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| Sunday, 9 October 2005 |
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Features |  |
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Like father
like daughter
Pandith W.D Amaradeva, who began arranging and performing indigenous folk songs, embellishing them with Indian ragas, thus elevating them from simple tunes to more sophisticated compositions more than fifty years ago and whose voice is instantly recognised, be it on radio, television or on a CD, by generations of music lovers needs no special introduction. Today, having been silent for sometime he is back in the music arena with his daughter Subhanie to create yet another uniquely Sri Lankan musical synthesis. by Aditha Dissanayake Krishna...Krishna/Kima ma ridavanne?" (Krishna, why are you giving me such pain?) The voice like the tinkling of silver bells, like the wind caressing the petals of a rose, like the sparkle on a drop of dew on the edge of a leaf... like all the lovely comparisons one could ever think of, flitting through the quiet of the afternoon belongs to Subhanie Amaradeva, the daughter of music maestro Dr. W. D Amaradeva. "Krishna" is one of the songs on her maiden CD titled Gee Sara Malpethi, produced by "Sesatha" productions.
"Krishna? Krishna?" Is there a particular reason to sing about the passionate love of Lord Krishna and Radha in Gita Govinda? I ask Subhanie, before beginning the usual run-of-the-mill questions asked at an interview, wondering how she will respond. Breaking into an irresistibly charming smile Subhanie simply says, "Love is divine". She is Radha singing to Krishna because she believes love is a universal theme and because nothing else unites human beings as emphatically as love. Continuing the conversation about love and caring, her mother, Wimala Amaradeva explains "There are good things and bad things in this world. We must do everything we can to improve the good side of life". All three feel, the CD they have produced under the brand name of 'Sesatha' is their contribution to achieving this aim. A past pupil of Anula Vidyalaya and Vishaka Vidyalaya, Colombo, Subhanie has a B.A degree (first class) in Linguistics, Sanskrit and Hindi, from the University of Sri Jayawardenapura. In 1993, she left for India to study for a degree in performing arts for six years under the tutelage of Shrimathi Shanthi Sharma. She also has a M.A in Linguistics from the University of Delhi. Though at present she has taken a temporary respite from her studies, Subhanie says there is much more that she would like to learn and that what she knows already is no bigger than a drop of water in the mighty ocean of knowledge. Having sung duets with her father in songs like Peenamuko Kalu Gange on his foreign tours in America, Canada, UK, Oman etc, Subhanie says no culture is like another, nor can any culture be isolated from another. In love with India, she wishes India had not been so far away, so that she could return home more often, perhaps to teach what she has learnt to young people interested in music. Still undecided about her future career, the next step on her agenda is a trip to Canada at the invitation of some friends of the family. The music on Gee Sara Malpethi is by veteran musicians, Sanath Nandasiri, Victor Ratnayake, Rohana Weerasinghe, Mahinda Bandara, Sunil Dayananda Konara and Dr. Amaradeva. The lyrics are by Prof. Wimal Dissanayake, Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne, W.A Abeysinghe, Dr. Ajantha Ranasinghe, Sunil Sarath Perera, Monica Ruwanpathirana, Wasantha Kumara Kobawaka, Mahinda Dissanayake, Mahinda Wakadapola, Rev. Katawala Buddasiri, and Senerath Gonsal Korala. Recording is by Dayananda Perera and Kasun Kolambage of ERX studios and the cover design is by Prem Dissanayake of Fast Ads. Commenting on Subhanie's skills Dr. Amaradeva says "Memory is important in music and she has a good memory for sound. As a child she had the ability to reproduce whatever I sang". Having composed music for ballet, film, the stage, and countless radio and television programs, written over one thousand songs,(melodious, lyrical, haunting), songs of patriotism, beauty, faith, passion and love, for over fifty years but having been quiet for sometime now, shaking his shoulders and extending his right arm forward with the fingers brought together as if he is holding something in them, in his characteristic fashion, Dr. Amaradeva says in a voice brimming with fatherly love "Tell the world that having been quiet for sometime now I have broken the silence with Gee Sara Malpethi. Tell the world that a new flower called Subhanie has blossomed". A combination of classical, neo-classical, popular and folk music, Subhanie's songs make one recall the Sanskrit saying in Kavyalankara Sutra, Apurva vastu nirmanakshama pragna pratibha (artistic talent is the ability to create something that had never been before). **** Life and Times of Pandith Amaradeva
Finding work at Radio Ceylon, Dr. Amaradeva emerged as a brilliant innovator in Sinhalese music and was soon welcomed into the company of leading artists and intellectuals. Sensing the young man's genius, some of them raised a fund to send him to India for classical training. At the Bhathkande Institute of Music in Lucknow, he sat at the feet of India's music masters and came first in an all-India violin competition. He returned to Sri Lanka in 1958 as Amaradeva, the name, which has today become an expression of the rich heritage and protean vitality of Sri Lankan music. Among the uncountable number of songs sung by Dr. Amaradeva, the one which gives a glimpse of the innermost depth of his songs is surely the one called Sannaliyane. A weaver is questioned about the cloth she is weaving. (Sannaliyane, Sannaliyane/Me himidiri udaye/hadaweda damala lassana karala/katada anduma viyanne?) "For whom are you weaving this beautiful cloth early in the morning?" The answer is "for a new born baby". Later she is asked "For whom are you weaving now?" "For the bride" says she "A wedding dress is being woven". When the question is asked a third time the answer is "a wrap is being made to cover the body. She is dead". Through the simple task of weaving the greater cycles of life and death are revealed. Yet, in spite of this almost unendurable sorrow imbedded in his music, in real life, Dr. Amaradeva is brimming with love and warmth and with a disarming smile and twinkling eyes answers the question "What next?" with "I'm still composing. It never ends. My best creations will be produced ...tomorrow. There is always tomorrow". |
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| Produced by Lake House |
Born as Albert Perera, Dr. Amaradeva came early to music. His first
teacher was his father from whom he learnt to play the violin. Having
mastered the Bengali tunes then in vogue and from his older brother, learnt
the rudiments of the classical North Indian raga, he became a star at local
recitals and gained early renown as a singer of Buddhist devotional songs.
By thirteen, he was performing on the radio. By nineteen, he was playing the
violin, singing, and composing incidental music for the film "Asokamala".
