'Sa' in Matara
Victor Rathnayaka's 'Sa' concert will be held at St Thomas Theatre,
Matara, on July 8 at 6.30 pm. This is the last concert held in Ruhuna
area. The artistes who took part in the concert in 1973 will also take
part in this concert.
Victor Ratnayake was the first Sri Lankan musician to hold a live one
man concert; His concert known as 'SA' was first performed in 1973, and
was an instant success. Ratnayake credits his success to his 'fitting
blend of Western music with Ragadari classical music.' His songs deal
with diverse themes that vary from love, to patriotism and Buddhism.
'Matara Achchi' is the first film he composed music for and it's
Sandakada Pahana song sung by Sunil Edirisinghe is still very popular
among Sinhala music fans. Ratnayake also has composed music for films
like Siribo Aiya, Podi Malli, Sarungale, Hulawali and Athuru Mithuru.
Victor Ratnayake |
Ratnayake was born in a small village near Kadugannawa. His father,
Rathnayake Veda Mahaththaya, was an apothecary and sang 'noorthi gee,' a
type of Sinhala folk songs. Victor got his first instrument at the age
of nine when his father presented him a harmonium for his birthday. He
studied singing and various instruments under musician Cyril Perera at
the M.G.P. Institute in Mulgampola in his teens. In 1963, he began
attending the State Music College, now known as the Institute of
Aesthetic Studies. He wrote his first song, an ode to Lord Buddha, in
1964; it received play on radio stations run by the Sri Lanka
Broadcasting Corporation.
In 1966, Ratnayke joined the Ministry of Education as a music
instructor, and was assigned to a post at Eththalapitiya Maha Vidyalaya
in Bandarawela. He would later look back to his days as a teacher in his
song 'Sihil Sulang Ralle,' which described the beauty of his
surroundings that he noted as he travelled on the train to the school.
The lyrics were penned by Sena Weerasekera on Ratnayake's recollections.
By 1973, Ratnayake was a trained musician and noted that there were
no one man concerts. The closest was 'Shravanaradhana' a joint concert
by Amaradeva and Nanda Malini. On the urging of his friends Premakirthi
de Alwis, Sunil Ariyaratne, K D K Dharmawardena, R.R. Samarakoon,
Chintana Jayasena and Bandara K Wijetunga, Victor decided to attempt
such an event. The first Sa concert was held on July 20, 1973, at the
Lumbini Theatre, Havelock Town. It is widely considered a turning point
in Sri Lankan music.
The name 'Sa' came from the root or tonic note sa in the Indian music
scale and was suggested by Chintana Jayasena. Jayasena pointed to the
fact that no Sri Lankan drama, film or work of art bore a name of just
one syllable at the time and believed that it would bring luck.
'Sa' was highly popular, and Ratnayke's gained many fans following
its inception. One female fan wrote 'Do you know that I treasure 49
hairs of yours?' in a fan letter, expressing how many times she has seen
Ratnayake's show. Critics described the show as 'exquisite insanity' and
a 'melodic lunacy' because of the fervor shown by Ratnayke's fans, who
would sometimes attack auditoriums where he was playing when they
couldn't get in.
Ratnayake's style was influenced by musicians like Sunil Shantha,
Ananda Samarakone and C. T. Fernando who he considered 'pioneers in the
music field' for their use of 'classical Ragadari and Hindustani music'
as their starting point.
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