mean is the reviewer’s knowledge should be more than what “Google” search offers. I feel this is essential in order to understand this genre of music. In the world of Amateur reviewers and Bloggers, I see this. Play the CD and listen to all 6 tracks and start writing a review, “song-A” has mesmerizing counter points all over the track. I bet from the technical side, only a minority would really know about a counter point. There will be just a handful who really understands counter points placed between Thiruvasagam verses. The next comment, The pitch and landing problems during the rendering. “Many have commented verses are off key in few places and bothering”, I find this to be totally superficial. This is what Ilayaraja has been singing in the movies. This is a known fact that he goes off-key on various occasions in film songs. Nothing new, we need to remember this is not a song, This is a verse so I really do not know if this would fit into the grammar of Carnatic music while rendering. Yes! I hear "Picth is important in any kind of music" Frankly, this issue does not write off the entire effort. If you don’t agree with me, you should be ready to write of all the songs sung by him in the past.Crossover or not? How many really know what crossover is all about? Or I would rephrase, what is crossover music? From what little I know - If you remove the lead vocals, this would be a top class western classical work and if you remove the backgrounds scores this would be a Thiruvasagam rendering. Nothing would change; The scores blends well in most “points” when mixed, frankly the blending and negotiations seemed seamless in most places. Why does it blend? Harmonies, Harmonies blend both the forms perfectly and in fact I was amazed to find we can do such things in harmony construction. When a new genre is born there would be confusion that could draw criticism due to lack of knowledge. Tamilians have been exposed to Ilayaraja’s style of western classical arrangement for 2 decades now. Hence most would not hesitate to second-guess or compare musical parts from his earlier movie tracks. This just shows the enormous following Raja has in film music genre. But think about a westerner who has not heard his work before, he/she would find it unique and talk about this, after all this can encourage more composers to work on this new genre.Considering all these factors, as I mentioned my Blog http://srikanthd.blogspot.com earlier, Thiruvasagam Oratorio by Illayaraja should NOT be reviewed or compared with any kind of film music. This is different and this needs proper mood to listen. The finer points in music needs to be understood as a whole package, this takes time, time in the sense a calendar not a stopwatch. Bottom line as a whole package - this effort is unique and an experiment that will open a new genre for composers. , a good start.The only issue I can question at this point of time is producers missing out or ignoring NRI contributions. When corporate sponsors deserves logo for their contributions, I feel NRI deserves an acknowledgement. Most NRI’s in USA know that Mr. Shankar Kumar, Mr.Sridhar Seetharaman and their team of IR fans worked hard to get the funds. Please remember that many contributed from their personal savings just for the passion they have for IR’s music. I like to ask Rev. Jegath, why NRI contributions were never mentioned anywhere?Cheers.

[lesser]

Thiruvasagam is a massive subject and Western Classical /Oratorio is another massive subject. The composer who tries to merge both the subjects is expected to know at least 80% of both the subjects. I need not vouch for Ilayaraja’s knowledge in both the areas. In order to review such works the reviewer should have considerable knowledge on both the subjects. I have not come across anyone yet who knows the grammar of an Oratorio and Thiruvasagam together. What I mean is the reviewer’s knowledge should be more than what “Google” search offers. I feel this is essential in order to understand this genre of music. In the world of Amateur reviewers and Bloggers, I see this. Play the CD and listen to all 6 tracks and start writing a review, “song-A” has mesmerizing counter points all over the track. I bet from the technical side, only a minority would really know about a counter point. There will be just a handful who really understands counter points placed between Thiruvasagam verses. The next comment, The pitch and landing problems during the rendering. “Many have commented verses are off key in few places and bothering”, I find this to be totally superficial. This is what Ilayaraja has been singing in the movies. This is a known fact that he goes off-key on various occasions in film songs. Nothing new, we need to remember this is not a song, This is a verse so I really do not know if this would fit into the grammar of Carnatic music while rendering. Yes! I hear "Picth is important in any kind of music" Frankly, this issue does not write off the entire effort. If you don’t agree with me, you should be ready to write of all the songs sung by him in the past.Crossover or not? How many really know what crossover is all about? Or I would rephrase, what is crossover music? From what little I know - If you remove the lead vocals, this would be a top class western classical work and if you remove the backgrounds scores this would be a Thiruvasagam rendering. Nothing would change; The scores blends well in most “points” when mixed, frankly the blending and negotiations seemed seamless in most places. Why does it blend? Harmonies, Harmonies blend both the forms perfectly and in fact I was amazed to find we can do such things in harmony construction. When a new genre is born there would be confusion that could draw criticism due to lack of knowledge. Tamilians have been exposed to Ilayaraja’s style of western classical arrangement for 2 decades now. Hence most would not hesitate to second-guess or compare musical parts from his earlier movie tracks. This just shows the enormous following Raja has in film music genre. But think about a westerner who has not heard his work before, he/she would find it unique and talk about this, after all this can encourage more composers to work on this new genre.Considering all these factors, as I mentioned my Blog http://srikanthd.blogspot.com earlier, Thiruvasagam Oratorio by Illayaraja should NOT be reviewed or compared with any kind of film music. This is different and this needs proper mood to listen. The finer points in music needs to be understood as a whole package, this takes time, time in the sense a calendar not a stopwatch. Bottom line as a whole package - this effort is unique and an experiment that will open a new genre for composers. , a good start.The only issue I can question at this point of time is producers missing out or ignoring NRI contributions. When corporate sponsors deserves logo for their contributions, I feel NRI deserves an acknowledgement. Most NRI’s in USA know that Mr. Shankar Kumar, Mr.Sridhar Seetharaman and their team of IR fans worked hard to get the funds. Please remember that many contributed from their personal savings just for the passion they have for IR’s music. I like to ask Rev. Jegath, why NRI contributions were never mentioned anywhere?Cheers.

[guitarlover]

I totally agree with you all and sharing the same thought about his music.