Khemadasa’s ‘Pirinivan Mangalyaya’ performed after seven years

When Premasiri Khemadasa’s ‘Pirinivan Mangalyaya’ is performed after seven years, the event becomes important enough to be called an occasion. This musical rebirth was possible due to the tireless efforts of Gayathri Khemadasa, the maestro’s daughter, film actress Anjoja Weerasinghe and the Sri Lanka Navy.  

Staged at the Nelum Pokuna theatre by a mix of the Navy’s Western Orchestra and civilian musicians, and sung by an equally diverse combination including students of the Premasiri Khemadasa Foundation and the naval choir, ‘Pirinivan Mangallaya’ offers a novel musical experience to our musical culture, resting as it were on a foundation of light classical and popular songs. As if to remind us of that tradition, a number of songs were performed before the main event, including ‘Anduru Kutiya Thula’ by T. M. Jayaratne, ‘Sansara Gamane’ by W. D. Amaradeva, ‘Samma Sambudu’ by Mohideen Baig, and ‘Waren Waren Sudu Paraviyo’ by Amarasiri Peiris and Malani Bulathsinhala.  

The programme notes maintain that ‘Pirinivan Mangallaya’ is probably the only Buddhist cantata composed in the world. That we can’t be sure of, but we can say with certainty that it is the only one of its kind by a Sri Lankan composer. Then again, one might have the impression that all cantatas are religious by nature, which isn’t correct.  

The origins of cantata go back to 17th century Italy. A cantata can be secular or religious, for solo voice, or for many voices and instruments. It can be a single movement work or consist of multiple movements. But cantatas have become associated with the towering figure of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), known for his sacred music. His music was performed at Lutheran church services. Bach kept expanding and re-inventing the cantata form, using librettos (pre-existing poems or songs) on biblical or liturgical themes. Hence, in the mind of many, cantatas mean religious music, even though one can compose secular music within the same format.  

Khemadasa obviously chose a solemn Buddhist theme, basing his libretto on ‘Bali yaga vicharaya’ a series of folk poems by traditional dancer J. E. Sedaraman. That much, the programme notes tell us. However, much of the text is devoted to a history of events preceding the Buddha’s final days, and following Nirvana. What’s lacking are the technical notes which should be there. This is a glaring omission.   One can look in vain for the notation of Khemadasa’s music in our bookstores. Shelves are full of books giving the chords and key signatures of many popular songs going back to the Tower Hall era, but I have never come across any published music sheets for not only the songs but the mesmerising scores he wrote for films, the theatre and the longer works such as the G Minor Symphony dedicated to his mother. It’s hard to understand why this is so when a Foundation exists in his name. It’s about time this terrible void, which is an injustice to his legacy, is redressed.