Enduring notes

In Chennai it began when Mohan Narayanan composed music for the Madras Players' production of 'Evam Indrajit' in 1970. (With "Tipu" he completes 30 years of music and sound for them for over 25 productions.) People were excited. Some of the big names in music and films today, were young and trying to find their feet. They were also theatre-goers. In Narayanan's music they noticed new ideas and perceptions, particularly the idea of allowing concepts from Western music to influence their compositions. Ilayaraja, Yesudas, L Vaidyanathan met Narayanan, spent hours listening to Beethoven, Mozart and Bach. They locked in discussions, exploring and exchanging ideas. Kamal Hassan in the early years of his career used to consult him often. Rajiv Menon did music appreciation for two years.

During the making of "Ponnanmada", there was a desperate SOS from Thiruvananthapuram for Irish-based music. "I composed it and sent it over. The music director won an award. I was happy I was able to contribute." There are other film-makers who are grateful for inputs from him- Karnad, Viswanadhan, Appachen....

"When Ceylon got bombed, we came back to Chengottai, to be with my grandfather. He was a devout Brahmin and during evening poojas he would sing the lyrics and explain them to me and tell me what ragas they were. At the age of seven I had my first introduction to music, I had a good voice and an ability to sing." In 1947 to celebrate Independence, the family bought a radio. That gave him exposure to Hindi film music.

His big break came during his years in Germany as an International Project Manager and Engineer with Siemens. He came into the technology of music-harmonics, frequencies and chords. "Siemens had a Tape Recorder Club. You had the equipment and you were asked to record events, music... and slowly I got into the recording part of music. Those ten years he travelled widely seeing theatre, seeing films-in Poland, in Bulgaria... He didn't know the language but he saw what was happening, how music was being used. He also collected music wherever he went.

He came back to India to join Sundaram Clayton and later Wheels India as an executive director. He separated music from his career, music became a hobby and took a back seat. Logistics changed somewhat with retirement. He is now associated with BITS Pilani as a visiting faculty, with Silicon Valley Corporation on their automotive side and with two or three other companies. The rest of the time he enjoys his 40-odd years' collection of music, equipment and books. He also writes plays. His third play, "The Birds Have Not Come To Vedanthangal This Year" will be presented by the Madras Players this year.

Narayanan and wife Bhagirathi keep a peaceful home, gracious and hospitable. A precarious climb up the spiral stairway offers quite a surprise - the flip side of Mohan Narayanan. A completely equipped sound lab, a stunning library and archives. "You take any world music, any sound, I have it." And he has. You drool over stacks of Venezuela folk music, Hebrew melodies, Irish chants, American Indian spiritual songs, Gregorian chants, music of Iran, South America, Peru, China, Jazz, Classical, Indian...

Narayanan rates film music very high and even has some rare sound tracks from all over the world, right from the 1930s. Sound effects, outer space effects, thunder, rain....And a collection of a 1500 CDs. It is important to him to visually hear the disciplined way orchestras play. Hence a collection of LDs and DVDs of orchestras in actual performance.

Narayanan spends considerable time "composing just for the hell of it.", his sampler a constant companion. "How does a raga sound with a piano? What are the Western chords that support Carnatic music? Finding a place for harmony in Indian music." He has a list of chords that emphasise different moods in Bach- (to correspond with our ragas) He takes one in C minor and from it goes back to the raga Maya Malavagaulai.

"I try to achieve a certain amount of perfection in what I do, in the music I produce, in the recording quality. When I compose music, like every one else I need a good person who can interpret it. Sriram (his son) helped for many years when he was here. Despite his Carnatic training, he's into Rock and Jazz. It nicely sets off my more traditional upbringing. So we worked on all the plays together, starting with Pondicherry Armugham's "Karumchuzhy" It won the national award and every one talked about the music in the play."

Narayanan at 65 is a genial soul, friendly and generous. How accessible is his music, his knowledge, his time?

"Any one who wants to do something here, work with me, has access to all my music and equipment. (At one time, every Sunday, I used to hold music appreciation classes here.) My library is available any time. They can get access to any information, sample music...."

ELIZABETH ROY

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