Folk song melodies composed by Ilayaraja became a big hit amongst the music lovers soon. He used the technique of the modern film music orchestration to breathe life into the Tamil poetry written by the lyricists. His music reached wide across the Tamil audience. As An InstrumentalistĪs A Music DirectorIlayaraja made an entry into film music direction in 1976, by composing the songs and background score for the Tamil film “Annakkili”. In the meantime, he also hired instruments from R K Shekhar (AR Rahman’s father), who later on joined the orchestra as its keyboardist. He listened to his own compositions by asking the session musicians to play excerpts from his scores.
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While working with him, Ilayaraja penned his own music compositions as well. Later on, Ilayaraja worked as an assistant to Kannada music director G K Venkatesh, with whom he worked on around 200 films. Thereafter, he worked as a session guitarist, keyboardist and conducted the orchestra for renowned film music directors, including Salil Chowdhury. Ilayaraja worked with a band-for-hire in Chennai, as a guitarist in the 1970s. The course concentrated at the overview of Western classical music, study of techniques related to composition of music and instrumental performance.After specializing in classical guitar, Ilayaraja went on to pursue a course in the same, at the Trinity College of Music, London. In 1968, Ilayaraja collaborated with Professor Dhanraj to start a music course in Madras. Ilayaraja composed his first song - an elegy written by veteran Tamil poet Kannadasan - when he was still working with the troupe. CHILDHOOD:Īt the age of 14, Ilaiyaraaja joined the musical troupe owned by his elder step-brother, Pavalar Varadarajan, and was associated with it for the next ten years. He was well acquainted with the range of Tamil folk music prevalent in the place. Ilaiyaraaja spent his childhood in the rural area of Pannaipuram, which sowed the seeds of music in him.
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He was originally named Gnanadesikan by his father Ramaswamy and mother Chinnathayammal. Ilaiyaraaja was born on Jin a poor family living in a small village “Pannaipuram”, located in Theni district of Tamil Nadu, India. The musician has been awarded the title of Isaignani ('savant of music').BRIEF HISTORY Apart from Tamil, he has also worked in Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films as a music director. He is accredited with setting a trend for film music in South India, by introducing Western musical nuances into songs. The music maestro has composed over 4000 songs and worked in over 800 films, in a career spanning over three decades. Ilayaraja is a veteran music director of South Indian film industry. Born On: June 2, 1943Born In: Theni district, Tamil NaduNationality: IndianCareer: Music Director