By Mahendra Gonsalkorale
May 2020
Vincent de Paul Peiris has been
felicitated here and abroad for his outstanding contributions to the music
scene. Among his colleagues were C. T. Fernando, KanthiWackwella,
ChitraSomapala, Vivienne de Silva Boralessa, Sheela Peiris, Chandra de Silva,
SusilPremaratne and others.
He
was awarded the honour Kalabooshanain 1990.
He
began his music career as a hobby and made his singing debut at a concert in
aid of the war effort under the patronage of the then Mayor, A.E. Goonasinghe
on December 15, 1940, where he sang Sinhala, English and Tamil numbers. There
he had entertained Lord Louis Mountbatten and soldiers with his voice and a
solo rendition on the Hawaiian guitar. He then joined Radio Ceylon in 1949
where he was the only person to host two programmes, western and oriental at
the same time.
Vincent’s ability to yodel and sing western classics earned him the moniker ‘The Gay Yodeller’. With the aim ofpopularising original Sri Lankan songs at a time when the identity of Sri Lankan music was being experimented, Vincent opted to become an oriental singer when Radio Ceylon granted him the option of hosting either western or oriental musical programmes.
Vincent’s ability to yodel and sing western classics earned him the moniker ‘The Gay Yodeller’. With the aim ofpopularising original Sri Lankan songs at a time when the identity of Sri Lankan music was being experimented, Vincent opted to become an oriental singer when Radio Ceylon granted him the option of hosting either western or oriental musical programmes.
He
contributed also as a playback singer in films like PremaTharangaya and PodiPutha
and even acted along with Sheela Peiris and Kingsley Jayasekara in GambadaSundari.
Some
quotes from Vincent on his music; “This
voice is a gift given to me by God. I must have been around 10 to 12 years when
I started to sing with my older brothers and sister. I mostly sang Western
songs. My first number was called Mage Mawni which I sang at my first show. I
was a teenager still schooling and while I was singing the audience threw money
to show their appreciation. I collected the money and took it home to my
mother. She advised me never to sell my voice for money.I used to take part in
concerts during my school days. I was the youngest in the family and me and my
two brothers held singing sessions in the afternoons. They supplied music and I
was the one elected to sing along to their tunes”. He reflected that “People are not bothered with the lyrics of
songs today. They pay attention to the rhythm because they are after tracks with
music that they can dance to”.. When asked for his views on his success as a
singer, he said “I have sung more than
1000 songs and almost all were set to tune by me. My songs touched upon rare
topics and that’s one reason why they are popular even today. Unlike today the
music industry then was not developed technology-wise. Yet we sang and did our
recordings dedicating ourselves fully. We sang indoors without microphones.
Most of our Radio Ceylon recordings went on till dawn because they were
recorded live. If one musician made a blunder the whole thing would have to be
started from the beginning. Those songs are popular even today because of the
dedication and commitment that had gone into those creations,”
His
worked as a Propaganda and Sales Officer at J.L. Morrisons and later the BCC.
His career took him to places all around the island. This gave him little time
to pursue his singing talents on a broader scale. However he was able to
produce some cassettes and CDs while singing under several labels such as HMV.
In
August 2008, a unique event was held at Namel- MaliniPunchitheater, Borella. Four
generations of vocalists of the same family got together to voice the tunes of
one of their own of the bygone era. This was recognition of a man who
entertained enthusiasts in a career spanning 68 years. He was accompanied by
his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. The concert was organised
by his daughter MenikanthiKahandawitagamage and grandson DuwainePeiris. Music
was provided by Ranjith Dias and the Mount Chimes while KumariPerera and
BadrajithSaumya Kumara compered the event, aptly titled ‘Siripade’, the title
of his most popular hit.
Most
of his tracks were set to music by him and are based on rare and unusual
topics. The lyrics of his popular hit SiriiPadeySamanala
Kanda Penei was written by AttyagelleSarathchandra while
KarunaratneAbeysekara wrote bisikale.
Hubert Perera, SarathWimalaweera and many others also penned his lyrics along
with his wife GertrudePerera (nee Silva). Though he is a Catholic he had also
sung a lot of songs based on Buddhist themes.
