all music i am told can be split in 13 notes and you can play anything at all within the thirteen.and that dissolves the border between western and classical. but still when i heard ilayaraja, you must note most of his singing sounded highly indian. only the background was western. in fact to fill his chosen tune with his words he had repeated a word or two quite often.(of course othuvars repeat whole lines - so I guess it is allowed) but then i guess the dissapointment in ilayaraja could also be because of the huge publicity ahead which stirred up expectations.
but truthfully i bought this mainly because sujatha had so highly recommended it in vikadan.
I too felt that. As far as possible, he tried to stay within the grammer of carnatic/folk music, especially in the last 3 songs.
In the last song, his attempt to render it to western classical music form is clearly portraited. I think it is quite natural to repeat words or lines when you render a poem into a different musical form. That should be considered as a little less crime!
In the 2nd song, several movements remind me of the Sleeping beauty or the Swan lake. I think the 1st and 2nd songs are a pure cantata type composition.
This is not a symphony. A symphony is performed in 4 separate, independent, large and self-sufficient movements set in different tempo, rhythm, and melody ( such as allegro, adagio, presto, vivace etc., ) Only the subject will remain common. A symphony may be accompanied by a prelude or an overture.
This composition falls under the cantata / orataria category - because it has religeous content. An orataria / cantata is an opera without performance ( ie., no stage, no costumes and often no performers / dancers ) It is done in a more relaxed setting and often religeous. This kind of music is performed in concerts / churches.