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| Thursday, 30 September 2004 |
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Claude Debussy, his music inspired by impressionism The World of Arts by Gwen Herat Debussy's father ran a Chinashop at the time of his birth and both his parents had to work hard to keep the family going. But the young Debussy had dreams. He wanted to be a pianist which his parents could not afford. When his dreams fell apart, his god parents who were very wealthy, took him under their wings because his father was imprisoned for a political offence.
When he was nine he had the opportunity to study the piano under Madam Manute, who was a disciple of Chopin and a year later, he enroled at the Paris Conservatoire. Though he displayed some virtuoso qualities, he was a disappointment to his teacher, Antonine Marmontel. Debussy left alone to ponder his future, began to compose songs and short instrumental pieces by the time he was fifteen. In a dramatic turn of events, Debussy in the summer of 1880, was engaged as a pianist and companion by Nadezhdu von Mack who was writing a piano trio and other music at that time. She was a wealthy patroness and companion to Tchaikovsky. She showed his works to him but he was very critical of his form. Disappointed though, he enroled at the composition class of Ernest Guinad of the Conservatoire. In the following years he displayed such magnitude that he easily won the prestigious Prix de Rome. The award gave him the opportunity to reside in Rome and deemed him to compose works and submit them to the French Academic des Beaux Arts. Although he met and played for Liszt who introduced him to sacred music, Debussy was an unhappy man during his sojourn at the Villa Medic from 1885-1887. He was involved with a singer named Blanche Vasunier who had performed for him whom he loved and disliked being separated from her. He also came under criticism of his orchestral printemps in 1887 for its vague impressions. That same year he returned to his parents home in Paris and a year later came under the spell of wagner who enthraled him. He began a relationship with Gabriella Dupont which lasted a couple of years and ended on a bad note. In 1897 she attempted suicide and two years later Debussy married a beautiful model named Lily Texier who was a good friend of Dupont. In the years that followed he soared high with his compositions such as his String Quartets and the Prelude. He became wealthy with the production of Pelleas et Melisande in April 1902. After settling down for some time, he started wandering again from woman to woman that prompted Lily Texier to commit suicide just like Dupont and the news of this scandal damaged his reputation.
Though under stress, became interested in Madam Bardac's money. Both obtained their divorces in 1905 and their daughter, Claude-Emma Debussy was born on 30 October, a fortnight after his orchestral triprich La Met was debutted. They married in January 1908 and in the following year, his health started deteriorating. He was diagnosed as suffering from renal cancer and he never recovered from it. With the outbreak of war in 1914, the country was plunged into suffering which distressed him greatly. He died on 25 March, 1918, to the strains of his own works, Musician Francais and his daughter announced he looked happy in death. Debussy was highly motivated by impressionist painters and as a composer had links with painters from Turner to Monet. He often admitted being influenced by Monet whose water colour paintings visualised many of his piano pieces such as Reflects Dans L'eau. The mystery found in poems painted by some of the impressionists caused to compose Pelleas et Melisacde. Debussy declared that music has this over painting that it can bring
together all manners of variations and colours as well as light. By
following his instinct and what he calls his 'ear' he brought to music a
unique world of sensibility. This applied not only to harmonies, rhythms
and texture in his piano and orchestral notes but also to the acute
response of his inner feelings. Mignonne wins award Mignonne Fernando has been known by many titles - "Miss Music"; "Sri Lanka's Ambassadress of Song"; "Sri Lanka's Nightingale" and "Sri Lanka's Living Legend in the Music Industry". Her credits read like an encyclopedic printout of the major musical industry. She is a singer, composes and writes her own music. She is an all-rounder in the field of music and showbiz!
