Blog Post #1: "Mozart of Madras"

A.R Rahman, known as the "Mozart of Madras" is a very versatile artist; he is a singer, record producer, and film composer. He is one of the most famous musicians in India, and his talent has recently become exposed in the Hollywood industry through the soundtrack in Slumdog Millionaire. Music has always been in Rahman’s blood. He was born into music since his father—R.K Shekar—was a South Indian film composer. At a very young age, Rahman began to cultivate his musical talent by using his father’s equipment such as a keyboard, harmonium, and guitar. Rahman continued his musical studies at Trinity College of Music, receiving a degree in Western classical music. After this, Rahman created a music studio in his house and started off composing for Indian television and commercials. He was finally recognized for his talent by Mani Ratnam, a Tamil film producer, who asked him to compose the soundtrack of the South Indian movie—Roja.

Even in his first movie, Rahman achieved the award Best Musical Director at the National Film Awards in India. He went on to be the music director of over 100 Bollywood movies. He has sold over one-hundred million records, claiming prominent awards for his musical talent in National Film Awards, Filmfare Awards, Golden Globe, Academy Award, and Oscars, just to name a few.

Rahman, an eclectic artist, incorporates the different genres of traditional music, including Carnatic music, Qawalli music, and Hindustani music, as well as Western Classical music, into his musical work, which is why I absolutely love him. His unique style of music is evident in the recent Hollywood hit Slumdog Millionare that received eight Oscar awards. Traditional and contemporary Indian music, Latina music, Reggae, Westernized music are all used by Rahman in this soundrack, which has made it so distinctive in its sound, thus very successful.

Rahman has always been a guide in my own musical practices.I can relate to him not only because he comes from an Indian background but also because of what his music entails. He is a multifaceted artist, as am I. I have many different passions, including the piano, harmonium, singing, dancing and a recent interest of the mridangam. I have learned Indian classical music as well as American classical music, which are both clearly evident in my music. I love the amalgamation of different types of music and creating a sound that is unique and harmonius, just as Rahman does. Unfortunately Rahman doesn’t disclose his music, but I still challenge myself to learn his songs on the piano by ear training. I have ear-trained three of his songs, which takes long hours of practice for many months. The meaning behind the songs in combination with the melody are very moving and make the hard work worth it. Here is an example of a song called “Kal Ho Na Ho” by A.R Rahman that I have ear-trained and translated onto the piano:

Not only is the melody of this song beautiful, but the meaning behind it is as well. The English translation from Hindi of the main stanza is:
“Life changes its beauty all the time
Sometimes it’s a shade, sometimes life is sunlight
Live every moment here to your heart’s content
The time that is here may not be tomorrow.”
This is just one example of Rahman’s songs that have such a beautiful meaning in combination with the musical elements that make it so pleasing to hear. It is very important to me that my music has a message, that is able to go through all people, no matter what their ethnicity is. Music is a symbol of unity. As A.R Rahman has said, “Music is language itself. It should not have any barriers of caste, creed, language or anything. Music is one, only cultures are different. Music is the language of languages. It is the ultimate mother of languages.”