Sunila Vila: a glowing tribute to a virtuoso

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

Renowned vocalist Sunil Edirisinghe held his song concert at the Nelum Pokuna a few months back. Pushkara Wanniarachchi, a writer and ardent fan of the artiste’s compiled and launched an anthology of songs sung by Edirisinghe at the event.

Titled ‘Sunila Vila’, the book is a work of years of research brought together in one bulky volume. It comprises songs sung by the vocalist from 1970 to the end of 2011.

“Though there are these types of collective research volumes on artistes in other parts of the world, this is the first time that all the songs of one particular artiste has been brought together and methodically categorized into a book,” Wanniarachchi explained the specialty of ‘Sunila Vila’.

First attempt

The book contains the lyrics of 498 songs. It also lists the period, occasion, lyricist, music composer and even the type of media through which the song saw daylight.

The book also contains a thesis which analyses Edirisinghe’s contribution to Sinhala music and an article about his life. Though Edirisinghe joined the music scene by giving voice to the film song ‘Sandakada Pahanaka Katayam Opala’ and set to melody by Victor Ratnayake, he gained popularity via the radio.

This was the age that the industry was moving away from songs that were worded and song according to Hindi melodies.

Pandit Amaradeva set the benchmark and gifted vocalists like Victor Ratnayake set the groundwork to the path.

Pushkara Wanniarachchi and Sunil Edirisnghe engaging in compiling the book

“Our songs got their unique identity with the works of Ananda Samarakoon, Sunil Santha and Pandit Amaradeva. Sinhala songs existed through the radio after the gramophone era. Cassette players were yet to become popular then but with the spread of open economy the popularity of cassette and CD players rouse to great heights. Today anyone can listen to any song of his or her choice at any given time because they are freely available through various media. However the lyrics of songs are harder to track down,” Wanniarachchi expressed, adding that though there are quite a number of books containing song lyrics, these mostly consist song lyrics which are selected from various artistes or songs selected by the compiler according to his or her preference.

Research difficulty

“A lot of university students engage in research on music-related topics. It is difficult for them to get their hands on lyrics and other information connected with the songs. ‘Sunila Vila’ aims to fill that vacuum,” he added.

Another interesting aspect of the vocalist is that he had not confined himself to a specific genre of songs.

Rather he had tasted success through meaningful lyrics and versatility. Romance, the parents- child relationship, love between siblings, racial harmony, human psychology, nature and social injustice are some of the topics of his songs.

“It took four and a half years to track down the lyrics. We started off the project by listening to the songs on cassettes and CDs. We also made copies from the originals that were in the artiste’s possession. Some of the originals were destroyed over the years so we had to rely on his memory to contact the necessary people who were linked with the projects.”

Tissa Nagodavithana had been very supportive in allowing them to listen to songs and watch videos from his film archives.

“One of my friends, a film director, Rathnaweera de Silva undertook this task and came up with the goods. Many others backed me in this effort. ‘Sri Lankeya Cinema Vanshaya’ by Nuwan Nayanajith Kumara was also extremely helpful to obtain some of the information. We also obtained data from the National Library and Documentation Services Board. The output is satisfactory though we found it difficult to locate details of around six of Edirisinghe’s songs,” he noted.

The book is a Sarasavi publication. It contains a preface by Senior Professor Sunil Ariyaratne.

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