Easy way out by youngsters

Victor Ratnayake, ‘senior citizen’ in Sri Lanka’s music scene, sees the youngsters merely copying songs sung by others. 

“They appear in what are called ‘reality shows’ doing some jugglery from one end of the stage to the other. Is this the music people want?” he asks. “It’s even worse – they do not acknowledge the original singers or lyricists.”

Appearing in a concert in Sydney recently he was critical of the plight of music in Sri Lanka where he sees no progress being made in indigenous music. He stressed that no effort is being made to uplift quality and move on. “Youngsters must sing new songs. Otherwise there will be no progress and we will be just stuck in the same place,” he said. He pointed out that it is a mere courtesy to identify the persons who write the lyrics and create the music. They must be recognised. It’s true the listeners hear the singers’ voices but the creators are not visible.

During the concert, he not only identified the writer and the composer of each song, but paid tribute to them for their contribution towards the development of Sinhala music. He had much to say about Premakirthi de Alwis who had written most of his songs. 

The creations of the radio and television broadcaster Premakirthi, who was cruelly killed early in life, are valued to this day and with his name being frequently mentioned by Victor and other singers, he continues to be remembered. Though he is no more, his name is familiar even to the new generation.

Victor has always been conscious of the need to protect indigenous music and have an identity of its own. He was critical of any attempt to introduce alien styles which he felt were not suitable for our culture. 

I remember when rap music became the rage of the day a few years back and the young local singers began to imitate, he publicly said: “I don’t know whether they are singing ‘rap’ or whether they are ‘raping’ Sinhala music.”

It was only a few weeks earlier that Sri Lanka’s leading songstress Nanda Malini lamented at the pathetic state of Sinhala music, also during a concert held in Sydney. “No one seems to be showing any interest,” she stressed. She virtually said that there was no future for Sinhala music.

As for Victor’s concert (along with Neela Wickremasinghe), it was of superlative quality. The audience vastly appreciated the songs they have been used to hearing for many decades. It was also great to see Victor maintaining his voice so well. Same applies to Neela.

Judging from the occasional visits of Sri Lankan entertainers to Australia, we still have to depend on the veterans. We are yet to see and hear newcomers who are on the scene, if there are any. Rather sad.