This site attempts to showcase the Indian musical genius - Ilayaraja and his work with both Western and Indian Classical music over the last 5 decades.
This requires two sets of voices. One set of voices sing a melody and the second set responds with another melody. This is not very common an arrangement with voices as it is with instruments. Sometimes, the call or the response is by the main voice and the second part is done by the chorus. Rarely, we have tracks where one set of chorus voices makes the call and another set responds.
Let’s start with tracks that have two sets of chorus voices in a C&R arrangement.
The song thamtha theemtha from Pagalil oru Iravu (1979) uses this technique very well. Raja uses two sets of female chorus voices and demonstrates how he can arrange it like he arranges instruments. This is a rare example of two sets of chorus voices used for a call and response arrangement.
Let's hear Thamtha Theemtha...
The landmark song Eriyile Elantha Maram from Karayellam Shenbagapoo (Tamil 1981) has several choir innovations. Several parts of the choir in this song are arranged in a C&R fashion. Raja uses one set of voices for ‘Pee Pee Pee’ and another for ‘Dum Dum Dum’ in another pitch. More on this song in detail in another category.
Keladi Nemageega from Geetha (1980 Kannada) has the first interlude where the chorus arrangement is a C&R between the female and male voices in folk mode. Several parts of the second interlude are also arranged as a C&R between the male and female voices. At times, Raja uses one in Western and other gender in folk.
Megam Karukkaiyile from Vaidegi Kaathitunthaal (Tamil 1984) has the initial prelude arranged as a C&R between the male and female voices.
Let’s now explore a few more tracks that have either the call or the response only by the chorus. The other part is arranged with instruments.
Kadhal Mayakkam from Pudhumai Penn (Tamil 1983). Brilliantly executed with chorus in the 80s. The second interlude is arranged very intelligently as a C&R between Jayachandran and the female chorus.
Unarumee Gaanam from Moonam Pakkam (Malayalam 1988). The first interlude uses the female chorus extensively. The second interlude uses the female chorus initially in a C&R with the flute and switches to a beautiful counter melody between two sets of female voices.
Let's hear Unarumee Gaanam...
Vandhadhe Kunkumum from Kizhakku Vaasal (Tamil 1990). Parts of the first interlude have some brilliant parts between the female chorus and the violins. The second interlude is a C&R arrangement between the female chorus and the flutes with violins backing both parts in full waltz.
The track has no main singers (or, the majority of the track is sang by the chorus). Raja has done quite a few tracks. These type of tracks are getting rare in the 21st century. Even with Raja’s wide body of work, there is not one full chorus track that he has done in this century that bubbled up during the analysis.
Manamagale Manamagale from Devar Magan (Tamil 1993). Set to MMG ragam, this song is sang completely by the female chorus. Also, the shehnai is used in the conventional North Indian sense – auspicious usage.
Let's hear the enchanting Manamagale Manamagale...
Marangal Tharum from Dhruva Natchathiram (Tamil 1993). This song is sang by children. The orchestration of this song is truly mind boggling. Several initial bars have no orchestra at all. Following this, there is some percussion and some brief violin strokes. Following this is some 2 minutes of one of the grandest and finest violin and woodwind arrangements by Raja.
Mottamaadi Mottamaadi from Anjali (Tamil 1990). This song is fully sang by a group of children.
Tham thananam from Puthiya Vaarpugal (Tamil 1979). Though the song has two main singers, the majority of the song is sang by the chorus as well. This can be considered as a chorus song for all practical purposes. Even the main lines have more than one voice in several places.
Let's hear tham thananam...
Tharai varamal from Chandralekha (Tamil 1995). Though Unnikrishnan is the main singer, the song is executed in a bhajan format with the chorus backing Unnikrishnan throughout the song.
Vanam Namakku Veedhi from Anjali (Tamil 1990) This song is fully sang by a group of children.
Kadalora Kavidhaiye from Chinnavar (Tamil 1992) is a full chorus track that has both male and female chorus parts.(courtesy Suresh)
I am sure, there are other tracks that readers can surface and report...
This is not very common with Raja’s work. Like the male chorus, mixed chorus on folk format is not that common. This involves use of both male and female voices in folk format (at least one of them should be in folk format).
