Ilaiyaraaja was born on R Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943 and is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian cinema, prominently in Tamil and Telugu films.
37 Facts About Ilaiyaraaja
2.
Ilaiyaraaja is nicknamed "Isaignani" and often referred to as "Maestro", the title conferred by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London.
3.
Ilaiyaraaja was one of the earliest Indian film composers to use Western classical music harmonies and string arrangements in Tamil film music, and the first South Asian to compose a full symphony.
4.
Ilaiyaraaja composed Thiruvasagam in Symphony, the first Indian oratorio.
5.
Ilaiyaraaja is the only Indian in the list, appearing alongside Ennio Morricone, John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith.
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Ilaiyaraaja received several awards for his works throughout his career.
7.
Ilaiyaraaja is a nominated Member of Parliament in the Indian upper house, Rajya Sabha, since July 2022.
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Ilaiyaraaja was born as Gnanathesigan in a Dalit family belonging to Pannaipuram, in present-day Theni district, Tamil Nadu, India, on 3 June 1943.
9.
Ilaiyaraaja grew up in a rural area and was exposed to a range of Tamil folk music in his formative years.
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Ilaiyaraaja was a gold medalist in classical guitar after completing the course through distance learning channel from Trinity College of Music, London.
11.
Chowdhury once said that Ilaiyaraaja is going to become the best composer in India.
12.
Ilaiyaraaja became well known for his association with filmmakers such as Bharathiraja, S P Muthuraman, Mahendran, Balu Mahendra, K Balachander, Mani Ratnam, Sathyan Anthikad, Priyadarshan, Fazil, Vamsy, K Viswanath, Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, Bala, Shankar Nag, and R Balki.
13.
Ilaiyaraaja has composed a set of Carnatic kritis which were recorded by electric mandolinist U Srinivas for the album Ilayaraaja's Classicals on the Mandolin.
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Ilaiyaraaja's Guru Ramana Geetam is a cycle of prayer songs inspired by the Hindu mystic Ramana Maharshi, and his Thiruvasakam: A crossover is an oratorio of ancient Tamil poems transcribed partially in English by American lyricist Stephen Schwartz and performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra.
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Ilaiyaraaja's most recent release is a world music-oriented album called The Music Messiah.
16.
Ilaiyaraaja has announced on his birthday that his 'Isai OTT' application will be launched soon and promised the app will contain much more than just his songs, like behind-the-scenes trivia about how each of his songs were conceived, produced, delivered and collaborations with other musicians.
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Ilaiyaraaja's musical style is characterised by an orchestration which is a synthesis of Indian folk music and Western classical music, with traditional Indian instruments and modes.
18.
Ilaiyaraaja uses electronic music technology that integrates synthesizers, electric guitars and keyboards, drum machines, rhythm boxes and MIDI with large orchestras that feature traditional instruments such as the veena, venu, nadaswaram, dholak, mridangam and tabla as well as Western lead instruments such as saxophones and flutes.
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Ilaiyaraaja has sung more than 400 of his own compositions for films, and is recognisable by his stark, deep voice.
20.
Ilaiyaraaja has penned the lyrics for some of his songs in Tamil.
21.
Ilaiyaraaja is nicknamed "Isaignani", a title conferred by Kalaignar Karunanidhi.
22.
Ilaiyaraaja is often referred to as "maestro", the title conferred by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London.
23.
Ilaiyaraaja was one of the earliest Indian film composers to use Western classical music harmonies and string arrangements in Indian film music.
24.
Ilaiyaraaja is reputed to be the world's most prolific composer having composed more than 7,000 songs, provided film scores for more than 1,000 movies and performed in more than 20,000 concerts.
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Ilaiyaraaja mastered this art of blending music to the narration, which very few others managed to adapt themselves over a longer time.
26.
Ilaiyaraaja is a gold medalist in classical guitar from Trinity College of Music, London, Distance Learning Channel.
27.
Ilaiyaraaja was one of the earliest Indian film composers to use Western classical music harmonies and string arrangements in Tamil film music, and the first South Asian to compose a full symphony.
28.
Ilaiyaraaja composed Thiruvasagam in Symphony, the first Indian oratorio.
29.
Ilaiyaraaja's brother, Gangai Amaran, is a music director and lyricist in the Tamil film industry, and both were not in talking terms for 13 years.
30.
Ilaiyaraaja's first major live performance since his debut was a four-hour concert held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai, India on 16 October 2005.
31.
Ilaiyaraaja performed in 2004 in Italy at the Teatro Comunale di Modena, an event-concert presented for the 14th edition of Angelica, Festival Internazionale Di Musica, co-produced with the L'Altro Suono Festival.
32.
The event organised at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad, on Saturday, 22 October 2005, took off with maestro Ilaiyaraaja's composition rendered by singer Usha Uthup.
33.
Ilaiyaraaja last performed live at the audio release function of the film Dhoni and before that, he performed a programme that was conducted and telecasted by Jaya TV titled Enrendrum Raja on 28 December 2011, at Jahawarlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai.
34.
Ilaiyaraaja organised a concert titled Isai Celebrates Isai in Chennai as a part of his 76th birthday celebration on 2 June 2019.
35.
In 2017, claiming copyright violations, Ilaiyaraaja sent legal notices to singers, S P Balasubrahmanyam, his son S P Charan and Chithra, prohibiting them from singing his compositions without his consent, and warned they would have to pay huge royalties and face legal action if they do so.
36.
In 2018, during a talk show in the US, Ilaiyaraaja expressed his doubts regarding the credibility of the Christian belief in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and claimed that resurrection happened only in the case of the Hindu saint Ramana Maharshi.
37.
In protest, a Christian group lodged a complaint with the Police Commissioner of Trichy, demanding an apology or police action against Ilaiyaraaja for raising doubt about the "ultimate belief of Christians".