Arts
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| Improvisation,
innovation, yes, but was there creativity? The generous applause notwithstanding, I have no doubt that the majority of the audience were wondering what quite to make of this concert, subtitled "An Exceptional Improvisation Concert". The music emanating from it was such a far cry from what local audiences have hitherto associated with the name of Rohan de Saram. The concert's title and subtitle did, of course, provide a clue as to what might be expected. It was to be music of an "innovative" type, and "exceptional" in the sense of its largely "improvisatory" nature. To say the least, the music was most innovative. It explored wholly unexpected and unsuspected sonic effects of the cello and the trumpet. To this end, the instruments themselves were played innovatively. The cello strings were sometimes strummed as well as plucked, the bow alternately droned out wavering quasi-pedal notes, executed the wildest of glissandos and engaged in high-frequency harmonics, sometimes straying well beyond the bridge and having even its rod pressed into service. As for the trumpet, apart from being of modified design, its playing was augmented by a succession of gadgetry, notably a length of tubing that was twirled about at regular intervals rather like a lasso in slow motion. There were times when one could not tell whether a certain sound came from the cello or the trumpet! The drums, in fact, were the only link with the conventional, providing a recognizably percussive rhythmic accompaniment. It was essentially, as Arun Dias Bandaranaike cautioned in his introduction, music that had more to do with textures, timbre and ambience than with scales and harmonies. This became clearest in the item, "The elements". Here, the cello and the trumpet seemed to be attempting to capture the effects of the elements fire, water, earth and air, in strictly elemental rather than in musical terms, virtually mimicking their audible aspects, real or imaginary, through sound effects without employing actual musical sounds. Form, evidently, consisted in the overall ambience produced by these effects. It was all quite captivating. Then, as the players went on to other compositions cum improvisations one felt that, for all the permutations and variations of sound and rhythm, it was all much of a muchness. And one began to realize that while the music was highly innovative, it was not strictly creative. We were privy not to a creative but to an innovative process, to a session of improvisation that had more to do with experimentation than with inspiration. The exhilaration was there but sans the creative impulse. "Consequently we rejoice, having to construct something upon which to rejoice"! And if the creative imagination was not at work, this was surely because the basic musical principle was missing. The music sought to reproduce the various sounds and noises of our environment on their own rather than on musical terms. (It was as if Beethoven had made of such sound effects as the call of the cuckoo the staple, not the mere embellishment, of his Pastoral Symphony!). Thus while the superficies of music were in full evidence, the textures, the timbre, the ambience, in fact the whole range of sound effects, the reality that all this is meant to serve was missing, namely musical sound itself. There was neither tonality nor atonality, surely the sine qua non of music, because the basic ingredient of musical sound, the interval - the deliberate exploration of the relationship between the pitch of notes - whether vertically or horizontally or both, was absent. The creative imagination, thus, had no basic musical substance to work on. The interval is the core, the key, to all true music of whatever tradition, whether western or eastern, classical, jazz or folk, composed or improvised. Although this music purported to be derived from some of these traditions, this was so only in an impressionistic and imitative sense, as in the fleeting echoes of the Carnatic nadeswaram or the jazz trumpet or the dance-hall double-bass. There was no recreation of these elements to make new musicals sense. And yet, I would not have missed this concert for the world. The experience of this music was stimulating if only to be able to place it as not being part of the great musical tradition, both western and eastern, that we are heir to. But more importantly for the three minutes of a Bach prelude and the five or more minutes of a Kodaly sonata that de Saram gave us, playing solo, in the first and second halves of the concert respectively. He did this, he told us, to remind us that it was, in fact, a cello that he was playing. But I do not believe that any player, local or foreign, has in this country put bow to string to such marvellous effect. Here were texture and timbre etc. in their proper place, servants of great musical sound, put to work by a great performer. The Bach passage was played with such power and feeling that the austere beauty of the Bach line seemed to catch fire and be ablaze throughout. It was playing worthy of the great Casals, one of de Saram's teachers who, incidentally, is said to have been unable to do without some Bach every day. As for the almost impossibly difficult Kodaly, which employed double stopping most of the