Ilaiyaraaja's break as a full-fledged composer came in 1976, when film producer Panchu Arunachalam decided to commission him to compose the songs and film score for a Tamil-language film called Annakkili ('The Parrot'). During this stint, he learned the practical methods of orchestration, and would hone his compositional ability through frequent experiment accomplished by persuading session musicians to play, during their break times, the scores that he wrote. He assisted this music director in 200 film projects, mostly in Kannada. Later, he was hired as an assistant to the Kannada film composer G K Venkatesh, an event that marked his entry into film music composition and direction. Ilaiyaraaja also worked as a session guitarist and keyboardist/ organist for film music composers and directors such as Salil Chowdhury from West Bengal, who often recorded music in Madras. In Chennai, Ilaiyaraaja worked in a band for hire involved in performing music for various stage shows and formal occasions. Ilaiyaraaja's classical music training culminated in him completing a course with a gold medal in classical guitar (higher local) with the Trinity College of Music, London. He was introduced to Western classical music during his training, and the music and compositional styles of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert, among others, were influences that would later become a motif in much of Ilaiyaraaja's compositions (such as the use of counterpoint).
MAESTRO ILAYARAJA PROFESSIONAL
Īrriving in Madras (now Chennai) in 1968, Ilaiyaraaja enrolled under the tutelage of Dhanraj, a music teacher, as it became apparent that formal knowledge in music such as musical notation was vital for a professional music career. He first tried his hand at composing music during this period: he set to music an elegy written by the Tamil poet laureate Kannadasan for Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister. He journeyed through numerous villages, towns and cities in South India with his brothers for about ten years as one of the musical Pavalar Brothers. His formative contact with music-making and performance came at the age of 14, when he joined a travelling musical troupe headed by his elder step-brother, Pavalar Varadarajan, who was a propaganda musician for the Communist Party of India.
Growing up in a farming area, Ilaiyaraaja was exposed to Tamil folk music, such as the songs sung by farmers working in the fields.
He was the third son of Daniel Ramaswamy and Chinnathayammal. Ilaiyaraaja was born into a poor rural family in Pannaipuram, Theni district, Tamil Nadu, India.
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