A Tribute to Pandith Amaradeva

                       

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Creating a national idiom of music in Sri Lanka

The Achievement of Amaradeva

By H. H. Bandara

Features Sunday Observer 12 April 1998

With the Festival of India in full swing, any other contemporary Asian cultural event in London is not quite likely to receive the art-loving public's unqualified attention. There was, however, a recent exception, "Amara Gee Sara" a musical evening with W. D. Amaradeva who, without question, is Sri Lanka's greatest singer and composer. Amaradeva entertained a capacity crowd at West London's Ealing Town Hall on April 17 with a program comprising some of his best-loved songs. It was his first concert here, organised by the Sinhala Association of Sri Lankans in the U.K. 

Amaradeva comes from a country where the search for a national musical idiom presents a host of problems, controversies and very interesting propositions. Basically, it is North Indian (Hindustani) classical music and its various forms which have gained a firm foothold in the country, and remain to be a force with no apparent challenge or alternative. Other forms of musical expression do exist, and they range from poorly-imitated pop, reggae and Latin American tunes to the more acceptable creations based upon Sri Lanka's Sinhala folk songs. This brief statement is sufficient to indicate the kind of 'turmoil' that exists in determining what kind of music deserves promotion and encouragement in a country bordering the cultural Goliath that is India. It is also in such a context that Amaradeva and his lifelong work as a musician merit our attention.

Having thoroughly enjoyed Amaradeva's concert in London, I was able to make two observations. First, his program was highly representative of all the creative and original work he has been engaged in over the past thirty or more years. Secondly, he proved that he easily outclasses all his Sri Lankan contemporaries by the sheer ability at creating a national musical idiom as against theorising on the need for one.

Primary question

Even a quick glance at the musical situation in Sri Lanka will indicate that the primary question which still remains unanswered is: Is it wise and practical for Sri Lanka to blindly and indiscriminately follow the Hindustani tradition at the risk of ignoring the demand for elevating the country's folk music to a superior position? One must, of course, be aware of the fact that the folk music of any country (this is particularly so in Sri Lanka) cannot be taken as the sole basis upon which to build a vital and broad-based musical tradition. In such a situation nationalist sentiments cannot be allowed to override the practical needs and issues involved in the process. However, Amaradeva appears to have found the ideal synthesis and a plausible solution to this fundamental question. For he has a reverence for and a belief in both Sinhala folk music and the North Indian classical tradition; but is NOT a slave of either.

The music which Amaradeva creates today has been the result of a long and varied course of experimentation. He started as a faithful follower of the Indian tradition, mostly singing his own compositions and developing a style unique to himself. He was trained in India where he received the Visarad degree and returned to Sri Lanka as a highly accomplished classical singer and violinist. Even during his early career, the signs were that Amaradeva, unlike any other musician of the time, was going to trek a different path. This became evident particularly in the 'fifties' when the clamour for preserving the country's folk songs developed into a great controversy. Soon after his return from India, Amaradeva presented a series of experimental programs over the then Radio Ceylon in a modest attempt to expand the limited field of the folk song, and to make it acceptable to the modern listener.

In order to overcome the built-in limitations of Sinhala folk music, Amaradeva, in some of his compositions, relied on the use of Indian Ragas. He would sing a folk tune without unduly disturbing or changing its original character, and add a second section (the 'antara' as it is called in Indian music) based on a relevant and carefully-chosen Raga. These experiments introduced a new dimension to the search for a national musical idiom in Sri Lanka. To the listener who despised the folk song in its original form and showed a similar dislike for North Indian classical music, Amaradeva's contribution provided a new formula for musical appreciation. And to some of the contemporary musicians who had given the idea of a national music a rather misconstrued notion, his creations became an eye-opener.

Re-assessing this particular phase, even Amaradeva would, with a certain degree of self-criticism, admit that his experiments did not wholly fulfil his own object of working towards the development of a national musical idiom. To take a Sinhala folk melody and simply embellish it with the more attractive and sophisticated features of an Indian Raga was, in way, a technical exercise. This is not a statement aimed at belittling Amaradeva's work of this particular period (these songs are highly acclaimed even today), but it is a comment that can be made only in retrospect, that is, looking back on his recent achievements.

Two fundamental traits

Today, I can identify two fundamental traits in the more important musical compositions of Amaradeva. One, obviously, is his dependence on Sinhala folk music - a dependence that is rational and justifiably detached and objective. (Here I must re-emphasize the difference between composing a musical piece deliberately, with the sole intention of making it sound "local", and the alternative procedure of creating music almost naturally and spontaneously, without the limited object of satisfying a nationalist sentiment or some other condition). Whereas earlier, it was easy to identify a specific folk melody in an Amaradeva composition, now it is a case of experiencing a synthesis - a fusion - of all the characteristics of Sinhala folk music on a much wider spectrum.

A few distinctive examples which will serve to illustrate this point are - Amaradeva's score for the film 'Ransalu' and individual songs like 'Mindada Hee Sara', 'Muni Siripa' and 'Sasara Vasana Turu'. What Amaradeva does in compositions such as these is not simply to rely on an existing folk melody per se (and just get away with it!), but to thrive on and be stimulated by the essence and spirit of the whole body of Sinhala folk music taken as a total entity. It is a coherent entity, a complete spectrum, that contains the core of Buddhist chants and narrative styles, simple folk tunes and rhythms, songs associated with dance, drama, ritual and social customs ..... in fact, the whole lot.

The second trait which I said I observed in Amaradeva's recent creations is his highly personal and original approach to the employment of the Raga as a framework for his compositions. Here again, Amaradeva breaks away from a long-established tradition in Sri Lanka where the study and use of Indian ragas had been done in the most orthodox manner. Analysing Amaradeva's music which has been inspired by select Indian Ragas, one sees how he has been battling with himself over the question: Must a raga be used at all, and if so to what extent?

A major example that illustrates this point is his song in praise of Goddess Saraswathie. A discerning listener with a good ear for Indian ragas may find in this song some characteristics of Rag BIHAG. But is it Bihag as defined in text books? I prefer to answer it in the negative, and call it an entirely new creation ... a new musical mode a la Amaradeva.

Surely, it is this approach that has to provide the basis for a genuinely national idiom of music which the Sri Lankan musicians have been carving for? The sound and sensible guidelines which Amaradeva has shown should also bring to an end what I like to call 'the bitter battle' between two groups - the purists fighting tooth and nail to promote Sinhala folk music and the classicists who struggle to uphold the Hindustan tradition more religiously than even the people of India do! The final success will, of course, depend on whether or not we are going to have a few more Amaradevas in Sri Lanka.

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