Chennai :
At the 9am mass today at the Church of Teresa of Avila in Nungambakkam, about 40 musicians of various faiths will come together to pay homage to the Christian patron saint of music, St Cecilia. While the feast of St Cecila is actually celebrated on November 22 world over, a 38-year-old tradition at St Teresa’s Church honours her with a special mass attended by a 40-piece orchestra and a 20-member choir on the nearest Sunday.
“A commemorative mass was being celebrated since the 1920s at the Presentation Church on Mount Road, but the tradition moved to St Teresa’s 38 years ago,” says Fr P J Laurence Raj, the parish priest. Incidentally, while music festivals and recitals in honour of St Cecilia take place every year on her feast day, the earliest recorded festival took place in Normandy in 1570.
The annual tradition plays out without fuss. An ensemble of independent musicians, many of whom play for the film industry, and the likes of A R Rahman, Illayaraja, Harris Jayaraj and Pritam gather on the assigned morning of the mass to strike up a rousing orchestral performance during the liturgy. “They perform every year for free, because they want to do something for God,” says Jerry Fernandes, coordinator of the programme. Fernandes, a violinist who has played for Illayaraja since his first movie, is leader of the Madras Chamber Orchestra.
“Because it’s a liturgical performance, the programme comprises only of hymns, but we play a marching tune at the end of the service, of which one or two encores are often requested,” says Fernandes. One of the veteran performers at the mass is Kerala Kumar, a 57-year-old freelance violinist who has played for Malayalam music director M Jayachandran (films like ‘Pranayam’ and ‘Celluloid’) and Tamil composer D Imman (of such films as ‘Kumki’ and ‘Mynaa’).
“I have been performing at this mass for the last 15 years, for the love of music, and the love of God,” he claims. For cellist P S Srinivas, who plays for Illayaraja and A R Rahman, music is above religion and this is why he has been part of this special ensemble for the last 25 years.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / TNN / November 24th, 2013