Ilaiyaraaja

Ilaiyaraja
Ilaiyaraaja in 2017
Ilaiyaraaja in 2017
Background information
Birth nameGnanathesigan Ramaswamy
Also known as
  • Ilaiyaraja
  • Maestro
  • Isaignani
Born (1943-06-03) 3 June 1943 (age 81)
Pannaipuram, Madras Presidency, British India
Genres
Occupations
  • Composer
  • Arranger
  • Conductor
  • Orchestrator
  • Instrumentalist
  • Lyricist
  • Playback singer
  • Film producer
Instruments
Years active1976–present
Websiteilaiyaraajalive.com Edit this at Wikidata
Member of parliament, Rajya Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 July 2022
Nominated byRam Nath Kovind
ConstituencyNominated (Arts)

Ilaiyaraaja (born Gnanathesigan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil, in addition to Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada films. Regarded as one of the most prolific composers, in a career spanning over forty-eight years, he has composed over 7,000 songs and provided film scores for over 1,000 films,[1] apart from performing in over 20,000 concerts.[2] He is nicknamed "Isaignani" (the musical sage) and is often referred to as "Maestro", the title conferred to him by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London.[3]

Ilaiyaraaja was also one of the first Indian film composers to use Western classical music harmonies and string arrangements in Indian film music,[4] and the first South Asian to compose a full symphony.[5] In 1986, he became the first Indian composer to record a soundtrack with computer for the film Vikram.[6] He also composed Thiruvasagam in Symphony (2006), the first Indian oratorio.[7]

In 2013, when CNN-IBN conducted a poll to commemorate 100 years of Indian cinema, he secured 49% of the vote and was adjudged the country's greatest music composer.[8] In 2014, the American world cinema portal "Taste of Cinema" placed him at 9th position in its list of 25 greatest film composers in the history of cinema. He is the only Indian on the list, appearing alongside Ennio Morricone, John Williams, and Jerry Goldsmith.[9][10]

Ilaiyaraaja received several awards for his works throughout his career. In 2012, for his creative and experimental works in the field of music, he received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the highest Indian recognition given to people in the field of performing arts. In 2010 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour in India, and in 2018 the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award by the government of India. He is a nominated Member of Parliament in the Indian upper house Rajya Sabha since July 2022.[11] A biographical film about his life titled "Ilaiyaraaja" was announced on 20 March 2024.[12]

  1. ^ Ramamoorthy Preethi, Surendran Anusha (28 January 2019). "Ilaiyaraaja: Music is my religion". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  2. ^ "No point in classifying music, says Ilayaraja". The Hindu. 19 June 2005. Archived from the original on 17 January 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  3. ^ "To Appreciate Ilaiyaraaja's Anti-Caste Politics, You Have To Listen To His Music". HuffPost India. 7 June 2020. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  4. ^ Venkatraman, S. 1995. "Film music: the new intercultural idiom of 20th century Indian music". pp. 107–112 in A. Euba and C.T. Kimberlin (eds.). Intercultural Music Vol. I. Bayreuth: Breitinger (p. 110).
  5. ^ Ganesh, Deepa (6 June 2018). "There's India in Ilaiyaraja's music". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  6. ^ "10 Technologies brought in by Tamil Cinema". Behindwoods. 21 November 2016. Archived from the original on 11 September 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  7. ^ "CD Review: Ilaiyaraaja / Thiruvasagam | Finndian". Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  8. ^ "NTR is the greatest Indian actor". The Times of India. 8 March 2013. Archived from the original on 31 March 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  9. ^ "Ilayaraja among 25 Greatest Film Composers in world cinema!". Sify. 17 March 2014. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  10. ^ White, Brian (14 March 2014). "The 25 Greatest Film Composers In Cinema History". Taste of Cinema. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  11. ^ "Music maestro Ilaiyaraaja nominated to the Rajya Sabha". The Newsminute. 6 July 2022. Archived from the original on 25 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Ilayaraja's Biopic announcement". The Hindu. 20 March 2024. Archived from the original on 22 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.