Murder most foul of music and melody!

Pundit Dr. W. D. Amaradeva is a living music legend who translated the vision of music into actuality and reality. His creations provided musico-therapy to the depressed mind.

The vibrant Victor Ratnayaka, though not a Visharada composed nationalistic music to prove what was musicology. The voice of Visharada Nanda Malini, the 'Princess of Local Melody', offered a smart partnership quite harmonious in vocals. She has progressed into more complexed textures in her career.

Nanda Malini	Pundit W.D. Amaradeva	Victor Ratnayaka

For decades they sing enlivening complex lives of music lovers. And those compositions certainly possess a dynamic interaction. That is a part of the phenomenon of human life and culture.

A nation cannot be full in the absence of music... and it means decent music, lyrics and melody. That is a particle of the freedom of the soul. Unfortunately, in this era of high technology, violent crimes are inflicted on valuable musical compositions of our legends.

Today, vulgar music has taken centre stage. Well, such criminology began from a social ill from the West called 'rapping'. In reality, it was nothing but raping of a beautiful composition of another.

Now it has reached the climax of 'prostitution' with vulgar musicians changing lyrics and music of fine creations of yesteryear on so called 'non-stop' productions of audio cassettes and compact discs.

The private electronic media and FM channels add insult to injury by entertaining and accommodating such anti-cultural material for broadcast.

The culture of those vulgar productions is pernicious. It is nothing but pretentious, preposterous hooliganism in the true sense of life in a civilized society.

Those pig-ignorant self proclaimed musicians or singers, or Piss artistes as they could be labelled for the immense damage caused to national creations, tend to suffer from an epidemic similar to brain fever.

They do not deserve plaudits in any decent electronic media in a democracy, as vulgarity should not be allowed to erode the cultural values of a country. The production of indecent 'non-stop' audios or videos have become a non-stop menace today.

Pundit Amaradeva, a national asset is a Magsaysay award winner. His contribution to the Sinhala music industry stands unparalleled.

A private FM channel in a broadcast of a 'non-stop' cassette of a vulture music group recently allowed the perpetrators to kill the heart rending melodious composition of Amaradeva popularly known as Shantha mey raa yaame in the following vulgarised lyrics; Shantha mey raa beela, hondata vadila miniha... gama natavai pissa' (Shantha drunk this night, full intoxicated and makes the village dance). In the same 'non-stop' the vulgar singers destroyed Victor Ratnayaka's glorious rendition, Api Okkoma Rajawaru to sing Api Okkoma Kello, Okkoma Kollo, Ape Somi Loke Gajamithuro, (We all girls and all boys are best of pals in our fantasy world). No wonder Victor Ratnayaka says he want to quit the music scene in the face of today's hooliganism in music.

That was not all in that shameful 'non-stop'. Nanda Malini's loveable song, Mandanawa, Karanawa was raped as, Mandanawa Karanawa Kiya Denna, Enna Yanna, Mage Anda Paalui Lamayo (Let's go on this excursion, the reason is my that bed is empty). Nanda Malini would shed tears if she ever heard those filthy lyrics to such a melody of harmony.

Not stopping at that, the vultures of music proceeded to insult the legendary H. R. Jothipala, the man who sang vibrantly to the lumpun class in towns. Jothipala's ever green hit, Oba Nidanna, was vulgarized to - Oba nidanna, oba nidanna mage ande sathapila, ona suwaya mama dennam, obe rasa bala (Sleep, sleep on my bed, I shall give you comfort while tasting you).

Musicians from the time of H. W. Rupasinghe Master to Sunil Santha, Amaradeva to Premasiri Khemadasa, Victor Ratnayaka to Sanath Nandasiri, Rohana Weerasinghe to Edward Jayakody in the oriental and classical style contributed immensely to build a Sinhala music industry.

We had the Sinhala calypso style from the late Neville Fernando and the advancement to Sinhala pop by the late Clarence Wijewardene, who introduced the electric guitar into Sinhala music. They all upheld discipline, decorum and pride in their compositions and those pastoral themes were never detrimental to the interests of the society.

They touched the hearts of a generation to emerge into a kind of national consciousness.

The vital question before us is - Who is responsible for the country's art, culture and music? If there is a Public Performance Board for films, why not a Censor Board to combat this menace of prostituted cassette/video material? This country owes much to legends like Rupasinghe Master, Sunil Santha, Rukmani Devi, C. T. Fernando, M. S. Fernando, Mohideen Baig, Dharmadasa and Latha Walpola, Amaradeva, Jothipala, Victor Ratnayaka, Sanath Nandasiri, Nanda Malini, Neville Fernando, Nimal Mendis, Clarence Wijewardene and Milton Mallawarachchi to name a few.

They were truly path breakers in the sphere of music. Their adventures in music formed a saga of their own.

The vultures who have taken the centre stage of music are 'music terrorists' in the true rythmn of the musical cord.These Bohemian styled bog-standard music burglars of Byzantine complexity are brutish men who corrode confidence in the national music of excellence.

The decadence of a modern Western society should not be allowed to haunt the civilized sense of pitch in music, of a literate country like Sri Lanka.

The promoters of our culture now must rush to safeguard the quality of national music and declaim against music vultures who destroy creations of legendary musicians of this country.

Because, music of a proud nation, is a decorous, decorative and a disciplined art of life.