Sandham: Symphony Meets Classical Tamil

Sandham: Symphony Meets Classical Tamil is a studio album in Tamil by American Composer Rajan Somasundaram that involved various international artists. It is based on Sangam period ancient Tamil poetry and the first ever music album on Sangam poetry. The Hindu music review called the album "A Major Event in the World of Music".[1] As of 15 July 2020, the album got into Amazon's Top#10 best seller list under International Music category.

Sandham: Symphony Meets Classical Tamil
Studio album by
Bombay Jayashri, Saindhavi, Karthik, Pragathi Guruprasad, Priyanka, William Henry Curry, Rajan Somasundaram
Released2020
Recorded2019
GenreWorld
Length30:55
ProducerRajan Somasundaram

The album consists of 7 songs, a collection of outstanding ancient Tamil Sangam literature poetry with music composed by Rajan Somasundaram and sung by leading singers Bombay Jayashri, Saindhavi, Karthik, Pragathi Guruprasad among others. The seven songs in the album are, Yathum Oore, written by Kaniyan Pungundranar having 2 versions (Symphony version and multi-genre version), Veral veli, written by Poet Kapilar, Yayum Nyayum written by Sempulapeyaneerar, Nyayiru Kayathu, written by Poet Kayamanar, Mullai Oorntha written by poet Okkur Masathiar and Kalamsei kove written by an unknown Sangam period poet.[2] North Carolina based Durham Symphony lead by Maestro William Henry Curry played the composition. Recordings happened in multiple locations across the world including Raleigh-Durham, Los Angeles, Chennai, Kyiv- Ukraine, Jerusalem, Beijing, Rome, London and Mumbai.[3]

One of the songs from the album Sandham, "Yathum Oore Anthem" was declared the theme song of 10th World Tamil Conference. Composer Rajan mentioned that Yathum Oore being one of the oldest poem that talks about equality, unity and global citizenship, he composed the song to include 14 genres of musical styles including Indian classical, Western classical, rock, country, pop, calypso, Chinese and Japanese, reggae, rap, Middle Eastern, East Asian and Cuban. [4]

Background

Poet, Philologist A. K. Ramanujan wrote that Tamil Sangam poetry is considered as a poetic achievement of Indian civilization.[5] Written between 600BC-200AD, these poems are appreciated for their poetic value, vision, metaphors and technique. Though these poems are widely discussed in the academia as well as in popular media, there is no known musical form for Sangam poems. Composer Rajan mentioned that when he read a book titled "Sanga Chithirangal" by writer Jeyamohan, he fell in love with those poems and tried to find any known musical forms. When he found that there were no albums or singles on any of the sangam poems, he tried to compose the first ever album on sangam poetry.

About his unique style of music, he mentioned that he tried to bring in the best of three worlds- the melody of Indian classical music, Orchestration of western classical music and rhythms of tribal/ folk music.[6]

Track listing
Track NameSinger(s)Sangam PoetryDuration
Yayum NyayumKarthik, Pragathi GuruprasadKuruntokai, 40 by Sempulapeyaneerar3:55
Veral VeliBombay JayashriKuruntokai, 18 by Kapilar4:58
Njayiru KayathuRajalakshmee SanjayKuruntokai, 378 by Kayamanar4:32
Mullai OornthaNK Priyanka, Rajan SomasundaramKuruntokai 275 by Okkur Masathiyar4:49
Yathum Oore AnthemKarthik, Bombay JayashriPurananuru, 192 by Kanian Poongunranar5:00
KalamSei KoveSaindhaviPurananuru, 258 by Unknown poet3:40
Yaadhum Oore SymphonyKarthikPurananuru, 192 by Kanian Poongunranar3:50

Album credits

References
  1. "A Major event in the world of music- The Hindu Music Review".
  2. "திருவாரூர் இளைஞரின் சர்வதேச சாதனை: புகழ்பெற்ற சங்கத் தமிழ்ப் பாடல்களுக்கு சிம்பொனி இசை!". Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). 4 February 2020.
  3. "Reviving Ancient Tamil Poetry on NBC TV Affiliate".
  4. "Yathum Oore Anthem- World Tamil Conference Theme Song".
  5. "AK Ramanujan on Sangam poetry".
  6. "WRDE TV article".
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