Shedding light on post-modern motifs in Sri Lankan music scene

by Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

Lakshman Joseph de Saram pix by Kesara Ratnavibhushana

Post- modern music signifies both musical style and musical condition. As a musical style, post-modern music contains characteristic of post-modern art deriving musical motifs across the spectrum of traditions and genres. It tends to blur the traditional boundaries of "high art" and "Kitsch". As a condition, post-modern music, in simple terms, is a state of music after modernity. It has no particular defining feature but often considered as mode of expression, meant for mass consumption and also indicator of group identity or an identity of a sub-culture.

What follows are the excerpts of an exclusive interview with Lakshman Joseph de Saram, the film composer and Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Colombo, who responded to questions on music, post-modernism and the National Performing Arts Theatre.

Q: There has been discussion recently in the Sinhalese and English intellectual circuits about the post-modernistic influence in our fine arts, and in film music your scores have been cited as a clear example of that influence. Do you agree?

A: What is post-modern music to us anyway? Is it anti-elite, anti-formal, blurring the lines between "high" and "low" music? If that's what it is, maybe, the stuff I have written to date can carry that label. I don't get too carried away with labels though.

Q: Is your music anti-elite?

A: What I meant by post-modernism having anti-elitist proclivities was about it going bang against modernism and its exacting academic structures. The whole 2nd Viennese School ending with (Eliot) Carter perhaps. I suppose anyone who writes music these days that incorporates multiple traditions and cultures and injects some form of populist values will be labelled a post-modernist.

Q: You said blurring the lines between "high" and "low" music, is that not in itself an elitist viewpoint?

A: Let's get off the word "elitist," my mistake - but in essence, is not post modernism just about that? The blurring of styles? Take Charles Ives's "Central Park in the Dark," he embeds in the score bits of ragtime, jazz and even a (John Phillip) Sousa march. Outrageous stuff for early 20th-century serious writing, and this brings the other important aspect of post-modernism: irony. There is a lot of tongue in cheek.

Q: Would you describe your music as ironic?

A: At the risk of sounding facetious, no matter where I go, I feel tethered to this pile of unrepentant irony, I can't attribute it to anything specific, but I deal with it. Coming back to the music, there are tons of cheeky musical reference points and less obvious tributes, so to speak, to my many collisions with people and incidents, music being the common denominator in all of them. This is possible because I have constantly engaged a mild contempt for the habitually unproven values of let's say the structural unity and sanctity of "form" and "tradition". I am blithely able to juxtapose a Kotahena funeral band blowing their guts out, completely drunk, with the sound of a Grancino cello because of this, however ridiculous it may sound.

Q: So, are you out to ridicule?

A: Well, that's never the intention, however, the music mostly is a response to the visual or, at times, the unseen. So, if I feel the scene requires an ironic or ridiculous sound, to prevent it from looking overly earnest, I'll write it. There have been several instances. "Mille Soya" and "Machan" have plenty of examples.

Q: In your opinion, who are the most important composers in the post- modernistic era?

A: In Sri Lanka, it would be Premasiri Khemadasa, who began as a traditionalist, went through his Stravinsky/Janacek modernistic phase and ended up a neoconservative post-modernist, beating the label bandwagon to death! His "Beyond Horizons," the last serious piece he wrote while living in Prague, is a sterling example of his returning to the principles of tradition, where he takes great pains in exorcising his music of "style," "irony" and "shock." Re-fitting it with a moral philosophy based on his personal idea of secular humanism with tangible elements of his own brand of spirituality. But he was still post-modern, because his fundamental was the blurring of multiple cultural identities. That's primarily why he rejected the term "Mystic minimalist."

Anton Bruckner, post-modern romatic composer

Other important post-modernists are John Adams; Grecki, Steve Reich, Luciano Berio, Steve Martland, Terry Riley. you can go on. What's also interesting is the other side of the street: the adaptation or reworking of Western classical norms by the populists, Bjrk, the Wu Tang Clan, Piazzolla, the Modern Jazz Quartet the effect is like having your favourite comic book character suddenly slipping into Chaucerian English. Nothing wrong with that.

Q: Do you think that post-modernism is unavoidable in the context of present day Sri Lankan culture?

