Master and his music
 

by Prof.Sunanda Mahendra

“To be honest I never had the opportunity of following or experiencing any authentic school of music where precedence had been created to build up a better standard of a local music culture, which was actually clouded with pseudo imitations of Hindi melodies and churning out of many a gramaphone record based on the same samples and blindly following the beaten track set by the imitative musicians of the time over the years. So I had to find the type of music that suits the cultural conditions of our time with much difficulty.”

Dr Premasiri Khemadasa, the music maestro who had been ailing for some time but rises up to air his views over the television channels and radio channels.

He came out with these words in an ITN television programme “tun kalhi miyasi yatrikaya”.

“How did you become a musician?” I asked him for which the initial response was a sarcastic smile followed by a series of reminiscences and recollections.

“That is something strange. I was interested in some of the happenings around me. I knew the nature closer to my life as a penetrative living force that mattered much above anything else. I knew the sound of the sea. I knew the professions connected with that living structure. I could play several musical instruments especially the flute that I enjoyed so much and pleased others as well. I could make some fine melodies out of it.

Then came the meeting of people belonging to various walks of life especially the down-trodden with their lamentations and the frustrations. I found the rhythm of the life in our folk as well as others. What else? I began to listen to various classical music at home and abroad.

“Bethovan, Mozart and several other masters were familiar unseen friends who inspired me and did not leave my premises. I had to devote more and more time and energy on this ocean like subject unfathomable. I went on searching for more and more inspiration. I was never tired and I don’t feel tired even now in this search. This presumably was the force that drove me to the nuances of music that should appropriately be expressed through what I deemed as the pulse of the people.”

“Did you not have any ancestral linkages with a music heritage?”

“I don’t know what it means to me. I am not too sure of any paternal or maternal influences on my career.”

“Perhaps this means you were your own Guru?”

“I am not even sure of that but may it be said in good honour that some of the people whom I associated in the urban sector like the learned left wing politicians and political thinkers and social reformers inspired my search for a creative musical career both in the capacity of a conductor and a melody maker.

Unlike most politicians of today those who inspired me possessed a musical sense which they cultivated by listening to great classical masters all around the world. This was really great on their part and I cannot forget how some of the politicians like Peter Keunaman and Dr N.M. Perera even allowed their residential premises for some of our experimental works.”

“Once you told me if I remember right that you go to the distant past sometimes to gain inspiration for your musical creations can you explain it further?”

“Yes in one of the SLRC television programmes I told you that we got to go back sometimes to the distant past to observe how folk rhythms have been utilised in the rituals and other forms of folk events where the collective action over pervades the individualistic stream. One good example is the kankariya where the elements of harmony are observed which could be utilised in modern terms, but should not be misunderstood as the only method.

But the underlying factor that should be underlined is the refinement and rediscovery in terms of modern music, which is by no means a narrow pedantic exercise.”

As a film music director, Dr Khemadasa’s starting point in the use of this aspect is observable in the Sinhala film “Sansuma Kotanada” where a definitive change was brought about especially in the last song, “Sansara gamane tanha asa” where lyrics were written by the late journalist Dharmasiri Gamage, sung by Pandit Amaradeva, a welcome variant to the stereotype of lamentation sung by others prior to this venture.

The trend developed and culminated gradually over the years in such films as “Bambaru avit”, “Goluhadavata”, “Hansa vilak” and today in “Guerilla Marketing”.

“Tell me something about the manner in which you set about your creative process of music in theatre and films?

“Initially I try my best to gauge what the film or the drama is about via a chat with the director concerned [you may use the term “reading the mind of the director” in this context].

It takes time for me to see the work concerned. Then I write in my mind where exactly the music suits and keep on concentrating over a period of time depending on the time schedule given to me. Then I get up during the early hours of the morning and set about my function undisturbed from other day to day activities.

All I want is to catch the living rhythm in the work entrusted to me and express it musically elevating the work to a better aesthetic plane. Sometimes it so happens that some directors come to see me when they have exhausted all their funds on other matters leaving a minor amount for the musical score.

“This becomes a problem when the cost benefits are calculated as I have to look after my members of the orchestra, the singers and sound recordists. I don’t believe in slipshod work. When people fail to work with me, they have to leave me, but those who remain with me have to be looked after well. But I have to listen to their grievances as well.

Several film and theatre directors say that Dr Khemadasa is the only musician who stood the test of time understanding the needs and sensibilities of all generations [seniors and juniors, the old and the young] from the earliest formative stages to the most matured modern era of his creative communication.

Comments: sunandamahendra@hotmail.com

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