Readers Write In #796: A Year of Exploring Music

By Eswar

‘Our moments are wrapped with music’, observed Kavignar Veyil reflecting on growing up with Ilaiyaraja’s music in Tamil Nadu. One of my earliest memories is waking up in the morning to Tamil film songs on the radio. The first song I remember listening to is Rasathi Unna Kanatha Nenju from the movie Vaidehi Kathirunthal. Since then, rarely has a day passed without listening to a song. Despite being surrounded by music for several decades, I was mainly listening to film songs, specifically the ones from Tamil movies.

A typical film song has several parts – the lyrics, the vocals, the accompanying instrumentals, and the memorable and repeatable tune. As long as I enjoy some or all of these parts in a song, I continue to listen to them. Another speciality of film songs is they often bear a story. These stories usually paint the song with an emotion not experienced before. The song Chinna Thayaval from Thalapathi may not require any more setting to appreciate its brilliance. Yet, knowing its backstory elevates the experience to an extraordinary level. I have observed this with background scores as well. The central theme of Chatriyan is an upbeat, energetic piece. Even so, listening to that theme again after watching the film transforms the score into a scintillating piece that guarantees goosebumps. These features kept me always engaged with film soundtracks. I never anticipated a time when I would be actively pursuing something beyond film music. But then came COVID-19.

Since COVID-19, I have been spending more time at home, and my music consumption has increased manifold. With music playing in the background for most of the day, I became a passive listener as YouTube became my primary supply of music. Eventually, as YouTube took over managing my playlist, slowly and steadily, the range of songs I listened to narrowed down and became repetitive. For the first time, I wanted to listen to something new. And as luck would have it, I found a guide.

Year of Wonder is a daily devotional for classical music written by broadcaster and musician Clemency Burton-Hill. A daily devotional has its roots in religious publications, where the followers read and reflect on a specific scripture every day. Since then, authors and publishers have adopted this idea for different topics. Year of Wonder applies this concept effectively to introduce a piece of classical music for every calendar day. I have previously enjoyed this style and view it as a great format to explore new subjects without getting lost in their complexity. Year of Wonder turned out to be the start I was looking for.

If there is one type of music that existed throughout human history, it would be religious music. Clemency Burton-Hill highlights the prominence of Liturgical Music in the Classical form and urges the reader not to let their beliefs cloud the musical experience. Hence on day one, we hear the hymn Sanctus, from J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor. Several pieces chosen for this book reflect the enduring relationship between music and religion. There is something about these pieces that I find captivating. Is it the mysterious verses, the enigmatic chorus or something else? Whatever the reason, I am glad I got to experience them.

Many other pieces I enjoyed from the book were composed specifically for a small combination of instruments. These are usually movements from concertos, sonatas and sections from chamber music. In all these forms, the music is composed for a few instruments. For example, the string quartet, a form of chamber music, is composed for two violins, a viola and a cello. A concerto has an orchestra, but it acts as an accompaniment to the soloist. The pieces I struggled to appreciate are often the ones where the music is composed for many types of instruments, like the movements from a Symphony. Works like Symphony must be one of the most complex musical compositions, so I wonder if they necessitate an expert knowledge of music and an appreciation for diverse instruments.

The classical music introduced in the book goes beyond the works composed during the Classical Period of music. On the one hand, we get to listen to Hildegard von Bingen’s O Virtus Sapientiae composed a thousand years ago. At the other end is Mercy, composed by Max Richter at the start of this millennium. Similarly, there is the slow and soft meditative piece Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Pärt, the energetic Fast: Electric Counterpoint by Steve Reich and everything in between. I enjoyed these variations and doubt if I would have discovered them on my own.

Of all the pieces introduced in the book, the music composed for films took me by surprise. I never linked classical music and cinema, but there appears to be a precedence for this in the West. “…cinema has always been closely bound to classical music…Film soundtracks are a terrific gateway to the wider wonders of the classical world: for many people, it’ll be their first experience of hearing music from a non-pop genre.”, writes Clemency Burton-Hill. I still cannot describe what makes a piece classical, but I agree that film soundtracks can be a gateway to the expansive world of music. If not for the film soundtracks I grew up with, I doubt I could appreciate any form of music.

A book of this character has the potential to become a glorified, lengthy, uninspiring catalogue. However, the thoughtful presentation makes Year of Wonder an engaging read. The book introduces each piece of music along with a short introduction to the composer or a background to the piece itself. These short texts are often interesting, sometimes peek into history and at times inspiring. A score of Verdi’s Requiem has had several performances at a Nazi concentration camp by the prisoners who found solace in the music and in performing them. Most of the work by Fanny Mendelssohn went unpublished during her lifetime because of the social restrictions on women of her period. The love letters that French composer Erik Satie never sent inspired Australian composer Elena Kats-Chermin to compose Unsent Love Letters. These descriptions are a perfect accompaniment to the musical pieces as they often set the scene for a first-time listener.

What influence did the book leave on me? Occasionally, I used to wish I could play an instrument. Long ago, I did try a few classes but never pursued them seriously. A few months after I began reading Year of Wonder, I enrolled in a musical class to learn an instrument. Several factors influenced this decision, but reading about music and musicians daily likely played a role in reviving this desire. Since I finished reading the book, I have discovered some new works, broadened what I listen to within the film music space and my playlist has been growing gradually with variety. Nevertheless, if I look back at what I have been listening to on any given day, film music still has a prominent presence. Like a Salmon returning to the upstream despite discovering the ocean, I keep returning to Tamil film music, for this is home.