Megam Karukkaiyile from Vaidegi Kaathitunthaal (Tamil 1984). This is a masterpiece of sorts where Raja shows his mastery over choir arrangement. He uses both male and female voices to create the impression of esapaatu, a traditional folk technique, where the singing between the groups alternates. However, he does something more clever. He makes the male voices sing Western, when the female voices sing folk and vice versa. The song starts off with the female voices singing ‘thana than thana’ which is traditional and the male voices go ‘aahaa oho aahaa oho’. Initially they alternate a few phrases and you can soon notice that they merge, both the groups singing the same and different phrases. When Raja sings the pallavi the male voices go single syllable ‘aaa’ and when Uma sings, the female voices so ‘aaa’. Notice the male voices in tenor and the female in alto. That’s a typical Raja curveball. Do you call this esapaatu or pure western choir? It depends on how you view it.
The pallavi have single syllable male and female chorus phrases between the respective gender’s lines. The second interlude has some great chorus arrangement where it is pure folk. Both the male and female singers alternate between ‘hoy hoyya’ and ‘aaa’. The second charanam is arranged similar to the first.
Let's hear Megam Karukkaiyile...
Enjodi Manja Kuruvi from Vikram (Tamil 1986). This is one of those Raja tracks that have a mix of so many things. We will focus only on the folk elements in this section. The prelude has some neat male western choir singing some crazy lines in some unknown language. The male/female chorus accompany SPB when he sings the pallavi. The second prelude has some male/female folk chorus.
Naan Erikarai from Chinna Thayee (Tamil 1992). There is mixed choir accompanying Yesudas and not just the bass guitar! The pallavi has some female chorus repeating the female singers’ lines. Towards the end of the pallavi, there is male choir repeating some of the lines. The bass guitar is almost the third main voice in this track – very prominent and sings its own tune. While you hear so much bass these days, it still beats me on how Raja arranges these beautiful bass lines where a second tune other than the main one does not bother anyone!
Let's hear Naan Erikarai...
Pillai Nila from (Janaki version) from Neengal Kettavai (Tamil 1984) – interludes have female and male choir in IL1 and IL2. The pallavi has children doing the ‘la la la’ chorus. The first interlude is arranged with two sets of female voices in full folk mode in the esapaatu format. The second interlude is set to folk with male voices.
This technique involves use of the chorus singers singing the dance jathis and not the usual ‘thana thana’ or ‘aaaa’ as it is in pure carnatic based chorus work.
Raja has selectively used this technique in his compositions over the years. While it’s easy to identify several tracks that have jathis, it’s hard to find ones that have the chorus singing jathis. I am sure, readers should be able to uncover a few more where the chorus sing dance jathis.
Shivagaruda from Kochu Kochu Sandhoshangal (Malayalam 2001). This song set to the situation of two dancers dancing on stage. In both the charanams, the female chorus backing chitra sing jathis in the background for some parts. In the beginning of the second interlude, the chorus sing jathis again.
Let's hear the chorus parts of Shivagaruda where jathis are employed...
Isaiyil thodanguthamma from Hey Ram (Tamil 2000). The prelude and the pallavi of this track has some parts sang by the male chorus in jathi mode. The first interlude begins with the male chorus singing jathis.
Nadavinodhangal from Salangai Oli (Tamil 1984). Again, based on a dance centric film, there are ample opportunities in this film for Raja. In this track, he uses female chorus to sing jathis for a few seconds.
Let's hear Nadavinodhangal...
Kavidhai Kelungal from Punnagai Mannan (Tamil 1986). The second interlude of this song starts off with a male voice (Jayachandran?) singing jathis to begin, followed by the male/female chorus singing jathis along with the synthesizer and drums.
Let's hear the Kavidhai Kelungal part where the chorus sing jathis...
This is very common with Raja’s work. He draws heavily out of kummi, esapattu and other folk techniques.
This is a staple Raja toolset and he has used it in several of his compositions. I will provide some samples from his 3 plus decades career. Mostly, it is the use of ‘than thanana’ type of singing, though there are situations where the folk chorus are given full lyrics.
Aasaiya Kaathula from Johny (Tamil 1979). Unusual tribal beats with extensive use of female chorus. The prelude uses the female chorus. The 1st and 2nd interlude uses very unusual folk female chorus.
Let's hear the tribal chorus of Aasaiya Kaathula...
