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by Dharshini Seneviratne

If there is one recent Sri Lankan CD that has not received the accolades it deserves, it is Pradeep Ratnayake's Indrakeelaya (The Unshaken), more than one hour of fascinating sitar fusions connecting a myriad musical traditions from both within Sri Lanka and the West.

For those who appreciate the unshackled creativity of sitar fusion, this is the CD they have been waiting for. A clear maturing from his first CD of popular Sinhala music in instrumental form, Sitar Gee Rava, his new CD will prove to be a work of mastery, even to those non-connoisseurs of music. In the five pieces in the CD, performed in the several Pradeepanjali concerts held during the past few years, Pradeep revokes his brilliance both in composition and performance. His by now well-known honour of being the student who had received the highest marks ever awarded to a graduating student at the time of his graduation from the prestigious Shanthinikethan School of Fine Arts in India is indeed a stamp of accredition he truly deserves.

Indrakeelaya brings together not only the various musical styles, but the diversity of musical talents available in Sri Lanka both in the Eastern and Western music scenes. The more well-known artistes among them include Ravibandhu Vidyadipathi of Kohl, Pakwaj, and Kandyan and Congo drums, Harsha Makalanda on piano, Lakshman Joseph de Saram on violin and Lalanath de Silva on flute.

It is a mix of traditional sitar ragas, folk strains, religious hymns, jazz improvisations, rock renditions and many more in the tradition of World Music that even those such as Ravi Shankar and the more modern diaspora artists such as Ashwin Bhatish pay tribute to. And the renditions carry the brilliance and energy that was the hallmark of all the Pradeepanjali concerts so far. All the music has been composed by Pradeep himself.

The main piece in the CD, Indrakeelaya (Tone poem) was composed to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the Central Bank building, a symbol to those in the South of Sri Lanka, of the chaos of ethnic conflict. The Central Bank building was destroyed by an LTTE bomb blast in the nineties, and its reconstruction became, to the Sinhala South, the epitome of hope for a final peace in the island. (The very meaning of Indrakeelaya itself - 'The Unshaken' - refers to an unshakable post or column with divine powers in Buddhist and Hindu systems of beliefs, usually placed at the entrance to cities or important buildings.)

The grand sweep of the ambitious piece is overwhelming. Pradeep creates through tone and melody the moods of those inevitable stages of conflict - peace, conflict, lamentation and hope through the expressive assimilation of dozens of musical hues to be found in the island and Indian sub-continent - be it Buddhist chants, Christian hymns, the sound of Om, Indian chants, Western choral voices, North Indian strains, Sri Lankan drums, Western drums, Indian percussion, orchestral strings or Western rock.

One only wishes that the 30-minute long Indrakeelaya's four movements were segmented in the CD so that listeners could more easily distinguish the tones that relate to the discrete expression of the states of peace, conflict, lamentation and hope.

The rest of the CD is equally enthralling. Memories is an unwinding of sitar, flute, cello, double bass, and the Indian percussion instruments kohl, mridangam, tabla and ghatam in pursuit of the expression of the pain, joy, and cascading emotions that memories bring with them. It begins with the gently lulling movements of the flute, sitar and other string instruments to gradually build up to brilliant heights accompanied by the percussion. Eastern Blues combines jazz and sitar, both akin in spirit in their inclination to improvise, express and unshackle the limits of conventional musical composition. It contains sitar, piano, bass guitar and acoustic drums and contains a dazzling climax at the end. Roots is an improvisation of folk melodies in Sri Lanka, containing Arabic strains in the larger framework of an Indian folk tune.

Wind, perhaps the most invigorating piece in the CD, captures in its energy the speed and power of the wind with sitar, piano and the enthralling percussion provided by the pakwaj, mridangam and ghatam. Its unending melodies and strong percussion makes for a particularly high point in the CD.

The CD, priced at Rs. 1,000 is available at the Central Bank (Rajagiriya branch), and the DFCC, Colombo branch. It would be a worthy investment for an amazing work.

(The Unshaken), Eastern Recordings (Augie Studio)

Produced by the DFCC Bank and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka

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