Music: 2015

Monday, November 23, 2015

Viswanathan Ramamoorthy

Ramamurthy, born in 1922, was the elder of the two. Viswanathan, born in 1928, was six years younger. The two of them became friends while working together in the musical troupe of composer C.R. Subburaman. When Subburaman met with unexpected death at the age of 28 in 1952, Viswanathan and Ramamurthy had to complete their guru’s unfinished work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._R._Subburaman
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=C.+R.+Subburaman

The duo went in for a broad range of sounds and styles drawing inspiration from a wide array of musical forms, including dance music.

Western classical music,
Western country music,
gospel songs,
ballads,
blues,
folk music
soul music,
jazz,
rock and roll,
rumba,
flamenco,
changui,
mambo,
danzon,
guaracha,
cha cha cha,
lambada, etc. were all utilised.

Modifications of

Afro-American,
Afro-Cuban,
Cuban,
Latin-American and
European musical forms were relied upon greatly for musical inspiration by the duo.

At the same time the Viswanathan-Ramamurthy duo was firmly rooted to the Tamil musical tradition too. Apart from using modified Carnatic and Hindustani ragas, they also used Tamil rural music.

‘Kummi’ folk beats,
‘Kaavadichchinthu’ ditties,
‘Kilikkanni’ type village songs,
‘Thukkadaa’ classical bits, etc. were also incorporated into their music wherever and whenever appropriate. Eastern and Western music forms were harmoniously blended.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padhi_Bhakti#Soundtrack

Humorous song sequence in the film ‘Pathibakthi’ is a combination of

rock and roll and
Carnatic music.

Comedian J.T. Chandrababu sings in his own voice the rock ‘n’ roll opening and related verses.
Interspersed are two Carnatic verses in praise of Lord

Shiva and
Vishnu respectively.

The Carnatic component is sung by V.N. Sundaram who voices for T.S. Balaiah in the scene.
https://www.youtube.com/results?q=Rock+Rock+Rock+n+Roll+Pathi+Bakthi+Tamil

In addition to the eclectic taste displayed in seeking inspiration for musical compositions, the Viswanathan-Ramamurthy duo also began using a wide array of musical instruments in their work. Apart from the regular instruments like

harmonium,
violin,
flute,
drum,
tabla,
piano,
veena, etc.,

the duo also went in for other instruments like the

clarinet,
cello,
oboe,
saxophone,
trumpet guitar,
ukulele mandolin,
banjo,
piano accordion and
bongo drums making much use of them in their scores.

Apart from

African,
Latin American and
European music,

the Viswanathan-Ramamurthy duo also made use of

Arabic,
Persian and
Afghan music forms.
North Indian folk music forms.
Punjabi Bhangra music and
Quawwali Devotional Sufi music were also adapted at times.

The duo also used North Indian instruments like the

shenoy,
sitar,
sarangi and
sarode for some of their compositions.

They would work on a particular tune by playing different versions on their instruments. Ramamurthy would then write up the notations. They would then sing or play the melodies to their musicians and playback singers.

Viswanathan had a flair for composing ear-catching, toe-tapping melodies. Ramamurthy was more of a music arranger working out which instruments were to be used and how. They complemented each other. The Viswanathan-Ramamurthy combine used diverse musical instruments in their film compositions. The usage was determined by the nature of the song and sequence.

For instance the song ‘Oadam Nathiyiniley’ sung by Seergali Govindarajan in the film ‘Kaathiruntha Kangal’ has only a tabla and two flutes.
Another song, ‘Thaalaiyaam Poomudichu’ sung by P. Leela and T.M. Soundararajan in the film ‘Bhagapirivinai,’ also relied on three instruments only.
Over 100 instruments were used for the Bharatidasan song ‘Sangay Mulangu’ sung by Seergali Govindarajan and P. Susheela in ‘Kalangarai Vilakkam’.
The same duo however used an orchestra of 250 for the song ‘Engay Nimmathi’ sung by T.M. Soundararajan in ‘Pudhiya Paravai’. Ramamurthy conducted the orchestra on most occasions.