Ilayaraja
 |
Ilayaraja was born to a poor family in Pannaiapuram, Tamil Nadu. Although he did not have any formal education, he completed a course in classical guitar (higher local) with a gold medal at the Trinity College of Music in London.
Ilayaraja has composed for more than 850 films. His first movie, "Annakilli", changed the way music was composed in the Tamil film industry. His popular songs include those for the films "Mouna Raagam", "Sindhu bhairavi" and "Rudraveena".
He won the national Best Film Music Composer award three times in 1984, 1986 and 1988. He is the first Asian to compose a fully- fledged symphony for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO). He has also composed two non film albums.
He is the only music director to compose a song in just 3 notes (swaras). Usually a song requires a minimum of 5 notes.
Besides scoring music for Indian films, Ilayaraja has written two fusion albums, blending western classical with carnatic raagas. The first, "How To Name It?", was dedicated to South Indian religious composer Thyagaraja, and to J. S. Bach. The second, "Nothing But Wind", has a final conclusion that suggests music is nothing but wind. HariPrasad Chaurasia, Maestro Flutist of North India, appears on this album.
He developed associations with classical musicians like Balamuralikrishna (Chinnak kaNNan azhaikkiRAn) and T.V. Gopalakrishnan (Andhimazhaip pozhikiRathu) plus jazz musician Paul Mariot, who influenced his fusion albums.
He is currently working on a sypmphonic project about Thiruvasakam.
