Mr Gerald Wickremasinghe’s article runs true from a ‘westerner’s( English educated) view point. On from 1930s only.
Sri Lankan Sinhala Music as existed
prior is vast, old, and not well recorded or categorised, with the
paucity of print and recordings in those times.
jksw
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18th October 1998 |
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Dancing to our own tune
By Gerald Wickramasuriya
In 1931 The Donoughmore Constitution gave Sri Lanka a great
share of responsibility for running her own affairs. It also gave the country
Universal Franchise including votes for women, given to British women only
three years earlier.
This
really meant that power was transferred to the Sri Lankan upper class.
Upto
this time people belonging to this class had looked down on Sinhala music as
music of the servants. But partial self-government gave that class a new
sense of national pride and they started groping for their identity.
About 1933 Rabindranath Tagore came to Ceylon and gave a
series of recitals. This sharpened the interest of the ruling class in
Oriental Music.
This also led to the forming of Sri Pali Vidyalaya in Horana
by Wilmot Perera, a wealthy land owner. Sri Pali was dedicated to the
development of Oriental Music and Culture.
Also about this time Mr. Justin Pieris returned to Sri Lanka
after finishing his school and University education in England. He changed
his name to Devar Suriya Sena. He was also a western trained singer and
musician.
Coming from the upper class himself, he was caught up in this
new interest in Oriental Culture, and going round the island doing research
he re-discovered a large number of Sinhala traditional melodies, rhythms and
songs of various types. He refined these and performed them not only in Sri
Lanka but all over the world including over the BBC.
In the mid-thirties a new group of entertainers consisting of
Saranagupta Amarasinghe who had just returned from Tagore's Shanthi Niketan.
Miviam Pieris - daughter of Sir Paul Pieris and Joyce Bleakely a daugther of
the then British Director of Education started giving performances
islandwide. This group was called the Sarasavi Players.
Saranagupta
handled the music and vocals. Miriam the Kandyan Dancing and Joyce the Indian
dancing. Miriam Pieris now Ms. P.R.de Saram - mother of the internationally
famous Rohan de Saram the first Sri Lankan women to don the 'Ves' and perform
Kandyan dancing in public.
Upto
that time Kandyan dancing was an exclusive area for men only.
In 1938 I saw a picture in the newspaper of one Ananda
Samarakoon and his wife Chandra who had just returned after doing a course at
Shanthi Niketan.
I
was myself interested in Oriental music, so I wrote to him asking whether I
could study under him. By and by I found myself in a small house in the
by-lanes of Dehiwela with a small group of students learning from Samarakoon.
He
was then almost unknown but even at that time he had ideas of great
achievements. I make the claim that I was one of the first pupils of Samarakoon.
'This
is going to be a big concern one day,' he told his pupils. He was full of
ideas for creating a new kind of Sinhala music. I think he was the first to
introduce the Sitar and the Esraj into Sinhala music.
Upto
that time what passed for Sinhala music was just a collection of Hindi tunes
with Sinhala words superimposed on them. And the favourite instruments at the
time were the Sarapina, Violin and Tabla.
Ananda Samarakoon wrote his own lyrics, composed his own tunes
and sang them himself. He liberated Sinhala music from the clutches of Hindi
music and demonstrated to our musicians that Sri Lankans can create their own
music.
Following on Ananda Samarakoon, Sunil Shantha although he was
a graduate of the Bhathkanda University in Indian Classical Music won
popularity by composing and singing light songs based on the Samarakoon
model. There was also a touch of Country and Western music. In fact an American Fulbright Scholar Anne Sheran told me
that the closeness of Sunil Shantha's songs to the American Country idiom was
amazing.
1. Ase Madura - by Samarakoon.
2. Olu Pipila - by Sunil Shantha.
To
show the similarity, Sunil Shantha was followed by Somapala and Chithra
and later by C. T. Fernando. I claim that all these singers belong to the
same school started by Samarakoon. But each one made his own variation.
Shantha
me re yame....
Peenamuko Kalugange.....
which
belong to the same school.
Of
course Amaradeva later graduated from Bhathkanda and created his own style
and school of light songs (Sarala Gee) which examples are followed by Nanda
Malini, Sanath Nanda Siri and others.
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Thanks to the net, we are able to track back on our singers.
In the 1950s we remember Devar Suryasena’s vibrant voice in ‘ Weera malen rong geniyanna’
It was well sung, the record submitted now not doing justice to
his rendition.
The tune is Hindi, said to be sung by
S D. Burman.
The Sinhala word sounds follow tht in Hindi closely, which was the
desired style of lyrics then. Perhaps, Karunatne Abeysekera led the revolution
in the 1950s in film songs not aping Hindi words without loss.
Though the record is said to be from 1930, there is a doubt on
that.
Mohideen Baig is said to have recorded the first Sinhala song ‘
karuna Muhude..’ Needs confirmation.
Feedback is welcome.
Shall send Burman’s rendition soon.
jksw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT1gVBofX-U