way, the 'cello in de Saram's loving hands assumed such heights of urgent, even strident, poignancy as one would have thought only the human voice to be capable of. Here was real creativity of performance, the genius of the performer combining with the genius of the composer to bring out the full potential of the music. And here was first-hand evidence of the real basis of music, the pattern of sound formed by intervals, whether consistently tonal in the Bach or disturbingly dissonant in the equally moving and expressive Kodaly. These two excerpts were utterly and unquestionably part of "the still sad music of humanity", to make literal use of the Wordsworthian phrase, in a way that the rest of that evening's music could never have been. We in Sri Lanka have been starved of great music like this as played by great performers like de Saram. We are in even greater need of it following the tragedy that submerged our country not more than four days after the concert. I urge Rohan de Saram, and it is not my appeal alone, to give us a preponderance of such truly creative music on his future visit with a modicum, if necessary, of the merely innovative variety. – Priya David Music
and dance for friends in need The evening's programme will consist of music and dance from two famous groups, 'Friends-in-Harmony', a group of professionals who have got together for the love of music, and Channa Upuli, the well-known dance ensemble who performed at the Sydney Opera House recently. All artistes are performing free of charge to raise maximum funds for this worthy cause. The concert will take place at the New Town Hall, Green Path on February 20 at 6.30 p.m. Student
of seduction Commenting on his work Sathsara says, "My new exhibition, 'Seduction' presents many important ideas. Human forms are produced with detached shapes using colourful mixed colours with quick brush work on square shaped drawing surfaces. "In one of my creations the Sigiri Goddess bears a "Kadupul flower" or the lotus Naga which represents the symbol of "seduction". Drawing on both the European and Asian drawing styles, the "Kadupul flower" has been used together with the Sigiri Goddess. “ We can be seduced by anyone or anything,” he explains. In a primitive society, primeval productive acts (economical, social, psychological and artistic) all happened by force or by order or by assignment. "But now in polite society democratic and human rights are regarded on a high level. So none can interfere. Today, even an advertisement for cement needs to show a woman's legs. Knowingly or unknowingly we are all seduced.” ‘An
artist of linear poetry’ Writing on his work, Prof. Ashley Halpe says Chandana spends hours creating idiosyncratic figures of gods and men, mendicants and guardians, on the meticulously laid out backgrounds and inner spaces created with hundreds of thin penstrokes, squiggles and whorls, with pointilliste brushwork, with unpredictable and unfashionable splotches of pastel colours. But the figures he evokes have been drawn with swift, audaciously elegant lines producing whimsical mouths and noses, suddenly staring or weirdly hooded eyes, with drapes, accoutrements, tridents and what you will, sketched, sometimes just suggested, with marvellous economy and certainty. "There are totally unpredictable spaces and inspired collocations in a quirky world that is surely the unique vision of an instinctively original mind, despite the deceptively simple identifications in terms of Buddhist themes and tales. "Chandana Ranaweera has been called "an artist of linear poetry". Chandana's command of technical resources is now rather more developed, as I have suggested in my impressionistic responses to the present collection. It is now clear that he affects naivete as a deliberate creative choice, deploying his images, arabesques and chromatic adventures with the instinctive sophistication of a constant practitioner. "Chandana has defined his artistic vocabulary and is content to let originality appear in the disposition of his pictorial elements on surfaces that encourage a miniaturist scale. Our appreciation of his work involves an admiration for the courage of his choice." She
will dance for Lanka’s tsunami children The proceeds of the show will go to children affected by the tsunami disaster. The event is being organized by the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, Law and Society Trust and the Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust. Acclaimed not only for the exquisite perfection of her dance, Priyadarsini is also hailed as a creative artiste, who brings to every one of her items depth, intensity and grace. A Commerce graduate with a course in Mass Communication, Priyadarsini had her training under the guidance of her gurus, Sri Swamimalai K. Rajarathnam and Smt. Kalanidhi Narayanan. She has performed in various cities in India and abroad at the Festival of India, Paris, Yuva Utsavat at Kanpur and recitals in South Africa, USA, Canada and Europe. Priyadarsini is the recipient of many awards, including the "Kalaimamani" the highest award from the Tamil Nadu Government, the Yuva Kala Bharathi', Bharat Kalachar award, and the prestigious Krishna Gana Sabha award "Nrithya Choodamani". The box plan opens at the ICES on January 21. |
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