Aayiram Thamarai Motukkale from Alaigal Oiyvathillai (Tamil 1981). This is the famous Raja track that uses the kummi tradition extensively. The prelude has the female chorus singing ‘than thanana’. The pallavi has the chorus repeating some lines after the main singer finishes her lines. During the second interlude, the chorus shifts to the subhapanthuvarali carnatic humming!
Kannoda Kannu from Palloti Valartha Kili (Tamil 1976). The song starts off with the female chorus singing traditional folk lines as its prelude. These are used in the pallavi too.
Kaviyam Paadava from Idhayathai Thirudathe or Aamani Paadave from Geethanjali (Tamil/Telugu 1985). This song has no indication to the listener that a folk chorus will be used anywhere. It is a typical Raja solo melody. The first and the second interlude has the female chorus in full folk form. The second interlude is executed as a full humming.
Let's hear the female chorus in Aamani Paaduve...
Kelade Nemagaaga from Geetha (Male western choir for parts) (Kannada 1980). This is one of Raja’s earliest choir masterpieces. He throws so many varieties into a single track. This song can qualify to be present in at least 3 categories. For now, we will focus on the female folk chorus parts. The first interlude has some good folk singing alternatively by the male and female chorus singers. Notice when in the final few seconds of the first interlude, when the female chorus sings folk, the male choir is singing western choir in a different register – perfect vocal harmony. We will cover this song in great detail under vocal harmony category.
Kothamalli Poove from Kallukkul Eeram (Tamil 1980). The first interlude has the female chorus in fully folk mode. The second interlude has the traditional ‘than thanana’ added before the charanam takes off.
Meenkodi theril from Karumbu Vil (Tamil 1980).The prelude is a tribal female chorus. The first and second interlude also continues with the tribal chorus.
Odai Kuyil Oru Paatu from Paatu Paadava (Tamil 1995) The prelude of the song is a folk style female choir. The interesting part is the shehnai accompanying the chorus parts. Now, does this become North Indian folk? The first interlude has some parts where the female folk choir continues.
Let's hear the innovative female choir in Odai Kuyil...
Ponnaram Poovaram from Pagalile Oru Iravu (Tamil 1979). This is one of Raja’s early compositions in the film that got masked by the success of Ilamai Ennum track. The first and second interludes have some female folk chorus apart from the regular strings/flute. Pudhu Vannagal from Murattu Kaalai (Tamil 1980). The prelude has the female chorus repeating the Janaki humming.
Raman Aandalum from Mullum Malarum (Tamil 1978). This is a track with some great tribal female folk chorus work. The prelude starts off with the chorus. The prelude phrases for the chorus is repeated again in the track.
Rasave Unnai Naan from Thanikattu Raja (Tamil 1982). This is a great track with some pretty neat chorus work. The first interlude has some neat female folk chorus work that is is (tham tha tham) arranged as a set of discrete notes. Synchronizing the choir with the rhythm in the background is no ordinary work. I would rate this as very Westernized version of the Raja folk offering. Only, he can think of such phrases. Raja throws in some humming (melody) phrases too in the interlude. The second interlude has some very creative chorus arrangement.
Let's hear the westernized folk of Rasave Unnai Naan...
I am sure there are others that I may have missed. Readers may comment on their favorite ones...
This is a staple Raja toolset and he has used it in few of his compositions. I will provide some samples from his 3 plus decades career. With male voices, it is mostly lyrics repeated by the chorus group and not just ‘thana thananaa’ type singing as it happens with female voices.
Chitira Sevvanam from Kaatrinile Varum Geetham (Tamil 1978). This is set as a fishermen song. The ‘thaiyara thaiyara’ was very popular in the 70s. The prelude starts off with the male chorus. The pallavi has the chorus singing between the lines of PJ. The last pallavi has slightly different chorus lines compared to the first and the second.
Let's hear Chithira Chevvanam...
Aatama Therottama from Captain Prabhakaran (Tamil 1991). The choral backing for this track is entirely male. The prelude of this track starts off with a solo male voice singing. The pallavi has a few lines by the male chorus singing some lines. (Rambha Sambha….)
