Hi! My take: If those legends (Naushad, Anil Biswas, Salil Chaudhary, S.D.Burman, C.Ramchandra, Madan Mohan, Shankar-Jaikishan, Roshan, Jaidev, O.P.Nayyar, Kalyanji-Anandji, Hemant Kumar, R.D.Burman, MSV-TKR, S.Dakshinamurthy, etc) were alive today, the music of ARR would have been different, not only from theirs, but also from what he is currently giving. A peek into what these would have done(assuming that they stick to their sensibilities, tastes and strengths and assuming that we have an equally rich audience who appreciate different genres of music equally): Naushad - He would have created gems with Hindustani Music presneted through orchestral music format, his strength. and melody plus great orchestral music always shines. S.D.Burman - This man was always young at heart and the way he used baul music, folk music and clasiscal music... amazing. He would have dwarfed Shankar-Ehsan-Loy may be. He would have used singers to the best advantage and would have composed soulful and youthful numbers in the same breadth. Salil Chaudhary - His capability to fuse indian folk and western classical is unbeatable (many composers drew inspiration from his ideas). So, he would have been a folksy-counterpart to Naushad. Shankar-Jaikishan - These folks would have continued to give great orchestral melodies. Madan Mohan - He would have given what he has already given, Nothing but the best of the most melodious music you can ever imagine. Yes, he was the man of melody. R.D.Burman - well, This is tricky. because he was, in his times, ahead of his times. I wonder what all he might have created with those ensemble of percussions which Sivamani has and then, mixing them with synthesizers and using someone like Trilok Gurthu to jam with Pt.Hari Prasad Chaurasia and using a bit of African Music to compose shades of Raag kalavathi which dissolves into Keeravani and turns up as rabindra Sangeet. Sorry, i cant predict what he would have done. If i imagine all the above, ARR will definitely figure out somewhere, but I think he will be doing something else..different from what he is currently doing. ARR recently quoted, "You should listen to Ilaiyaraaja's music, it permeates into body. Such is its impact. I had to deliberately keep away just to bring in my own style". Now, the music made by each of the above composers also permeated(and would have permeated, if they had added advantages of technology) into soul. So, on that measure, ARR would have done something different, despite having deepest of the respect for these. He still does...and that is why we see a bit of every composer above, in some of his songs. Just my thoughts, at a very broadlevel. I can keep talking, getting into each of their styles, pros and cons and weight ARR against it..but then, that debate would be so long-winding, that i dont prefer it in emails. It is good to discuss all that, face-to-face..exchanging thoughts and citing examples and playing songs.
Regards Kamal Aakarsh Vishnubhotla. http://kamal-aakarsh.blogspot.com --- On Tue, 2/3/09, Bergin Roy <bergin...@yahoo.com> wrote: From: Bergin Roy <bergin...@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [arr] Re: If classic composers were around today......... To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com Date: Tuesday, February 3, 2009, 12:10 PM http://www.berginro y.com/2009/ 02/why-others- couldnt-do- what-arr- did.html Bergin From: arr_raghu <arr_ra...@yahoo. com> To: arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com Sent: Monday, February 2, 2009 11:32:19 PM Subject: [arr] Re: If classic composers were around today....... .. Chord.. the sentence "..or even Illayaraja etc. had been alive today with.." is not sitting right.. IR has reduced but he is pretty much composing even now. Coming to the point.. Lemme us think this other way around. "If ARR is not allowed to use any Technology.. will he be a failure?" My opinion is that ARR will still manage to be a humble legend. -R --- In arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com, "Chord" <purev...@.. .> wrote: > > I don't like to compare composers of different times using blanket > statements. The Indian film industry has a rich history of brilliant > composers, each with their own unique strengths and contributions. > ARR is another in a series of brilliant composers. Is he THE best > ever? I can't really answer that. Is he THE best to me? Sure! > > What if RD Burman, Madan Mohan, Naushaad, or even Illayaraja etc. had > been alive today with their same talents but with the luxury of sound > technology and computers. Would their music also reach across globally? > Would love to hear your thoughts. As far as I'm concerned, nobody has > EVER combined different genres of world music more beautifully than > our ARR. How does ARR compare to other composers in the past just in > terms of pure melody? Originality? > > Please please please do not turn this discussion into a "Illayaraja is > way better than Rahman" or "RD Burman is nothing compared to AR > Rahman" type of warfare. I'm just curious to know your thoughts about > the above. >