A: Not at all, but I can only talk about what I am involved in. Let's take our film industry: it would be difficult to pinpoint full-blown post-modernism in it. We are still very much based in solid narrative structure and characterization; conventional elements still play a big part in suspending the audience's disbelief. The directors I work with, Prasanna (Vithanage), Boodee (Keerthisena) and Vimukthi (Jayasundara) have experimented successfully with nonlinear storytelling with the use of episodic and circular narratives, but if you ask them, I doubt they'll see any "Pulp Fiction" - like ode to post-modernism in any of their work. The influence of Parajanov, Robert Bresson, Tarkovsky, Lynch (without the irony), weigh heavy on our top auteurs, plus they are way too serious to be touched by post-modernism. They leave that to the guy who does the score! I know I am going to get called on this.

Q: How about our literature?

A: I don't read.

Q: Really? Even the scripts of the films you score?

A: I have them read to me, the interesting bits! Really, I am not an avid reader; and I have stopped reading for fun or inspiration. The reasons are complex. Currently, if you must know, I am on two books, re-reading Tartakower's hyper-modern chess, only because I need to maintain an edge over my 12-year-old daughter. The other, is a mind bending scholarly piece written by a friend of mine on the 4th movement fragment of Bruckner's 9th. It's an obligation, and it might as well be in Braille. Not fun.

Q: Bruckner is a composer that you have brought up frequently in previous interviews, why?

A: Well. This is personal, but musically to me, at this point in my life, a late Bruckner symphony represents the culmination of everything I think music can be. A Celibidache or Furtwangler performance of, let's say the 8th; have done things to me that no other music has been able to. The unnerving contradictory combination of deeply felt spiritualism, hidden in a possible web of mystic code, with the almost demonically inspired apocalyptic eruptions, are some of the obvious elements that make Bruckner's music overwhelming. To me, the coda of the 8th symphony's finale is like this metaphorical altar, and in the right hands, at the right moment, it almost demands from the listener some sort of subconscious genuflection. It is a hugely cathartic experience, and I am not alone in saying this. The journey has not been easy though, starting from an early 80's performance of the 4th conducted by my brother at Carnegie Hall; it took me decades to actually begin to like the music. Celibidache, probably the greatest Brucknerian in our lifetime, to make matters worse, confounding us eager students further, said that you had to approach the score with an alchemist's intuition. I am no closer to figuring that one out, twenty-odd years in.

Q: Will we hear the Chamber Music Society perform Bruckner in the near future?

A: We could do his string quintet in F, but we need to find a proper context. I would be very interested in the Chamber Music Society programming a concert, where we present the Bruckner 3rd symphony transcription for two pianos by Gustav Mahler, no less. 2010-2011 being the Mahler centenary, I think it makes a lot of sense. I know the Mahler Gesellschaft in Vienna will be interested in supporting it. Performing the symphonies of both Bruckner and Mahler is beyond us: the resources, and basic entry-point depth of intellect required, are gargantuan. You need a Merlin on the podium who can guide you through those mine-infested labyrinthine scores. Think on the lines of constructing the vast Parakrama Samudra with a couple of pickaxes and a goat. You'll end up hurting yourself.. It's futile.

Q: With the imminent arrival of the gleaming National Performing Arts Theatre, the first ever purpose-built stage for acoustic music, how do you think we should set about using it?

A: Massive question. In my department at the University of Visual and Performing Arts, we will submit a policy paper on how we think we can help define this magnificent building with distinctly Sri Lankan cultural and artistic values, positioning it in a way where it will have the potential for global appeal. That will be our primary objective. Important secondary objectives should be any cultural endeavour that is able to pass a basic benchmark of professionalism. Mediocrity, amateurism, cheesy middlebrow variety "shows" should be encouraged to perform elsewhere. Young Sri Lankans should know that they have to aspire and excel to perform on the main stage.

It should be known to all as the pinnacle of performing excellence, where you are sure the standards and content will always be high. Where you won't have the elite drummers and musicians of the Temple of the Tooth perform one day, and a school stage its earnest drama the next. The two cannot ever share the same platform. Unacceptable. Don't get me wrong; I'm all for kids and well-meaning dilettantes expressing their angst and having fun on stage, but this is the National Theatre. It does not happen at the Musikverein in Vienna, and it does not happen at the Esplanade in Singapore. Why should it happen here? The National Theatre should not be prostituted for money. For too long, we have tolerated mediocrity and indiscipline in the arts, we have blurred the distinction between passionate superficiality and basic competency making it difficult for our young performers to know where they actually stand on the global stage. It is up to the professional performers, the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage, to change this.

