A Tribute to Pandith Amaradeva

                       

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Rare Genius

- Sangeet Vishard P.Dunstan De Silva

SRI Lanka is a small country. The music standards of the Sinhalese were at low ebb and confined mostly to rituals in the temples and among village folk. The advent of the Nadagam and Nurthi traditions gave hints of future expansion. It started showing systematic and progressive development only after the trail blazing efforts of Dr.Lionel Edirisinghe, who paved the way for all of us to go to India and study music seriously for the first time and who produced the first batch of trained musicians and created the first Sinhala orchestra with his first pupils.

The pioneering efforts of the great musicians Mr. M.G. Perera, Sadiris Master, Mr.H.W.Rupasinghe and others and the Nurthi music of the Tower Hail era, and the fact that his father was a no mean Nadagrn singer himself, no doubt crated an interest in Dr. Edirisinghe to take to this path. This was an extremely fortunate event for it enabled talented students from Sri Lanka to take up to the serious and scientific study of music, from great masters in India with the delightful prospect of developing the standard of music in the country.

As I was about to leave for India after working with Surya Shankar Mollidgode and Ananda Samarakone in all their programs and recordings, and also with Dr.Lionel Edirisinghe after his return from India, I came across a young man called W.D. Albert Perera. He could handle the Violin with exceptional skill. He had been practicing the Violin under his father’s guidance even as a toddler, and as a teenager the Violin was almost like a toy in his hands. As I had to leave the country, I requested Albert Perera to help my sister Swarna de Silva with her Radio programmes. At the time she was a singer with Ananda Samarakone and also doing her own radio recitals.

Occasionally when I came home for the vacations, I saw Albert Perera growing in stature as a musician. He had started assisting Ghouse Master, who was an accomplished music director, with his Film music. He had also sung some delightful songs in the films and had already made a name not only as a brilliant Violinist but also as a capable vocalist.

When I finally returned from India after graduation in 1952, Albert Perera was no more. He had been re-born as Amaradeva. Dr.E.Saratchandra, who had already started a revival of traditional music through research programmes over the Radio and on the stage, and who always went out of his way to help talented youngsters discovered by him, most probably, seeing the great potential of this artiste, had persuaded him change his name from Albert Perera to Amaradeva - a name that was destined to inspire him and carry him through to the colossal heights he has reached today.

He had by this time, developed another dimension to his attributes. He had started composing music and also lyrics for his own songs. Some of them, like "Kusum Pipee atu pathare" and ^"Vandimu Sugatha Sakya Sinha^" could be considered prominent landmarks in the development of Sinhala music, and to be of an extremely high standard even today.

I began working with Amaradeva and he assisted me in the first ballet for which I composed and directed music, "Romance of an orchid" by Sesha Palihakara, who did the choreography and the leading role. He was partnered by Charmaine Vandaikone. Amaradeva, accompanied in the duets by that talented singer Lata (Walpola), sang all the vocal effects and the songs and also played the Violin.

Amaradeva who was not satisfied with the little knowledge he had gained from Ghouse master was determined to go to India for serious study. He was assisted by a host of admirers lead by the later Mr. D.B.Dhanapala, journalist and author, with his Lankadeepa newspaper playing the major role.

As his main forte was Violine I advised him to learn from Prof V.G. Jog, with whom I was staying during my student days at Lucknow. Prof Jog, considered one of the leading players even at that time, and who was lecturing at the Bhatkande University, was extremely pleased with his talented student and personally thanked me for sending him such a brilliant pupil.

Prof.V.G.Jog openly demonstrated the faith he had in his pupil by getting him to sit on the stage and accompany him during the few recitals I arranged when he visited Sri Lanka at my invitation through Radio Ceylon.

Amaradeva did not let down his guru but demonstrated his class as an accomplished player. Occasionally through youthful exuberance and lack of patience he almost disturbed his mater's planned exposition of the raga by unexpected flashes from his Violin, but Jog Sahab, the great maestro that he was, tranquilised Amaradeva by replying in the same vein and brought the situation under control. This series with his teacher further established Amaradeva's prowess with the Violin.

