Wherever he went music followed
Tribute to a long friendship: The Maestro with K.L. F. Wijedasa
It’s a moonlit night. Accompanied by two or three fans, the youthful musician walks to the Koralawella beach just about 200 metres from his house and they relax sitting on the outrigger boats anchored on the ‘vella’. The sky and the sea inspire him. He starts composing a song. ‘Handapanevelitala – Surakumariyo mal sala’- Mihirilaitha gee- Gaya natahthi me reye’. Simple words, lovely melody describing how angels sing and dance on the beach. Soon it’s a hit. After over six decades we still sing and enjoy it – one of the most popular of Pandit Amaradeva’s early songs.
Among the three admirers that night was a close friend of mine from Moratuwa – a classmate at Ananda and later a contemporary at the Peradeniya campus. K.L.F.Wijedasa, a well-known name in the athletic world as a champion short distance runner and later coach–who would talk to us about Pandit Amaradeva. We spent the last few days reminiscing the days when he lived just about 50 metres away from the maestro’s house down Janapriya Lane.
It’s a month since Pandit Amaradeva passed away. If he was around he would have celebrated his 89th birthday tomorrow, December 5.
Wije knew the maestro from the days he was W.D. Albert Perera and their friendship continued through his life. He remembers first meeting ‘Albert Aiya’ around 1948. “It was after my father who was headmaster of Sri Sadharmodaya School in Koralawella was introduced to him as an old boy that my brother and I started going to his place. We were in and out of his place – it was such a pleasure listening to his singing,” Wije recollected. “We saw how when Albert Aiya’s father did his work in the ‘wadumaduwa’ his mother sat on the verandah step with her ‘kulla’ picking stones from the rice.”
“We used to request him to sing Sunil Santha’s songs and we could see the joy in their eyes when he sang. During weekends and holidays we were there most of the time enjoying the music.”
Wije remembers that the maestro’s sister was also a good singer. “She used to tell us how when Albert Aiya was quite young he pestered her to sing Hindi songs. She described how he used to bring a’suriya’ leaf and a ‘pol theriya’ and put it on the ‘suriya’ leaf and imagine that it was a gramophone!”
Wije remembers him composing ‘Sigiriye situwamramanee’ and ‘Pemsililepubudu male’ two of the earliest songs around 1948.
In the early days, Amaradeva was assigned a monthly concert and a violin solo over Radio Ceylon. “We did not have a radio so we used to go to a nearby house to listen to the programme. He often asked my views on the programme and I always gave my candid opinion,” Wije recalls. At these concerts Amaradeva would sing while playing the violin.
The maestro was very close to Sunil Santha. “I can remember once Sunil Santha coming to fetch Albert Aiya for a concert. His mother shouted, “Eba anna Sunil Santha awilla” his mother used to address her ‘badapissa’ (youngest in the family)’Eba’.
Wije recalls Amaradeva as a voracious reader. “Albert Aiya used to shuttle between Koralawella and Kollupitiya by train when he went to Chitrasena’s studio. Often he was armed with a Readers Digest and would be so engrossed reading that when the train reached the Koralawella station he had to hurriedly get down often forgetting his pair of slippers in the rush.”
The young Amaradeva
When most artistes shunned Sunil Santha, it was he on the violin, Gerard Rodrigo on the guitar and Sarathsena, brother of Chitrasena who assisted Sunil Santha in his radio programmes. Percy Wijewardene, another violinist and singer used to frequent his home. “Being friends with everyone, I can remember one occasion when he got practically all the artistes when my father requested him to organise a variety entertainment to raise funds towards the building fund of the Saddharmodaya School. They performed gratis. Like any schoolboy I was backstage hunting for autographs. Premakumar performed his famous slave dance,Chitrasena his Arjuna and Shesha Palihakkara a kathak dance. Sunil Santha was there but did not sing – his pupil Rohitha Jayasinghe sang ‘Adara Nadiye’.”
Soon after he went to Peradeniya in the early 1950s, Wije invited Amaradeva to perform for the members of the Mela. Often it was at the James Pieris Hall common room because Professor Sarachchandra was the Warden of the hall. Mrs Aruna Sarkar, wife of Professor Sarkar (Professor of Philosophy) joined to sing Bengali songs. In fact, both of them had sung together in Radio Ceylon programmes.
“I will never forget the close relationship I had with such a wonderful personality. My meetings with him will be sweet memories forever,” Wije said with deep emotion.