Giving expressions to inexpressible craft

By Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.- Aldous Huxley (1894 - 1963), “Music at Night”, 1931

J. W. with Maestro Amaradeva Pix by Kosala Makulooluwa

Though famous as a singer, Jagath Wickremasinghe’s musical personality spread over the entire spectrum of music extending up to the atest state-of-the art digital recording art and specialised areas such as music arrangement and sound engineering. Being well versed in major traditions of music such as Hindustani and Western music, Jagath’s creations remain masterpieces in the application of music theory and diverse sources of music.

His mastery in several musical instruments such as the Tabla, Sitar, violin and flute has enabled him to perform as solo player as well as solo orchestra using the computer. A significant factor which made Jagath a successful sound engineer is his sharp listening skills.

His creations range from children’s songs to songs that are based on classical Hindustani music and Western music. He is privileged to have composed music for three generations of singers. In addition to composing music for songs, Jagath has composed music for teledramas, advertisements and documentaries.

A singular contribution that Jagath Wickremasinghe made to Sri Lankan music arena should be analysed against his backdrop of musical lineage, technical know-how and expertise in the modern sound recording, sampling and mixing as a pioneering Sri Lankan sound engineer.

Although he is known as a singer, Jagath’s musical personality goes beyond mere singing and spread over areas of composing, digital sound technology. Since he is well versed in Western and Eastern traditions of music, Jagath is one musician, who derives music motifs from diverse music sources.

Tonal range

A significant aspect of Jagath Wickremasinghe as a musician is that he is a musician with principles and it has been noticed that he had never compromised on his principles. An important attribute of Jagath is his unique voice. His voice ranges from six notes on the concert C (six above and six below). He is also capable of rendering his voice to songs with Western as well as Eastern music motifs. Jagath maintains his romantic voice in rendering it to songs irrespective of their sources of music. He also maintains a compulsory discipline in music although he is quite capable of breaking such barriers. Jagath is also not into gangsterism in art and works as an independent musician.

The song Chandakinaravee mahada apsarawee that Jagath rendered his voice to is a song with a complicated melody line. The song has a North Indian semi-classical base. Even from the lyrical perspective, the song stands out among Sinhala lyrics. Chandakinaravee mahada apsarawee, among other things, amply demonstrates Jagath’s talents and skills spread over diverse areas of music.

Technical versatility

While following his father’s footsteps and studying classical music, Jagath Wickremasinghe began to learn technical areas of music such as digital sound recording, mixing and sound management at a time when sound recording was done in large-scale studios. Jagath Wickremasinghe and musicians like Dilip Gabadamudalige are pioneers in sound recording in Home Studios.

At the time, Jagath Wickremasinghe entered the areas of digital recording art and sound engineering, the concept of Home Studios was quite new. Jagath is exceptionally talented in the area of music arrangement; particularly arrangement of music from diverse music sources. Jagath is one musician who is well aware of the norm in Sri Lanka in the use of Western music particularly in the domain of applied music. The norm is born out of the fusion of Western and Eastern music traditions.

Jagath represented Sri Lanka at ABU Golden Kite a music competition held in Kuala Lampur in Malaysia. Before he came into the limelight as a singer, Jagath played several musical instruments such as the Keyboard-and the Spanish guitar. In addition to playing instruments, he did music arrangements behind the screen. It could be surmised that his contribution to the technical arenas of music led to the drafting of digital laws.

Jagath has placed his signature on the domain of popular music always up lifting public taste. He has contributed to the creation of digital discourse in Sri Lankan music while exploring the hitherto unexplored territories fusing diverse traditions of music and deriving inspiration from different sources of music such as folk music, Western classical music and Hindustani music.

A unique feature of his creations and compositions of music is the wide range of applications, infusing different tone colours and daring experiments such as playing Murdagam beats on the Tabla using modern sound management techniques and the state- of-the art equipments.

