Murthy’s Music Musings

In Infosys Founder Narayana Murthy’s room, one could catch a glimpse of him listening to Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky

Those who walked into Infosys founder Narayana Murthy’s room at the Bengaluru headquarters, could catch a glimpse of him listening to Western classical music, particularly Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. Mozart is his favourite. “Almost every piece of Mozart to me is extremely easy to like and appreciate,” he says. “The Divertimento (a variety of instrumental works for solo or chamber ensemble), minuets (a slow, ballroom dance work)… these are the short pieces that are very attractive.”

Murthy’s father introduced him to Western classical music. Murthy learnt an important lesson that is the fulcrum of building great corporations. “My father used to make us sit on the floor and listen to Western classical music,” Murthy recollects. “For my father, it was a good example of how a set of 50-100 musicians, each of who is a maestro in her or his own field, could come together and work as a cohesive team under the direction of the conductor. Together, they produced something divine. He used to say this is the best example of teamwork,” says Murthy. This teamwork, Murthy later realised, was mostly missing in Indian classical music where musicians playfully compete with each other. “Indian classical music is not teamwork oriented – in a jugalbandi, you have to prove you are smarter. Every player of some instrument has to get an opportunity to show how good she or he is – at least in South Indian classical music that is the case. Whereas, in western symphonies, all play together as a team,” Murthy explains.