Her academic qualifications on the music scene will surprise you. Today a pop star is usually one who has gained publicity and fans on the strength of gimmicks. Mignoone Fernando has won the All Island Schools Public Speaking Contests; holds Degrees in Speech and Drama (LTCL, London) and Music (ATCL - Trinity College of London) and was voted "Best Female Vocalist" in a 'Ceylon Observer Pop Poll Contest' in 1969 and "Most Outstanding Female Vocalist' in a Pop Poll Contest. Her successful debut in Song Festivals abroad was just the beginning and awards showered her from festival to festival. She hit the international world of entertainment singing her way through India, Singapore, Greece, Poland, Yugoslavia, Thailand, Honolulu, the Philippines and Hongkong. And now Mignonne has been conferred with the 'Zonta Woman of Achievement Award 2004 for Creative and Performing Arts" by the Zonta Club 1 of Colombo. The award was presented to Mignonne by Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapakse at a glittering ceremony held at the Colombo Plaza recently. At the end of the ceremony Mignonne sang her own composition 'Proud to be Sri Lankan', which not only brought a tear to many of those present but also saw her receiving a standing ovation from the audience. Mignonne is the only artiste so far in the history of the World Popular Song Festival organised by Yamaha Foundation for Music Education which is held every year at the famous Buddhokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan to have been selected for three consecutive years. She won an Embassy Award in 1971 for her rendition of her own composition "Love Don't Let Me Down" and in 1972 won the Matsushita Award as composer and a special Jury Members Prize as Performer at the same festival. These are only some of the many international awards that Mignonne has won so far, thus bringing fame not only to herself but to Sri Lanka as well. - Bryan Nicholas 'Kathaa Karana Violeenaya' 'K atha Karana Violeenaya' written by the students of Methodist College is Directed by Namal Jayasingha. The original music score for this production was composed by award winning musician Kasun Kalhara Jayawardena.
'Katha Karana Violeenaya' is an original play devised through workshops conducted with the students of Methodist College over a series of months. The process began in May with about 30 students meeting regularly with Namal Jayasingha and Ruwanthie de Chickera to develop a play from concept to final product. Different aspects or scenes of the play were developed through improvisations or discussions. In this manner, about 30 different versions of the play-to-be were collated by Namal Jayasingha, who then put all these ideas together - literally line by line and sometimes even word by word. The final product can be called a true collaborative effort by 30 students. About the play 'Kathaa Karana Violeenaya' is a play which revolves around a girls' school hostel. A new student, when admitted, makes friends with her room mates, but is most intrigued by one girl - Kaavya - who says nothing at all. On inquiring about her, she finds out that Kaavya can, in fact, speak. But she refuses to. All she does is play her violin. Her room mates have come to accept her silence. A few days later the students struggle with a project that they have to complete. They are required to write about a Woman Character from history that they admire. As the girls discuss the different women characters that they admire, they discover that all these women, had at some point, fallen silent. These silences stir up the girls' interest in the silence of their own room mate. From the fragmented information that they each have, they imagine the possible reasons for her silence. As they each spin their different theories, the lives of the Women Characters from History unfold before our eyes. The play 'Kathaa Karana Violeenaya' is the story of a group of young women who try to understand the silences of women - both historical and current. The end product cannot be distinguished from its process; for writing the play itself, was an exploration by a group of young women of these very issues. Just as the writers strove to understand the inevitability of silence, so too, the characters of the play grapple with these questions in front of the audience. Kathaa Karana Violeenaya' is a bold, sensitive, but most importantly, sincere attempt of young women of today to connect with women characters of the past, which in turn throws light on issues of the present. While it deals with a serious topic, the play also reflects the playful personalities of the young girls in the hostel. It is a mix of song, dance, dreams, jokes, soul searching and hard questions. About the Director Namal Jayasingha is a well known playwright and actor of the stage and silver screen. His plays include Kaamarayai Obai Mamai ('a room, you and me'), and 'Filling the Blanks' a bilingual play which he co-authored and which was performed as part of the Cultural Festival of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002. He has also choreographed and designed many shows - most recently, 'A
Poet a Puppet and Pappadam' and Hyna was performed in New Delhi. He is
also one of the main actors in the award winning film Ira Madiyama by
Prasanna Vithanage. |
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Produced by Lake House |
The show will go on boards on October 2 at the Methodist College
Auditorium, at 7.00 p.m. There will be a special school show on Friday,
October 1 at 11 a.m. for school children only. Tickets are available in
the school office.
