As we all know, the word ‘Master’ is a general term which is regularly used to describe someone who is skilled in a particular subject or in an art form. But to many Sri Lankans who lived in the past few decades it was person's name, for they knew only one ‘Maste’ in their life. That was how maestro Premasiri Khemadasa was unofficially 'Knighted' by his fellow countrymen for the musical brilliance he displayed in the Sri Lankan music arena.

A vastly talented music legend, who was fortunate enough not to go through the formal music education system of this country, eventually reached the pinnacle of applied music, becoming a living challenge to the outdated systems and procedures in the local music industry. As an absolute musician who had a broad vision about music, literature and life, Khemadasa had proved himself that music is not confined to papers and certificates, which were issued by institutes for vomiting what was taught with no creativity.
While the mainstream music scene was being dominated over the years by the Lucknow graduates with big titles preceding their names, Khemadasa struggled, rebelled and challenged to establish a music genre which was truly human and local. Even though many traditionalists had their doubts on this, Khemadasa possessed abundance of musical knowledge, technical expertise and human sensitivity to do so.

The film industry set the platform for him to spread out his impressive creations among the masses. In the late 60s he effectively entered Sri Lankan cinema with K.A.W.Perera's film 'Sanasuma Kotenada', composing the song 'Sulang Kurullo'. It was passionately conveying the message of love in a soothing manner which was hardly heard in contemporary love songs of the era. Subsequently Khemadasa transformed Sinhala film music industry into a rich and meaningful entertainment tradition with a number of artful compositions.

The musical scores he composed for Lester James Pieris's 'Golu Hadawatha' and 'Nidhanaya' took Sri Lankan film music to the international level as they convinced the local audiences that film music is not all about songs.

It created another chapter in Sri Lankan cinema when maestro Khemadasa got together with Dharmasena Pathiraja to compose for his revolutionary movies. The musical scores of the Pathiraja trilogy 'Ahas Gawwa' 'Bambaru Avith' and 'Para Dige' are considered as masterpieces which unleashed the exhilarating feelings of youth in the 70s.

Once in the late 70s, he successfully blended the voices and singing styles of pop icons H.R. Jothipala and Clarence Wijewardena in the movie 'Janaka saha Manju', proving a skillful music director could bring out the best in artistes who represented various musical backgrounds. In the movie he used voices of both Jothi and Clarence for the same actor who played the main role (Jayanthadas Perera) without causing any disturbance or disbelief to the audience.

By directing music for 'Agni Dahaya' and 'Guerilla Marketing' he touched the young generation of filmmakers through Jayantha Chandrasiri. This confirms that from the late 60s to the present, all the prominent filmmakers have sought Khemadasa's musical brilliance to make their creations sound perfect. It would not be exaggerating to say that the musical stream of the art film tradition of Sri Lanka, had been single handedly governed by maestro Khemadasa.

Maestro Khemadasa had that god given talent of briskly going through the script, theme, background and singers whom he chose for the particular movie, before he starts his compositions. This mystic quality of his made the background score and the songs to be inseparably bound with the theme of the movie. And that was the very reason which made him stand out from the rest of the ordinary music directors of his era.

He always believed in ‘music beyond words’, and his presence was well felt in the film industry because of this advanced approach.

More than any other musician he could effectively grasp and express human feelings through a wide range of musical tones and techniques. His humble background and limitless humanity sometimes surpassed the musical complexities, giving birth to many heartfelt songs. One fine example is the song ‘Ammawarune’ in the movie 'Yasa Isuru'. There he uses a basic chord in western music, to bring out the never ending resonance of mother's love. He mastered the art of using proper things in relevant contexts.

It hardly mattered to him where things originated from. Be it a chant, mantra, folk song or a classical piece, he would use it the best possible way to make his creation perfect.

His creative sphere clearly encompassed Western, Indian and Sri Lankan Folk music traditions in a big way. We do not come across such a musical genius like maestro Khemadasa in the history of this country. From the operatic creations which were based on western classical music to songs like 'Maala Pabalu Wel' 'Paloswaka Sanda' which were directly derived from folk music patterns, Khemadasa discarded the traditional limits and redefined music according to his own way. He used a wide array of singing styles, playing techniques, arrangements and instruments liberally without being a slave of any tradition. As Nadeeka Guruge once rightly said 'Khemadasa is a giant of our times'.

He was an extra ordinary musician who went that extra mile in search of an ideal music tradition for Sri Lankans.

So that is why maestro Khemadasa has become significant as the ‘Master’ of Sri Lankan music, above all the musicians who represent either eastern or western music traditions with lesser creativity.