Sri Lankan signature in Music

Particularly referring to me in the audience, "Ranga meka mathakathiyaganna" (Ranga, remember this) Prof. Carlo Fonseka referring to Pradeep's extra-ordinary talents at the press briefing on the release of his CD 'Sithijaya', stated that as Einstein changed his mind when he saw Yehudi Menuhin playing violin at the age of ten and said "Now I know there is a God in heaven". Einstein was a rationalist who believed in no Gods.

Among other thing, Prof. Carlo Fonseka also stated that such great pieces of music come from a man with a charming disposition and an upright character.

Well-versed in many traditions of music, Pradeep Ratnayake portrays a universal musician who is embarked on a journey in search of Sri Lankan identity in a kind of music which is both international in flavour and outlook. It is this music which is conversant with many traditions of music such as rock and jazz yet with a distinctive Sri Lankan signature that moved the audience from East to the West.

His forte is that he was able to bring the Sitar, a pivotal instrument in classical Indian music out of its traditional milieu rendering it a new soul. The very soul of his compositions is the insignia of nation craftily embedded in fusion music, playing guitar, Sitar in the traditions of rock, jazz and classical Western music along with Sri Lankan percussion instruments such as Geta bera, Tammatama.

Engrossed in the classical Hindustani music in the world renowned Santhiniketan, India, Pradeep obtained his Master of Music in 2003 with a First Division pass and excelled in classical Sitar, perhaps, as the best student of legendary Ravi Shankar.

His extra-ordinary grasp of both Eastern and Western traditions of music enabled him to expand the spectrum for Sitar which is universally associated with Indian classical music. Since his return from Santhiniketan in 1997, he launched his now famous concert series Pradeepanjalee with blend of tradition and a load of innovation.

So far - concerts have been conducted in diverse venues including the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva; the prestigious Asia Society, New York; The Kennedy Centre Millennium Stage, Washington Disney Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and Vienna Musikverein, Austria. The sixth concert was conducted to celebrate the 54th Anniversary of the Republic Day of India sponsored by the India-Sri Lanka Foundation and the eighth by the United States-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission.

One of the significant characteristic of concerts in Sri Lanka was that the concerts commenced with a classical Indian Raga as a tribute to the great tradition which brought forth Pradeep and then proceeded to his own style of playing, fusing sitar with the cello, the violin, the piano or the saxophone; and has as its accompaniment the drums of Sri Lanka and India as well as the more traditional tabla.

Pradeep was conferred an Award at the National Music Festival for services rendered to music in Sri Lanka in 2001. A composer of rare distinction, so far he has composed music for films and on special occasions. Indrakeelaya, a symphonic tone poem, was composed on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and was performed at the ceremonial opening of the New Headquarters Building of the Central Bank in 1999.

He composed music for score of films commencing from Dr. Lester James Pieris's Wekanda walawwa (Mansion by the Lake) followed by Mage Wam Atha, a film by Linton Semage which entered the competitive section of the Locarno Film Festival and Sathyajith Maitipe's 'Boradiya Pokuna' which won several international awards although still not being screened in Sri Lanka. Like in his compositions, Pradeep has used fusion music to the specific requirements of the director.

In a way it is estrange that very little records were made of Pradeep's composition of music for films as well as the music composed by Harsha Makalanda. As far as this ill-treatment is concerned, it is incomprehensible whether this indifference on the part of establishment is sprung from jealousy or revenge. In former scenario, those who are Jealous accumulate sins and the latter is the wildest form of justice. If not of those cases, it is no reason other than the poor understanding of Fine Arts.

Inspired by Pradeep's virtuosity, Lalanath de Silva, an Associate Conductor in the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka composed the Sitar Concerto where Pradeep is the soloist, has been performed jointly by Bomby Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka as a part of joint the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of India and Sri Lanka, in Bombay (Tata Theatre) and in Colombo.

The Concerto was also performed in February 2004 as part of International East-West Music Festival, where Pradeep was backed by the Amsterdam Chamber Orchestra. Indrakeelaya, Roots, Visva are the three compact disks of Pradeep Ratnayake's music.

Pradeep's next CD titled Sithijaya (Horizon) will be launched at the Pradeepanjalee XII concert to be held on July 15 2007 at the BMICH. The Concert which will be videoed by Torana, will be the first DVD Concert of the Pradeepanjalee series. A DVD of the concert will be released.

So far Pradeep has released five CDs, the first being the 'Sitar Gee Ravaya' launched in 1991. The CD explores the Sitar's proximity to human voice. In the CD, Sita's sound is rendered in place of vocalists' in popular numbers.

However, the Sithijaya will be different from previous CDs as it contains very simple compositions catering to popular taste. The compositions though simple in structure, are of highest standards and poised to uplift the popular taste of music and could even be enjoyed while travelling. The CD will be distributed by Torana.

Little known fact of this multi-faceted personality is his involvement in reforming syllabi for Aesthetic Subjects. Pradeep was appointed the chairman of the Committee reforming syllabi for Aesthetic Subjects.

The syllabi which were designed with emphasis on practical aspects will come into effect by the end of year 2007. The syllabi are designed with practical flavour, in order to develop skills at various levels and teach students to apply their acquired knowledge in a broader contest.

Pradeep is a senior lecturer in the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies at the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, Sri Lanka.

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Memorable Quotations

"You have heard glorious music. As you can see Pradeep is a person of enormous talent and I am sure one day would be the Ravi Shankar of Sri Lanka.

Pradeepanjalee means the offering of your own self. Pradeep is offering his entire self and not just his music to the audience. And it is when that happens that the vibrating string of the sitar, the soul of the raga and the soul of the musician are one. Then your soul - your mind is coloured by vibrant and incandescent colour.

And that is the essence of the music. - Nirupam Sen, from the speech delivered by His Excellency, the High Commissioner of India, at Pradeepanjalee VII. He is now the Indian Ambassador to the United Nations.

"It was the 50th anniversary of the Central Bank in 2000, and we dared the young musician, Pradeep, to compose a fitting memorial to the bank in music, as Guiseppe Verdi did to immortalize the opening of the Suez Canal by his opera, "Aida".

Pradeep took up the challenge and what he produced - Indrakeelaya - is a magnificent tone poem, which is yet reverberating in our ears. Delving deep into our cultural roots and the heroic poems of other cultures, Pradeep's composition on the theme of a phoenix rising out of the ashes, was a tribute to the bankers who survived a devastating attack on the premises a few years before. Pradeep's Indrakeelaya (the unshakable) is widely acknowledged as a classic" - A. S. Jayawardena, former Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

"Ravi Shankar, when he was not much older than Pradeep now, played bhairavi to great effect, in the same hall some 42 years ago, as Pradeep played yaman. I will remember both with equal pleasure."

Dr. G. Uswattearachchi, United Nations Committee for Development Policy, New York (Daily News, November 10, 2004)

Young, but with an unerring sense of musical judgment arising undeniably from his technical virtuosity, Pradeep seems, as a performer, mature beyond his years. "Pradeep is no conventional musician. He brings to his performance the compulsive energy and a trans-like quality which we associate with jazz players.

What makes the jazz performer and his mixed progeny, the rock star, so exciting is that both enjoy playing and make the audience share in their ecstasy. Pradeep plays with controlled ecstasy.

His is not in a drugged trance, but he works his sitar with passionate involvement, which communicates with the listener, and unlike in the chamber quality of Indian music, this elicits a collective response." Tissa Abeysekera, Novelist and Film Director