In
the year 2012, the 2nd of March, a Felicitation ceremony in his honour was held
in London.
It
is said that passionate music lovers never grow old, because music infuses new
life into them. Vincent de Paul Peiris, who has charmed music lovers with his
golden voice for more than seven decades, was one such rare passionate
singer. He passed away on the 22nd of
July2104 at the ripe old age of 92.
The
song Mal
mala gotha is based on the legend of Saliya and Asokamala. King
Dutugamunu had a son named Saliya Raja Kumara. One day while Prince Saliya was walking in a
forest of Asoka trees, he heard a song sung by a beautiful voice. When he followed
the voice, he saw a pretty damsel plucking Asoka flowers. Saliya immediately
fell in love with the girl who was a beautiful Chandala girl called
Asokamala. Prince Saliya was told that he cannot become the
King, if he continues his love affair with Asokamala. Prince Saliya’s love for
Asokamala was greater than his desire for the kingdom. Against the wishes of
the country, he married Asokamala without any regard to the throne.Dutugamunu’s
younger brother, Saddhatissa wasthus consecrated as King.According to MahawamsaTika (a commentary on the
Mahwamsa), Saliya and Asokamala were husband and wife in a previous life.
The
much acclaimed balletSankranthi,depicting the story of Saliya
and his forbidden loveAsokamalawas produced by DayaniGonsalkorale and was presented
by the Sri Lankan Dance Academy in Wellington New Zealand on the 7th August
2010 at the Dorothy Winstone Centre in Auckland. The Academy was founded in
1975 by Dayani, who is married to my brother Nihal. This can be viewed onYouTube,
and the link is :--https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=URIwOIG6Qng&feature=emb_logo
I began to listen to music and watch films in the early 1950’s. With a galaxy of Sinhala stars like Sunil Santha, CT Fernando, Rukmani Devi, Susil Premaratne, Vincent de Paul Peiris and Kanthi Wakwella I would call it the Golden era of Sinhala music. I thank Mahen for taking us on a journey to those beautiful times growing up in a peaceful Ceylon surrounded by ‘oriental’ music. Vincent De PP songs were popular when I was with my parents living in Gampaha. I recall with such clarity listening to his music performed at parties at the DMO’s house. Fuelled by the amber nectar the songs were sung with uninhibited gusto by a handful of governments servants serving in an outpost. With Dr Maheswaran there was the Inspector of Police, CGR Station master, Irrigation Engineer, a dentist and a local GP Dr Dewapura and several others. As I was a neighbour was a guest for part of the night.
ReplyDeleteThe songs Bicycle, Siri Pade and Mal Mala gotha will indeed transport me to those happy times and will remain close to my heart forevermore.
Comment from Vasantha De Silva.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mahendra for sharing the song and the write up on Vincent De Paul Peiris. Enjoyed your singing and the script. Very well done.
The interpretation of history is changing from time to time. As school children we were told Saliya was not handed over the kingdom after Dutugemunu as he married low cast Asokamala. Over the years a different interpretation has been entertained. Saliya as you know is the son of Ranmenika, a Yaksha gothrika woman Dutugemunu fell in love with, when he was hiding in Kothmale. According to the new interpretation after Dutugemunu's death the ministers decided to handover the kingdom to Tissa, Dutugemunu's brother as Saliya had only 50% Royal blood.
It looks the Yakshas who were the native people have always been discriminated by those who came from India.
Thanks Vasantha. This is the first time I heard about this interpretation. Maybe the reason why Saliya was overlooked was for both reasons, who knows!
ReplyDeleteSpeedi,I too have heard about the son of King Dutugamunu marrying a daughter of Raksha gotra.History also told us that Dutugamunu's younger brother married a woman from Rodiya cast and he lost all the claims to the throne,similar to what happened to King Edward the 8th,in UK.I am sure there are conflicting interpretations of what is written in Mahawansa and Choolawansa.
ReplyDeleteFrom Cyril Ernest.
ReplyDeleteDear Speedy,
That was a nice write up about Vincent de Paul Pieris.Indranie is a very close friend of his daughter - Illonka. They live in England.Her husband Lal is an avid cricket fan. I was not aware that Vincent de Paul was an Old Ben.