In India Amaradeva quickly built up a host of admirers. Among his numerous teacher was the late Principal of the Bhatkande Institute, Dr.S.N.Ratanjankar. He advised him to go to Nagpur after his course of studies, and teach music, so that he could earn a living and continue his own studies and practice without depending on financial assistance from home. This was not to be, as he had to return to Sri Lanka because of the sad demise of his father, to help keep the hearth fires burring at home.

After return Amaradeva became an instant success. Audiences raved over his Violin playing and singing. Some of his greatest admirers were Indian residents who appreciated classical music and there were many requests for private sittings. Amaradeva gladly obliged as he too was keen in appreciative audiences.

At one such sitting I noticed an European couple, seated at the edge of the audience. Gradually they crept closer, and half way through the programme they were right in front and closely observing Amaradeva's hands. After the recital I asked them why they were so keenly watching his hands. They told me they had seen and heard many brilliant players all over the world but this was the first time they saw a player so effectively combine the playing techniques of the West and East to exploit the instrument to such an extent.

At another private sitting at the residence of the Indian High Commissioner, the guest artiste was Suchitra Mitra, one of India's top grade vocalist and an expert in Rabindra Sangeeth. Amaradeva was requested to sing a few songs with her. She was so moved with his singing ability that she said Amaradeva just goes on singing in perfect "Sur" and "Tat" and music gushes out from his throat like water from a fountain.

I somehow managed to persuade Amaradeva to join Radio Ceylon as Leader of the Sinhala Orchestra. He produced a few orchestral pieces that have scarcely been matched for sheer artistry in composition and arrangement up to date.

He has been hailed as the voice that speaks to the soul of Sri Lanka, a voice that many critics cite as the greatest musical instrument to be heard in the country. There certainly is no disagreement over the fact that he has played a key role in liberating Sinhala music and song from the shackles of an alien Indian tradition.

Today Wannaku-wattewaduge Don Amaradeva known to nearly every man, woman and child as simply "Amaradeva" - is compared to India’s great classical maestro, Pandit Ravi Shankar, a tribute that Amaradeva modestly brushes aside. At 62 years, he has established himself as the island’s premier vocalist, violinist and composer through many years of dedicated involvement in Sinhala music.

"Amaradeva has been a part of the development of Sinhala music for the past three decades, experimenting, innovating, entertaining, taking the idiom of Sinhala music into new heights of achievement and expression. Wrote Sri Lankan journalist Lucien Rajakarunanayake. "One could state with confidence that his has been the greatest pioneering effort in the field of Sinhala music".

The maestro holds the degrees of sangeeth visharadth (vocal) and vadya visharadh (instrumental / violin) from the prestigious Bhatkhande School of Music in Lucknow, India, and is the recipient of numerous music awards (among them, the Kala Kirthi Award, one of the highest prizes for achievement in the arts). Amaradeva's greatest honour, perhaps, was to be invited by the government of the Maldives to compose that country's national anthem in 1972.

His contributions to the field of Lankan music, however, began much earlier, in the late 1940s, when Sri Lanka got caught up in the whirlwind of what observers consider to be the cultural renaissance of Ceylon. Until the, local cultural inspiration was drawn heavily from neighbouring India, where most of the country's cultural custodians had their education and training. Sri Lanka had become essentially a carbon copy culture of the dominant and ancient forces across the Palk Strait. However, in the 1940s Sri Lankan artists began to rebel against the old order, activating a cultural consciousness and revitalizing indigenous Lankan traditions.

Maestro Amaradeva himself pays tribute to some of his predecessors for launching the search for a national idiom. Among them is the late Ananda Samarakoon, disciple of Rabindranath Tagore and pioneer of the creative Sinhala song. According to Amaradeva, it was Samarakoon (who composed the Sri Lankan National Anthem) who first brought about what he calls "our own musical thought". Amaradeva was part of this movement, a partner in the progressive story of Sinhala music, in an era that witnessed the transition from Indian domination to the emergence of a robust music with distinctive national characteristics.

"Sri Lanka is still a window through which you can look into India," explained the maestro. "But of course, Sri Lanka has always maintained her indigenous national identity. This is what we wanted to keep alive. This is what we wanted to highlight in our music.

