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Sarada Sangeeth Sanghitha, a classical music
performance at the Elphinstone theatre on March 28:
Anil Mihiripenna - Sri Lanka's leading flautist cum esraj player
Ruwini Jayawardana
 The urge to make music is very ancient. Its origin is almost
certainly older than painting, sculpture, drama, poetry or any other
means man has found for expressing his thoughts and feelings. It evolved
from the Classical period,1750 to 1820. A distinct feature of this form
of music is its simple, clear tunes, balanced themes and defined
harmony. The beauty of Classical music lies in its tuneful elegance.
Anil Mihiripenna is one of the foremost classical musicians in the
world who had excelled in the esraj and flute.
He had held many an audience captive with his versatility, through
the haunting notes escaping from his flute and esraj. Mihiripenna
graduated from the Vishva Bharati University in India, better known as
Shantiniketan. He learnt to play the esraj under Maestro Ashish Chandra
Benerji, flute from Pandit Gowr Goswami and vocal from Pandith Jamini
Kantha Chakrawarthi.
The inspiring musician had toured many countries like USA, Hong Kong,
Taiwan, Singapore and India. He had composed music for several ballets,
documentary films and feature films. His exceptional talents in music
had earned him recognition as Sri Lanka's leading flautist cum esraj
player.
He founded Sharada Kala Nikethanaya, an institution that propagates
Oriental Classical music among the society in Sri Lanka. The institution
will be marking its 25th anniversary with Sarada Sangeeth Sanghitha, a
classical music performance at the Elphinstone theatre on March 28 at 6
p.m. Alok Prasad, the High Commissioner of India will be the Chief Guest
at the event.
 The show is open to public and participants will be treated to a
variety of Classical and Semi-classical pieces as well as vocal and
instrumental musical items. Three orchestras will take part in the
performances and one of them will be purely made up of Tabla, Udana,
Ketaka Mahima.
The concert will open with a song composed in Sanskrit titled Hansa
Vahini. This item will be followed by a pure classical item, Khyal
(imagination) and Tharana.
The members of the staff will take part in a Gassel song set in Urdu.
The students will join in the item with Kathak and Bharata Natyam
performances, the devotional dances attributed to god.
The height of the event will be the orchestration by Mihiripenna on
Ramya, Suramya and Subha, the theme evolving from the three places built
for prince Siddhartha by his father, King Suddodana. It is the first
time, perhaps, in the world that a composition had been based on this
aspect.
Legend reveals that these three luxurious palaces were built as the
dwelling place for the prince for the summer, winter and the rainy
seasons. Ramya composes of soothing music while Suramya and Subha differ
in music to signify the varying characteristics of the seasons.
Rag Mal Kaunse had been used to signify the summer followed by a
style of music which is different from Rag. Mihiripenna had included
Ragas such as Meg Maihar which has a strong link with the rainy season
signifying the fact that the habitants of the palace dedicated to that
season should not feel the impact of the season. |