Thank You.
Cyril Ernest.
From Nyanis Subesingh.
ReplyDeleteHi Mahendra
Enjoyed your literary and vocal tributes to Vincent de Paul. Interestingly our little family band accompanied Vincent de Paul when he came to the UK to attend his grand daughter’s engagement We accompanied him for Siripade and Kapati mayam a song with the tune almost identical to La cucaracha. We know his daughter Elonka quite well and it was her daughter’s engagement that Vincent de Paul attended. Elonka and her husband Lal Wahalathamthri are good family friends.We also had a session at our place when he came over to dinner .Small world eh?
Hi Nyanis,
ReplyDeleteRemember meeting me at Claude Luvis' place in Gastonia, NC? I am back in Sri Lanka now. Mahendra and I were in the same batch.
Lucky
When I look back on the days we sang old songs at Batch events, I remember playing the piano accordion during sing-songs as at the memorable Final year trip. JC was always in the forefront as he knew every baila there was and if I remember correctly, Tudor used to join but he confessed that he couldn't sing a song but could always "tell a song". Then there was Lucky with his own version of "The carnival is over" which some purists thought had some objectionable lyrics, which really meant that it was very good! Those were the days!
ReplyDeleteI do recall Mahen and his piano accordion at the final year trip. There were many in various states of inebriation singing and dancing unashamedly. The evenings were more raucous with all that happening in various states of undress. I do remember our Dark Knight in fine fettle singing "Suranganie ta malu genawa".
ReplyDeleteThe Mens Common Room hosted many evening parties with music and dancing which were well attended. I got into trouble dancing on the Bridge Table, much to the chagrin of the Bridge Players. Those parties were wonderful events that helped to take our minds away from study and exams. They are great memories which I treasure still
Following extract is by courtesy of Sri Lankan writer Lankaputhra illustrious R. L. Brohier, O. B. E., Hon. D. Litt. (Ceylon). On a certain day, Sali together with a number of young chieftains went sporting in the ‘Mahamega’ of pleasure gardens of the city. Attracted by an Asoka tree which was spangled by bunches of beautiful blossoms he walked up to it. Looking up when he got nearer, he spied among the leafy branches a young women who had climbed the tree to pluck some flowers. She was naked from the waist up, but for scanty scarf hanging from her neck which afforded a semblance of propriety, but had got displaced in her efforts to reach out for the flowers. The beauty of her form in the shade of deep foliage, & her panchakalyana or five feminine graces held Sali enraptured.
ReplyDeletePassion was asleep for the while, but his eyes brimming with a sudden devotion reflected a surpassing tenderness & exquisite bliss, she seemed to him as it were, to be an embodiment of lightening, or like a full moon in a dark cloud.
The prince’s retinue & the other courtiers, who were attracted by Prince Sali’s distraction gathered around him. Art thou a daughter of a man or goddess-for never in this world was beauty seen like thine?’ ‘Tell us who are thy parents, & whether thou art married or unmarried?”
‘Lords,” replied the maiden, “I am of the low-born of this earth, forbidden to even cover my breasts, the daughter of the chief of Chandalas, a despised & scorned caste. I prey thee, noble lords, let me be gone to my people.”
Sali whose heart was wrung on hearing her sad appeal, beckoned to the girl to alight from the tree. Turning to the company gathered around him he remarked in an undertone: “Precious stones & pearls are not rejected by man even though they may be found in dung–heap. Why then should damsel-who no woman in Lanka equals in beauty, be despised because she was born of the Chandalas?”Taking her by the hand he conducted her to a closed palanquin, & escorted her to his palace. “You will in future be named: Asoka mala,’ he said when he received her at the entrance to his palace…”the fragrant flower I picked from the Asoka-tee”Before his death, Dutthagamini sent for his dashing, romantic son, & is understood to have said to him” Thou may’st succeed to the throne, & reign protecting the world, & our religion.” Sali was well aware of the condition on which he ‘may’st’ do so. In its small scape, every line of the tradition carries a moral. In, his choice between the throne, & Chandala women, Sali opens the windows of his soul that saw the finest in everything…he refused the throne. (5)
End.