ARTS

 

Sequenza XIV: A new frontier in the sound of music

A work composed for and performed by Rohan de Saram

By Chandri Peris in London
Omaggio, a two-week celebration of the works of Luciano Berio (1925-2003) was held at the Royal Festival Hall, London in April. Berio was an Italian composer whose works transcended cultural barriers and who is now widely accepted as a creative genius of the twentieth century.

His compositions drew from several sources such as love songs and elegies from across Europe, Central Asia, and popular songs of the 20th century. He was also inspired by music from Iranian Kurdistan, Armenia, Sardinia, and even composed a work based on Kandyan drum rhythms. Critics have been known to say that his "music can yell with joy or outrage, and croon quietly with grief".

Some of his major works need an entire orchestra, while other pieces are composed for string quartets. There are compositions for solo voices, choirs and for electronic sounds too. In fact, Luciano Berio's work spanned almost the entire spectrum of the types of music and instruments that can be found today.

During the UK premiere of Berio's work for cello and orchestra called "Ritorno degli snovidenia", he was so impressed by the Sri Lankan cellist Rohan de Saram that he wrote to him saying, "Your performance of Ritorno is splendid. But besides Ritorno, your sound, your perfect intonation, your phrasing and bowing techniques make you a great performer of any music". This led to Luciano Berio composing a specific piece titled Sequenza X1V (for cello) for Rohan de Saram. Whilst rehearsing for Ritorno and having been in constant contact with the musician from Sri Lanka, Luciano Berio became interested in the rhythmic instruments and sounds of the Kandyan drum. He discussed the technique involved in playing the Kandyan drum with Rohan de Saram who had some expertise in the art of drumming himself. Berio drew a comparison between the two instruments and looked at the sounds they made from a point of creating something new. He then worked towards a piece from the basis that the cello had four strings and the drum had four distinct percussion sounds. He also listened to tapes of Kandyan drumming and was provided with western-style notation of the different rhythms, which were made for him by Rohan de Saram. With all this material before him Luciano Berio went on to compose Sequenza XIV.

This cello solo, which is about fifteen minutes in length, has changed several times since it was premiered at Witten in 2002. It kept being reinvented every time it was performed due to the ongoing collaboration between these two artistes, which sadly ended with the death of the composer in 2003.

Rohan de Saram (who now plays with the Arditti Quartet) performed the final version to an audience who were mesmerized by the power of Berio's composition and watched in complete awe at the intensity and artistry of his playing. Here was a pure example of the music of the future where two traditions had met and re-created a sound that remained somewhat familiar yet totally new to our ears.

This remains the result of the type of artistic collaboration that those of us in Sri Lanka very rarely witness. Sequenza X1V is an example of Berio's ideal of attaining a total synthesis of sound by incorporating the instruments of diverse cultures and it was triumphantly achieved by Rohan de Saram's execution.

It was music that appealed to the ears, hearts and minds of those who seek something pure and are not afraid to experience the unknown.


Two worlds united by compassion

A jungle where survival is the name of the game is the backdrop to this story which can be enjoyed by young and old alike.

The breathtaking scenic beauty of this island lends itself to the theme of "metta" and "karuna' (loving kindness), two precepts of Buddhism, which are the themes of this film. This is similar to Christian love and charity. Perhaps it is the language of compassion which is universal.

Man and animal have to co-exist and so have the Veddah and son (Tikiri) and the Buddhist priest and his acolyte (Sumedha).

Sedris, the Veddah lives by hunting and he is burdened with the responsibility of feeding his two families. He skins and sells the raw meat of deer and other animals to the villagers. But he does follow a hunter's code and scolds his son for using a catapult to hurt a bird.

Predictably, the two children are drawn to each other and frolic amid the waterfalls and trailing creepers, swinging their days away. The carefree world of children is no respecter of persons, speaking a language of universal love.

Each child's mentor reminds the boy of adult responsibilities and limits that divide the hunter's world and that of the priest. Could the two ever share and care, especially when Sedris stops at nothing to drive the priest out of the jungle?

The story unfolds with the children in the audience laughing at the antics of the hunter who plays on popular myth and superstition yet gradually alienates the villagers by hounding the priest.

Yet there are tears in the eyes of the priest as the hunter confesses that he is no better than the animals he hunts.

The priest forgives and forgets and gives Sediris chance after chance until finally the hunter is converted when he is caught in his own animal trap and it is the priest who shares his food with Sediris' families.

All religions preach love and compassion and this film is a beautiful example of how a simple story can be used to convey the powerful message of religious tolerance through Buddhism.

Sirohmi Gunesekera


Plunge into wide spaces of paint

An Exhibition of Paintings by Rahju

Paintscapes; this is the term Rahju uses for his work which will be on view at the Finominal Space Gallery from May 14 to June 30. Rahju says he has given this name to the paintings because they are essentially about nothing but paint. Paint that opens up, or invites the viewer in to a 'scape'. Using pure colour and masterly brush strokes, Rahju creates evocative and atmospheric overlays of colour, punctuated with expressive marks or strokes that hold attention in a suspended, silent, or even meditative way.

Meditative qualities are obvious in this work, even more than in his earlier paintings, and it is through this path that Rahju has arrived at this form. Abstract, non-verbal paintings are to the artist the parallel to the meditative state of being without mind, or uninvolved in the thinking process, remaining in a mysteriously sensual-aesthetic dimension.

It is from this area of indefinable feeling that the artist gathers his inspiration, the root signals of what is to be manifest, and then crystallizes it on canvas through a spontaneous unhindered creative process between the artist and the work, as it manifests itself. In fact the artist claims that at the end of a painting, the feeling is more as if the painting 'made itself' rather than having been forced into existence by the will of the painter.

To Rahju, this 'having been made on its own' is the fulfilling experience he is after. To him it is a kind of grace, or a connection with a large force, which he calls, in his own terms of Indian bhakti; "the river of creativity, the river we call Saraswati."

Though each canvas in this show is different and singular, a common resonance is found amongst them, and echoes from one canvas to another, re-asserting and amplifying the underlying feeling that the artist is pulling us towards.

This feeling is of universality, of coming from the beyond.

Though individually unique, they feel as if they all come from the same universal source. And that is the strongest and most convincing element in these paintings.

M.J.Vartaman


‘Look at it, grapple with it and then interpret it’

By Marisa de Silva
"I am trying to capture the confusion and contradiction in contemporary society and its inherent nothingness," says Koralegedera Pushpakumara of the paintings at his fourth solo exhibition being held from April 28 to May 19 at the Paradise Road Galleries.

Pushpakumara remembers having watched his elder brother, (now an art instructor), paint when he was young. This, he claims, may have triggered his own love for art, at an early age. Having earned a degree in Painting and Sculpture at the Institute of Aesthetic Studies and Diploma in Archaeology at the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology, both from the University of Kelaniya, Pushpakumara has explored his passion for art for the past 20-25 years.

"An artist must have a comprehensive knowledge of both art history and the latest developments in the world of art," he says. This knowledge will be useful no matter what type of art one intends to specialize in, he says. Acrylic based semi-abstract art being his speciality, Pushpakumara portrays his critical observations on contemporary society.

It's more of an unbiased matter-of-fact view, rather than a slanted, judgement on society and its behaviour patterns, he says

Pushpakumara adds that the artist must give the viewer something to think about. The art lover must be able to grapple with the work and come to his/her own interpretation of it.

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