Somalatha Perera and her late husband Premasiri Khemadasa
Premasiri Khamadasa, the musician who blazed new trails for Sinhala music, had humble beginnings, according to his wife Somalatha Perera.
In a conversation with Aruna website based in Colombo, she says the music icon was born into a large family of eight siblings in Wadduwa and he lost his father when he was a small kid. He studied in Panadura Sri Sumanagala Vidyalaya and St. John’s College, but he could not continue his studies as he was obsessed with music.
“He was a prodigy from his young days. Master was a good friend of my elder brother and when he came to our house he used to play our violin and harmonica. Apart from that he was an excellent flutist,” says Somalatha, who studied at Panadura Good Shephard’s Convent, adding that her school used to invite young Khemadasa to play the flute in their concerts.
As Khemadasa devoted most of his time for music he tended to neglect his studies. “When he was writing for his OL exam on a day he had to present a flute solo at 10 in the morning at Radio Ceylon. As the time was nearing for his appointment he stopped writing the exam, jumped over the parapet wall of the examination hall and rushed for the recital to the radio station.” Somalatha said.
From that time onward he began to present musical radio programmes regularly.
Khamadasa started a music school at Sangaraja Mawatha in Maradana teaching music, at the same time beginning to provide music for stage plays. Some dramas include well known plays like Mora, Ath, Diriya Mawa Saha Age Daruwo, Bari Sil, produced by leading playwrights of the younger generation who later migrated into films and tele-drama productions.
The seventies were heady days of Sinhala arts and one area that saw revolutionary upheavals was music. The main contributor to this revolution was Khamadasa Master, as he was fondly known, providing new dimensions in Sinhala music.
With his incomparable talent and pioneering spirit he took Sinhala music to new heights opening avenues for other budding musicians as well.
He borrowed from Sinhala folk tunes, western classical genres such as symphonies, operas, cantatas and Indian classical music introducing a unique style, pushing boundaries of our native music.
In the early part of his career he directed music for several formula films but beginning from Senasuma Kothanada with its ever-popular melody Sulang Kurullo his music ushered in a new era of Sinhala film music.
His haunting scores in movies like Nidhanaya, Golu Hadawatha, Thunweni Yamaya, Hansa Vilak are still capable of giving us goosebumps. We may have forgotten these movies, but their scores enhanced by Master’s inimitable touch, will remain alive even among generations to come.
Talking about her life with the maestro, Somalatha says they got married after a decade of knowing each other. “We fell in love, but we managed to keep it a secret for 10 years. He used to visit our home to meet my brother on and off, and finally when the family got the wind of our closeness my father was against our association.
Khamadasa was on the way to become a celebrity and her father may have had second thoughts of giving his daughter in marriage to a man who was busy in a showbiz career.
Finally, they got married three days after the Velantine’s Day in 1966 with the blessings of the two families just as the career of the musician began to flourish.
After the marriage they went to live in the musician’s ancestral home in Wadduwa. “That time Master had to go China to stage one of his early operas. After his return we moved to a rented house in Borella.”
Somalatha was kept busy when he was producing operas like Manasawila, Doramadalawa, Warnadasi and symphonies like Maha Muhuda and Mage Kalaye Mawuni. “Master was a good host. There were 50 to 60 musicians coming for rehearsals and I had to prepare sandwiches, other snacks and beverages. When I was expecting my eldest daughter Anupama we bought a house at Rajagiriya”.
In 1993 the musician set up the Khamadasa Foundation and began training people without charging fees.
“His wide repertoire includes about 30 films, 20 stage plays, half a dozen operas, symphonies and cantatas, more than 10 tele-dramas in addition to directing music for more than 300 reputed Sinhala singers,” adds Somalatha.
The second daughter Danesha Gayathri was too was born in Rajagiriya. Both her daughters are following in the footsteps of their famous dad, she said.
Danesha lives in Sri Lanka while Anupama, who lives in Toronto is an excellent cello player. She is heavily involved in Toronto music scene. Last year Anupama provided music for the Tamil version of Henik Ibsen’s Doll’s House produced by Toronto-based playwright P. Wikneswaran.
Somalatha who lives with his daughter in Toronto regularly attends cultural functions. When Sri Lankan actor and playwright Jayalath Manorathne visited Toronto last year she presented him with a memento to commemorate his visit.
In 2004 Master fell ill after his kidneys got affected, Somalatha told the website. ”The doctor said at least one kidney had to be transplanted. Usually, if the patient is over 60 the usual practise is to send him to India for a transplant. We placed an advertisement looking for a matching kidney and the response was unbelievable. We received between 1000 – 2000 calls and settled for a matching kidney donated by a Buddhist priest in Anuradhapura. Dr. Harischandra of the Kandy Hospital attended to the transplant surgery. Master was asked to go slow after the operation, working in not more than one film a year. He was engaged in providing music for Agni opera in 2006 after his operation.”
Again, he was admitted to the hospital on October 3, 2006 as the transplanted kidney got affected. His doctor had gone abroad at that time. He passed away on October 26 of the same year while being given dialysis.
“The time was hard for me. His death devastated me and a vein in my head burst. I am on medication today,” Somalatha said adding that she is happy her daughters have inherited their father’s born talent in music.
Khamadsa Master started teaching music to them from their young days telling them that they had the luxury of developing their inborn talent under expert guidance. He studied music in a non-traditional way solely depending on his instincts and using gifted talent to fill a void in native music which was looking for new directions. – newstrails.com
