'I am like a fish'

The audience is the water without whom the musician cannot exist, says renowned Sri Lankan artiste following his concert in Abu Dhabi

"I am like a fish," says Pandit Amaradeva, the 'father of Sri Lankan music', with a disarming smile, "and the audience and the critics are the ocean, the water without whom the artiste, the musician cannot exist. Wherever I go, I feel the audience appreciating my music. That feeling is the most pleasant feeling one can get."

That feeling must have come across strongly at the concert Amaradeva held recently at the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi, where a crowd estimated at over 1,000 people provided the 'water' for this fish to swim in.

Emotions ran high during the artiste's (second) visit to the UAE, as the expatriate audience responded to the heart-rending songs of their homeland. Many were in tears during the two-hour performance by Amaradeva and his orchestra, comprising D.D. Gunasena on violin, Wijayarante Ranatunga on tabla, Nalaka Anjana Kumara on guitar and Jagath Wickramsinghe on the keyboard.

Wimala, Amaradeva's wife, also took part singing the duets and the chorus.

Amaradeva, a composer as well as musician and performer, explains why music is so appealing to the audience, whatever their nationality, age or creed. "Music is the language of the emotions, even if a person cannot understand the words."

Music has been a part of Amaradeva's life since the beginning. When a child, the sound of his mother's singing had filled the house and his father, a talented carpenter, always had a dozen or so broken violins around the house waiting to be repaired. Tempting toys for a child, but soon the young Amaradeva progressed to playing with them, not as toys, but as musical instruments.

The violin has remained his preferred instrument. Singing and composing soon followed and later he spent five years studying in India before returning to Sri Lanka where his illustrious career has spanned half a century.

Amaradeva pays tribute to the late Mahatma Seeker with whom he wrote compositions. He also acknowledges his wife, Wimala, herself an accomplished folk singer, as being the inspiration for many of his works.

The importance of music in his country is clear when talking to the artiste.

"Music is part of our life. It is everywhere, in everything we do, whether bringing in the harvest, sowing the rice, soothing the child to sleep... there is a rhythm, music."

Songs about seemingly everyday matters can be used to illustrate the greater milestones in life. For example, in one song, a weaver is being questioned about the article being made.

"Who is it for?"

The answer is "The newborn baby".

Later, the question is asked, "Now for whom are you weaving?"

The answer is for the bride; a wedding dress is being woven.

When the question is asked a third time, the answer is a wrap being made to cover a body. The person is dead. Through the ordinary task of weaving, the greater cycles of life and death are revealed. The best music, he states, comes out of sadness.

"When I want to write about love, it becomes a sad song. When I write a sad song, it turns into a love song."

In the early part of his life, Lankan music was folk music, although other influences were reaching the country, such as theatrical music from Russia, in the Thirties.

Amaradeva's contribution to the music and culture of Sri Lanka has been to fuse Indian classical music and popular folk music of Sri Lanka, "creating" he explains, "something indigenous to our culture".

The geographical proximity of India to Sri Lanka has had a great influence on both culture and music, particularly that of the region of Bengal, he explains, citing traditional Indian music as a major influence on his work, and that of the Indian masters, especially the late Vishnu Paluskar.

Amaradeva says no culture is like another nor can any culture be isolated from another. And synthesis is a feature of his music. Taking the best both from Lankan and Indian music the artiste blends them to create a new form of national music tradition.

Now the indigenous music in Sri Lanka is still growing despite other musical influences elsewhere in the world, such as Western pop and rap music which could be seen as a threat, but which in fact exists alongside traditional music.

Amaradeva has performed at prestigious events around the world, such as the Berlin International Music and Drama Festival and regularly tours the world.

At home, the survival, indeed growth, of indigenous Lankan music is assured by the popularity of Amaradeva's work among the younger generation. Amaradeva himself is quick to praise those who are following his lead, including the keyboard wizard in his orchestra, Jagath Wickramsinghe, an upcoming musician and vocalist in his own right.

What remains?

"I'm still composing. I would like to compose Indian music into a symphony; to create the fusion of Indian music and western treatment. It never ends," says Amaradeva, laughing. "My best creation will be produced... tomorrow. There is always tomorrow," he adds.