But you and I know, cynics at heart, that this discernment in content we talk about as a starting point for the resurgence of the performing arts in Sri Lanka is just wishful thinking. I can just see a person walk in with a grin and a five-lakh cheque to claim the main stage, believing for a moment that he is contributing to the ethos of a 2500-year-old civilization by presenting some corny drivel that would make people cringe.

I'm not being subjective here: what we are dealing with is bad art, using any yardstick. We have to look into ways of making the Theatre financially viable without undermining its cultural credibility. It's up-stream in a river of crap for the classical arts I tell you, and here I am making waves!

But we are not giving up, just starting really. We look at Sri Lankan cricket as an inspiration, where it was pre '96, and where it is today. There are many more Lasith Malingas out there, and I don't just mean in our cricketing world. We have a treasure trove of un-tapped young talent spread out across our country, seeking and nurturing them is paramount.

Having digressed, another important angle and one of my personal btes noires, is the subtle art of marketing culture. The people responsible for selling the arts in this town should maybe take a look at national performing arts complexes around the world, and know that there are certain ground rules in play. Let's start with the basics here. Strategies that work on a rugby field probably don't necessarily work in a concert hall. A typical member of an audience for a chamber music concert, is not going to be dazzled by some cheesy ad-campaign plastered and draped all over the auditorium. Discretion and subtlety is what works with that audience.

Legendary maestro Sergiu Celibidache

Now this should not be too difficult to figure out, but we see it happening too often. The same gaudy banners touting deals and discounts at a 'big' match are displayed at a concert featuring a requiem for the Buddha. The absence of fundamental refinement, style and sensitivity when it comes to supporting "high culture" is galling. All is not lost though; there are a few behemoth companies and formidable patrons in our midst that understand. Hopefully, they will form the all-important financial vanguard to Sri Lanka's modern renaissance in the arts.

Q: Do you think your opinionated stance could unfairly alienate some people?

A: You see, Ranga, this is what I am talking about. You are chastised for speaking out against the whole "mediocrity rules" state of affairs. You become unpopular for not toeing the art-as-entertainment/money-making line. I couldn't care less. The enormous disparity between "light" and "serious", "amateur" and "professional" is mostly felt in the Western cultural orbit, we are morally obliged to do something about that. Our esteemed colleagues in the Sinhalese and Tamil cultural spheres are way better organised, and the equilibrium between the "corny" and the "sophisticated" is much more defined and regulated.

Ultimately, all great cities are measured by their cultural pedigree, the museums, the concert halls, the libraries, the architecture, the content and possibly the cuisine. In our specialized niche, we will work towards bringing a balance to the Western cultural calendar. Where eventually, for every "musical" staged, you will have for instance, the counter balance of the State opera. For every theatrical farce, you will have a cerebral alternative. For every "variety show," you will have the antidote of a classical music concert, and hopefully, you will not have to debase these serious productions by having to throw in dinner or short-eats as an incentive for people to attend.

So how are we going to do this? We have to think long-term, high-test performance skills along with audience education to begin with. I belong to a small but potent group of zealous cultural crusaders - you too - whose mandate is unadulterated and focused. To launch this change, top-most on our agenda is to re-connect, in spirit at least, with our glorious past and, more tangibly, to use that consciousness as the bedrock to build on, to further set the stage, to set new artistic benchmarks for our future generations to exceed. The Government has given us, with the help of the Chinese, a tremendous platform, an instant icon; it is up to us to help define it.

Words of Wisdom

By K. Jayathilake

Translated by Indeewara Thilakarathne

Montage will carry extracts from the book 'Kudugoth Rachana' by K. Jayathilake. Translated by Indeewara Thilakarathne

Aesthetics
Giranduru Kotte,

There is a huge meadow before me. Beyond that is green forest line. Far above is a range of mountains covered with light grey. Above all, there is a golden band painted on heavenly clouds in the sky. Amidst all, there is the reflection of the sun which will plunge and disappear at any moment. The entire world is tranquil.

I look at this stunning view through dead branches of a tree. In order to enjoy the incomparable beauty of nature I step outside.

Where is that phenomenal aesthetic beauty?