Bach's music on Sitar
Reflections on the concert to mark the 50th
anniversary of Goethe Institute:
Indeewara Thilakarathne and Ranga Chandrarathne
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Pradeep Ratnayake on sitar, Ramon Jaffe on cello
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The concert held at the Colombo International School Auditorium to
mark the 50th anniversary of the Goethe Institute will be remembered not
only as a milestone in the annals of cultural ties between Sri Lanka and
Germany but also as one of the rare occasions where a new leaf of fusion
music in Sri Lanka was turned.
The musicians who took the stage that day were Pradeep Ratnayake on
sitar, Ramon Jaffe on cello and Ramya de Livera Perera on piano. They
played Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and compositions by Pradep Ratnayake.
Pradeep Ratnayake is no stranger to the Sri Lankan music scene. Ramya
de Livera Perera is also well known as an excellent pianist. The new
musician to make an appearance in Colombo, Ramon Jaffe, is a
world-renowned cellist, whose participation at this concert, took fusion
music to new heights.
His solo career, which had commenced during his studies, had led him
to the prestigious concert houses of Berlin, Leipzig, Amsterdam, Vienna,
Munich, London, and Cologne to name a few.
While doing this, he devoted himself to chamber music as a member of
the string trio Belcanto Strings and the Mendelssohn Trio Berlin. Ramon
Jaffe currently teaches at the Carl Maria von Weber Music College in
Dresden.
Although the German composer John Sebastian Bach's music is being
played at diverse venues, perhaps, it had been the first time his
celebrated piece: Concerto for Two Violins was played on Sitar, an
instrument the composer would never have dreamt of being used for his
piece, and the cello. According to music researchers, the compositions
of the Baroque Period can be played on any instrument.
 Though it is one of the difficult pieces, Pradeep played it with his
inimitable style and the performance was ably supported by cello and
piano. Playing a piece of music by Western classical composers on Sitar
is a gigantic task since the range of note demanded by the piece is well
beyond the confines of Indian classical instrument Sitar.
As it is an entirely different range, frets of the Sitar have to be
changed within few seconds. Given the sheer length of the fret-board on
Sitar, the movements of hands from a low note to a higher one is also
lengthier than in Violin and Cello with short fret-boards.
In Sitar, in order to move on to a low note, it is necessary to
change the string as low notes are found on the second string. By and
large, Sitar is played on the first string. However, in this particular
performance Pradeep used three strings on Sitar to capture the subtle
notes of the original creation. It is a plain truth that one should be
well versed in both Eastern and Western music traditions to play such a
difficult piece on Sitar.
Apart from the premier performance of Concerto for Two Violins, it
was also probably the first time that a German musician played the Cello
with the Sitar. Visiting musician Ramon Jaffe played the Sri Lankan
pieces with much confidence and skill having rehearsed it all with much
dedication beforehand.
The creation based on Kuveni Asna was marked by sheer fusion of
Eastern and the Western music traditions as Ramon played cello with a
Sri Lankan percussion instrument. It is also significant that each
instrument played a solo. The techniques used in playing these
instruments are different.
For instance, Ramon played cello according to Western techniques
while the Sitar and Kandyan drums were played with techniques unique to
them. Though it is a fusion of diverse traditions and techniques, the
end result carries a distinct Sri Lankan signature.
The piece "Spring "by Pradeep Ratnayake with Sitar, Cello and Tabla
is one of the remarkable pieces of the concert. Significantly, it is for
the first time an Indian classical raga was used with the cello, for a
fusion.
This creation is based on Indian classical Raga Bahar which recreates
a happy mood. The combination of the instruments Sitar, Cello and Tabla
is unique as well as the solo pieces that they played in the
performance. It can be aptly termed as a fusion of three identities to
form a Sri Lankan identity as diverse colours in the spectrum form
immaculate white.
The playing of the Raga Bahar was in the evening. However, this is
not applicable to Bahar when it is played in the rainy season.
Pradeep, Ramya Perera and Ramon Jaffe all also played soli.
Spring Song by Mendelssohn was also played for the first time on
Sitar and Piano. This fusion was peerless as the original piece. The
last creation based on Thuranga Wannama was a novel experience,
especially for visiting Ramon Jaffe as it is based on five-beat rhythms,
as Western musicians rarely come across such rhythms. The concert was a
fitting tribute to longstanding diplomatic and cultural ties between Sri
Lanka and Germany.
Perhaps, the concert was unique on many accounts. It was one of the
rare moments where two traditions fused in a remarkable concert to
celebrate the cultural ties of Germany and Sri Lanka.
However, apart from its significance as a fifth celebration of the
German cultural institute, one of the striking features of the concert
was its manifest diversity in fusion.
Unlike in the traditional fusion music, all pieces of the concert
were rehearsed before being performed on stage. Another significant
aspect was each instrument played in the concert a played a specific
role in the composition.
It is kind of a solo that each instrument plays and summation of
which is the fusion. At no point the individual instruments play as
accompanying instruments in a traditional ensemble.
However, Pradeep has made sure that fusion carries a distinctive Sri
Lankan signature.
Although Sitar is considered as an instrument steep in North Indian
classical music, the Sitar at Pradeep's hand changes its identity and
assumes a Sri Lankan identity which is distinguishable at any orchestra.
It is this unique feature that has been continued throughout Pradeep's "Pradeepanjalee"
series of concerts.
Ramon Jaffe, world renowned German musician who played with Pradeep
at the concert is a chamber musician who has held a series of successful
concerts in major European concert houses, like Berlin, Vienna,
Amsterdam, London and St. Petersburg.
He is passionately engaged in Flameno music. Ramon has his own
international chamber music festival in Tirol, Austria. His forte is
chamber music and also a member of the String trio Belcanto Strings and
the Mendelssohn Trio Berlin.
This concert would be a novel experience for Ramon as he played not
only his forte but also Sri Lankan composition on Cello which would have
been a challenge for an ordinary Western musician but not for Ramon who
played Sri Lankan composition with facility.
The fifth anniversary concert will be remembered as one of the
defining moments in the arena of Sri Lankan music. It is also an
occasion where two distinct music traditions fused.
All the members of the Pradeep Ratnayake ensemble should be commended
for their individual roles played in the concert which add colour and
different shades to the spectrum.
When I left the air-conditioned auditorium of the Colombo
International School what stuck me was the phenomenal success of the
concert and the end of a memorable encounter with two remarkable
musicians which was amply demonstrated by the on-the spot commentaries
and immediate reactions by the audience and the majority who left the
auditorium with wetted eyes. |