Pudhu Rootula thaan from Meera (Tamil 1992). The prelude starts off with two sets of folk chorus overlapping each other. One group sings ‘Hoyya hoyyarra’ and the other group sings ‘hoy hoyya’ and switches to a humming. Very creative. Throughout the pallavi, the chorus is converted into a single syllable ‘hoyya’ that is nicely arranged with the track. The charanams have the chorus very cleverly arranged, first as a single syllable, then as a double syllable. Listen carefully to the double syllable chorus line carefully – the phrase is exactly the same, but the note is different., the first one being lower and the second higher. The last 4 bars have single syllable chorus backing Yesudas. Outstanding arrangement perfectly synchronizing with the background rhythm.
Next, let’s analyze the charanam arrangement of chorus backing Yesudas. For the first 4 bars, the chorus goes alternating between ‘hoyya’ and ‘hoyya hoyya’ exactly filling in the interval and also synchronizing with the rhythm. The next 4 bars have no chorus backing Das. The last 4 bars are arranged as though it is a C & R between Yesudas and the chorus.
Let's hear Pudhu Rootula...
After Raja, no other music composer wants to sweat it out this way; perhaps, to them it is sweat and it is very natural for the genius!
This category involves use of male/female chorus to chant Sanskrit based slokam. This was very uncommon before Raja. Invariably, the ‘maangalyam’, chant that is used in marriages features at least in 10 of Raja’s songs in different formats – Carnatic, Western, folk, you name it. This is a Raja specialty and comes easy for him as he is very ascetic in his life style and he understands several schools of music deeply.
Nandri Sollave Ennaku from Udan Pirappu (Tamil 1993). The prelude starts off with ‘Sadhamanam bhavathi…’ executed by a male/female chorus. The expectation will be any musician would use the chorus in the same form. Not Raja. Observe the second interlude in the same song. The female chorus is used to do discrete notes very un-Indian!
Let's hear Nandri Sollave...
Om Sivoham from Naan KadavuL (Tamil 2009). This song has the chorus backing the main singer singing completely in Sanskrit. Perhaps the first Sanskrit song in Tamil films.
Paatu Solli from Azhagi (Tamil 2002).The prelude uses the famous slokam ‘Om Sarva mangala maangalye…’
Poo Mudithu from En Purushan Thaan Enakku Mattum Thaan (Tamil 1989) has the Sanskrit slokam by the choir sang in a Carnatic fashion. The first interlude uses the ‘maangalyam…’ slokam sang by a female chorus.
Let's hear Poo Mudithu...
Kadhal Oviyam from Alaigal Oiyvathillai (Tamil 1981) – This is perhaps the track where Raja started this technique, due to the situation of the film. The prelude uses the slokam ‘Om, sathamanam bhavathu…’ followed by a female choir.
Thendralai kandu kola from Nilave Mugam Kaatu (Tamil 1999) uses sanskrit chant and folk choir in harmony in the postlude in the Hari version. Raja sings 'Nave Vasasaankaleka..' when the female folk choral part overlaps singing 'Eramilla manasule'. This has all the hallmark of a genius at work. This is hard to replicate. Sanskrit chants overlapping with a folk choir - no ordinary mind can think of this. When Raja says that all musical systems are the same, he truly means it and he shows it in this track fully. He takes up a song in melodic minor scale that is Western in my view (Carnatic pundits may argue this to be Gowrimanohari – they resemble each other pretty closely), adds a Sanskrit slokam at the end overlapping it with a folk choir. Take a bow before the genius! This is one of my all time Raja choir favorites.
Let's hear Thendralai Kandu...
Sari Sari from the Telugu film Ninuchoodaka Nenundalenu (2002 Telugu) uses the famous Kausalya Supraja in the second interlude and continues to use the synthpad rhythm arrangement even for the slokam.
Enna Enna Kanavu Kandaayo from Valli (1993) uses just the word ‘Om’ in the second interlude brilliantly crafted with Western violins in the background. Hard to figure out how such combinations occur to Raja. Another stroke of genius! In the first interlude, Western harmony creates a pensive mood and Raja shows with his second interlude that with a kettle drum, a male background choir and a bank of violins to support the ‘Om’ chanting female choir in the foreground, he creates an aural environment that only a genius is capable of.
Let's hear Enna Enna Kanavu...
We all know that Sanskrit slokams have a musical quality and even Speilberg used it in his ‘Close Encounters of the third kind’. What we see with Raja is perhaps what we can claim as close encounter of the fourth kind! Folks who brand Raja as either a folk chorus artiste need to take a step back and look at how he approaches even Sanskrit slokams – there is a musical quality in them that resonates with WCM or folk for him!