Listening skills

Although one may argue that everyone who can listen should have listening skills, according to the aspects of musicology, listening skills is a special attribute which makes a person capable of identifying intricate sounds and sound systems. It is due to the listening skill that Jagath Wickremasinghe became a talented record engineer.

His creations

Jagath Wickramasinghe’s first song is Rantharakavo which is a valediction and music for the song was also composed by Jagath himself. Saman Geekulavarune, Lovtura Booduve, Yashodhara are devotional songs and Jagath has used minor scale for the songs. Jagath does not base his music compositions purely on Raga since songs would be identified with the prominent characteristics of the ragas it would base on. Therefore, he uses mixed Ragas, music codes and music motifs from diverse sources of music such as Western and Eastern music traditions.

For Yauvanaye Nandun Uyana, a youth programe on Rupavahini, four songs were composed for the porgrams; Sonduru Vanapeta Vundave (classical music motifs), Deshanjali Wickremasinghe , Poornima Wickramasinghe, Jagath and Samitha Mudunkoduva sang a song and the music for the song was composed by Jagath Wickremasinghe. The song is about a gem in Ratnapura.

Significantly, music for most of the songs that Jagath rendered his voice to, were composed by Jagath himself while for some of them, music arrangements and recording were also done by him.

Music compositions

Sohonkote oba tanivi hindina, Laila Laila are some of the songs based on Western music motifs. In the song Laila Laila , words Laila Laila were taken from a Japanese song which was sung by Japanese youth at ABU Golden Kite a music competition held in Malaysia. Jagath composed music for the song.

Music for the song Obse Sinalanga which is a soft romantic song is based on guitar. Song commences on a major scale and the second line is on minor scale.

Jagath has used major 7th scale for Avare Pipimalkakule. Jagath has used codes as well as classical Hindustani music. Jagath has so far created and rendered his voice to over thousand creations. Jagath appreciate Pundit Ameradeva’s shape and style of music.

Pandit Ameradeva’s style of music is similar to Pundit Palushkar’s style. Jagath also appreciates Gaous master’s music.

A couple of creations Jagath did with Dr. Praneeth Abhayaysundara were based on Hindustani classical music and for instance, Jagath has played Murdangam beats on the Tabla using computer. Jagath has also created over hundred children’s songs.

For the children’s songs, Jagath has used folk music sources and children’s song’s literature of the 1970s. Songs such as Peli Peli Attu Handi and Budu Sadu belonged to that era. Jagath has furthered that tradition. Jagath composed music for wide range of singers.

Jagath has composed music for some of the popular songs such as Adare Obagen himivedo, Ran tharakawan, Isuru Kodeve, Obsesina Langa, Laila Laila, Isuru kodewwe. Some of the musicians such as Sarath Dassanayake, Stanely Peries have also composed music for songs sung by Jagath Wickremasinghe.

As a performer, Jagath can function as solo performer or function as one-man player or one-man orchestra. Jagath has mastered music instruments such as the Tabla, the Sitar and the Violin and the flue. Jagath had the privilege of directing a well-experienced orchestra during a European tour in 1991 at the age of 25.

Jagath joined the troupe as a solo guitarist and director of music. The troupe was led by Pandit Ameradeva and was made up of veteran musicians such as D.D Gunasena, Tissa Siri Perera, Anthony Surendra and Wijeratne Ranatunga. Jagath directed 17 performances.

Musical lineage

One prominent factor of Jagath Wickremasinghe as a musician is that he hails from a musical family. His father L.K.J Wickremasinghe was a teacher of music and among his students was D.D Gunasena, a veteran musician and violinist. It is obvious that Jagath grew up in the environment dominated by music and allied activities at home. A fact which is noteworthy is that it was a time where all musicians were truly loved and dedicated themselves to learning, teaching and contributing to the field of music.

They also mastered the craft to the best of their abilities and always strived for excellence in their chosen areas of music.