Actually, Sri Lankan musicians were not at odds with their Indian contemporaries in this effort. According to the Ceylon Daily News music critic, D.B.Kappagoda, it was Amaradeva's Indian guru from Bhatkande, Pandit Ratanjankar, who had first pointed out that there was much music in religious sermons and popular folk songs of the country. Pandit Ratanjankar urged local musicians to experiment with this background in search of their own musical idiom. It was then that artists of Sri Lanka's cultural renaissance realised that there was already much music embedded in Sri Lankan culture, dating back some 2,000 years. That music could be found, for example, in the folk songs of fishermen, miners and farmers. And reaching to those folk songs for their inspiration, local artists demonstrated for the first time what authentic Sri Lankan music could be.

In the 1950s, Amaradeva took his "experiments" to the nation via state radio - music which had never been heard before in the country was now being broadcast. Says maestro Amaradeva of that period: "Melodies I created began coming over the air to the homes of the country's intellectuals. The learned community began to realise that something was happening with the music."

Amaradeva is also a serious student of literature. His mastery of the Sinhala language, which blossomed perhaps due to his close association with scholars of the nationalist renaissance, has given him a linguistic proficiency which serves him well in his music writing.

According to critic H.H.Bandara, another special feature that marks Amaradeva's music is the depth of background work that precedes the creation of composition: "He really does his homework before creating a melody. And behind every song or instrumental piece, there is a long thought process, a deliberate attempt on his part to justify the particular method he uses in creating a given melody."

Adds Kappagoda: "Here is one popular musician who did not hurry along to popularity. He really worked his way up."

That road to fame for Amaradeva, although not one of hardship, was a long one. The son of a violin maker (and carpenter), Amaradeva was born in December 1927, in the town of Moratuwa, south of Colombo. Moratuwa is well known as the birthplace of many a local music men.

Born at a time when the atmosphere was ripe for experimentation in the field of music, Amaradeva made full use of his God-given talents, as a young music director for some of the earliest Sinhala films, In 1953, he proceeded to India to become one of Bhatkande^’s top pupils.

Amaradeva continues to spend his time creating and practicing his art. Those interested in hearing him perform can see him on state television, or catch one of his infrequent live appearances. Or they can find many of his records in local record shops. Despite his commercial success, Amaradeva remains true to his work. "All arts aspire to the condition of music, for music is the finest of the fine arts," he explained. "There is a lot of 'noise' around us, but man must be intelligent enough to pick out the most beautiful of these 'noises."

One day an American composer and music conductor who had been travelling all over the East, specially India, conducting research exercises in oriental music, visited Radio Ceylon and was directed to me. He wanted to work in the Sinhala orchestra for sometime if possible. I promptly introduced him to Amaradeva, as I through it was good to expose out orchestra to experiences of this nature. After working for some time, he commented that the players, although talented, lacked in Classical training, but that the Leader Amaradeva had one of the fastest musical brains he had ever come across and that it was a pity he was hidden away in a tiny corner of the world without any opportunities.

An Example of his quick and unique thinking is the song "Me sinhala apage ratai" by Mahagama Sekera. He makes use of a deliberate rhythmic imbalance to emphasise the meaning of the words. In the middle of the second line he skips two 'matras" or beats going out of rhythm and at the end of the line skips four matras" or beats and comes back bang into rhythm. only a quick brain such as his could conceive such an original and effective gimmick although it is quite simple.

Amaradeva's greatest contribution is in the field of creative music. The music he composed for the Chitrasena ballets Nala Damayanth and Karadiya and others was something out of this world. He expressed most of the mood music using his own.

The Pandits who try to create a system of Sinhala music have through sheer ignorance and incompetence actually destroyed for ever what they, shouting from roof tops, so desperately and lovingly profess to preserve. Are these intentions honest? Otherwise, by what stretch of imagination could one expect a "Saudama" to be sung in harmony retaining at the same time its priority of style and form?

Amaradeva however, through sensible practical research and not theoretical bungling, silently exploited all the possibilities of these traditions and proved nothing more could be done.

Amaradeva, no doubt, was born a genius. Through acquisition of knowledge of music, developing a super-sensitivity to all forms, whether it be Eastern or Western, and gaining mastery over technique by concentrated application and hard practice, he has made himself incomparable.

Amaradeva will not die because he is Amara or deathless.

I only hope that he will continue to enrich Sinhala music by creating things of beauty that will remain a joy for ever.

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