Maestro Amaradeva turns 80
Ranga Chandrarathne
 Perhaps, there is no other musician or vocalist that shaped the
nature of contemporary Sri Lankan music than maestro W.D. Amaradeva who
celebrates his 80th birthday today. His contribution to the music scene
in Sri Lanka has spanned over five decades.
It was Amaradeva who salvaged Sri Lankan music from the corruptive
influence of cheap Indian film music and copied Hindi notations. He
rendered much-needed tone and signature to his melodious songs which
have now become part of the national heritage.
One of the salient characteristics of his music and tone is that it
is truly Sri Lankan though he himself derived inspiration from
Hindustani classical tradition. His contribution to play-back songs is
legendary.
For instance, it is no secret that the theme song of Siri
Gunasinghe's seminal work "Sathsamudura" is so inseparably linked to the
film that the name Sathsamudura always evokes the melodious and deep
voice of the maestro.
At an early stage of his career, Amaradeva had the fortune of working
with legendary lyricists of the era. Lyricists like Mahagama Sekera,
Chandraratna Manavasinghe, Madavala Ratnayaka, Arisen Ahubudu, Dalton
Alwis and Wimal Abhayasundara were the most gifted lyricists of that
era. The elegant and poetical lyrics were further beautified as
Amaradeva rendered his melodious voice to them.
According to Ajith Samaranayake, Amaradeva's intellectual life was
dominated by a rich assortment of friends and artistes including
intellectual giants such as Ananda Samarakoon, Sunil Shantha, Vasantha
Kumara, Premakumara, Panibharatha and Sesha Palihakkara.
They used to meet at Chitrasena's studio at Kollupitiya which
provided them with a cultural ashram.
The zenith of Amaradeva's achievement during this period is
considered the music he composed for Premakumara Epitawela's 'Selalihini
Sandesaya' where he was able to render a novel interpretation to the
traditional 'samudragosha' metre in which much of classical Sinhala
poetry has been written and a novel style in poetry recitation.
Maestro Amaradeva belongs to a rare group of practitioners who were
able to bridge the gap between academic excellence and outstanding
success on popular stage or on media.
Although he is steeped in the classical Hindustani music, Amaradeva
is conversant with divers traditions of music, both Western and
occidental and also with folk music. At an early stage of his career, he
composed music for his own songs. However, subsequently he sang the
songs whose melodies were composed by other musicians.
His contribution as a musician to uplift the public taste includes a
series of programmes he conducted over the national radio under the
titles Madhuvanti, Rasamiyuru, Vijayageetha and Swarnawarna. He also
conducted a series of TV programmes Gi Ama Bindu, Gisaraniya, Sanka
Padma and Sangeetha Makaranda.
The music he composed for Ediriweeera Sarachchandra's Buddhist plays
(Vessantara, Lomahamsa, and Bavakadaturava) makes up of his music
legacy. Amaradeva's music is appreciated by not only audiences in Sri
Lanka but international as well. Expatriate Sinhala communities in
diverse parts of the world are highly appreciative of his songs for the
singular reason that they carry the authentic Sri Lankan signature.
However, it should be stated here that though his songs evoke
patriotic feelings, they are certainly not categorized into philistine
chauvinism that are sometimes associated with the words 'indigenousness
and national signature'.
As he is conversant with diverse traditions of music, he experiments
with Western music. His experiments and other innovations include using
techniques in Western music such as harmonies and counterharmonies for
his creations. In addition, he also derives inspiration from South
Indian and Tamil musical forms. He composed music for ballet, films,
theatre, radio and television.
In recognition of his immense contribution to Sri Lankan arena of
music, he has been presented with many prestigious awards including
Padma Shri award which was presented to him on India's Republic Day and
Ramon Magsaysay award.
His voice, by and large, reflects the spirit of the nation. Amaradeva
rendered his tutored voice to many songs that have reverberated in the
heart and mind of thousands of Sri Lankans for years to come.
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