'Rana's Dream', one of AR Rahman's finest and most complex compositions.

I have been a big Rahmaniac since childhood. In fact, I had my first overwhelming experience with music at the age of six, when my father gifted me a cassette of Rangeela (The song  'Rangeela Re' was aired on a television channel and my dad noticed me enjoying it. He got me the audio cassette the very next day! The first audio cassette I owned!)

Though proud that, Rahman proved his proficiency in numerous genres and revolutionized Indian film music, I always felt that his orchestral/symphonic attempts after 1994, were shallow. Even in Hollywood, his orchestral pieces like 'Jason and Cynthia Suite' (from 'Couples Retreat') lacked depth.

But his most recent orchestral piece 'Rana's Dream' proves to be a different experience. It turns out to be one of the most complex compositions of Rahman till date.

Though it starts off with ostensible nods to Ilaiyaraaja's score of 'Pazhassiraja', it goes on to carve its own unique identity. What's brilliant is that Rahman uses the same melody to employ counterpoint in a fashion which Gustav Mahler employed in the second movement of his 5th symphony. Here, Rahman's main melody, (which uses the tune of 'Enge Pogudhu Vaanam..Ange Pogirom Naamum') counters itself. So how does Rahman go about constructing this complex contrapuntal texture?

Well, I don't know notations as I am no musician. So kindly allow me to split 'Enge Pogudhu Vaanam..Ange Pogirom Naamum' into notes:

'en', 'ge', 'po', 'gu', 'dho', 'vaa', 'nam'

AND

'AN', 'GE' (In uppercase to denote that it is different from the above 'ge'), 'PO', 'GI', 'ROM', 'NAA', 'MUM'

So for instance, the main melody is on the Cellos and reaches the note 'dho', the Horns join in and start playing from the note 'en'.  Again when the melody on the horns reaches the note 'NAA',  the cello simultaneously starts playing from 'en' and so on. This is just an example, but the complexity of counterpoint is much more as the track progresses, with the horns, strings and woodwinds continuously countering each other, and sometimes (rather many times) counters happening within the horn section itself.

Sheer brilliance!