Lionel Edirisinghe (17 January 1913 – 22 May 1988) was a renowned Sri Lankan

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

and the inaugural principal at the

University of the Visual & Performing Arts University of the Visual and Performing Arts (UVPA) ( si, සෞන්දර්ය හා කලා විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, கட்புல, அரங்கேற்றக் கலைகள் பல்கலைக ...

Biography

Edirisinghe was born on 17 January 1913 at

Baddegama Baddegama is a main town in Galle District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka. Baddegama is accessible from the Southern Expressway, and is located from the Baddegama Expressway Inter Exchange and from Colombo. The main livelihood for the town wa ...

in the

Galle District Galle ( si, ගාල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''gālla distrikkaya''; ta, காலி மாவட்டம் ''Kāli māvattam'') is a district in Southern Province, Sri Lanka. It is one of 25 districts of Sri Lanka, th ...

Southern Province, Sri Lanka The Southern Province ( si, දකුණු පළාත ''Dakuṇu Paḷāta'', ta, தென் மாகாணம் ''Theṉ Mākāṇam'') of Sri Lanka is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of t ...

. He received his primary and secondary education from the Meepavala Buddhist School, Richmond College and

Mahinda College Mahinda College is a Buddhist boys' school in Galle, Sri Lanka. The school was established on 1 March 1892 by the Buddhist Theosophical Society led by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. As of May 2022 it is a national school providing primary and secon ...

. While he was having his secondary education at

, he acted in stage dramas like Sakunthala, Ramayanaya, Wessanthara and Sri Wickrama and was a leading member of college choir as well. He then studied at the

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the w ...

Santiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

, where he was a classmate of

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

. Edirisinghe then studied at Bhatkhande College of Music in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

, where he was the first Sinhalese to graduate with a Visharada degree, a few months ahead of compatriot,

Sunil Santha Sunil Santha was a Sri Lankan composer, singer and lyricist. He was pivotal in the development of Sinhala music and folk songs in the mid to late 1940s and early 1950s. He composed the beloved soundtracks to Lester James Peries' films ''Rekava'' ...

. Upon his return to Ceylon he was appointed the Chief Inspector of Music, at the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, which coincided with music becoming a subject in the schools curriculum. In 1948 Edrisinghe was selected to be a part of Lanka Gandharva Sabha's judging panel to determine the country's

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

. The winning entry, ''Sri Lanka Matha Pala Yasa Mahima'', was a controversial selection as it was written by P. B. Elangasinha and the music was by Edrisinghe, both of whom were on the judging panel. Ultimately the government in 1951 selected ''Namo Namo Matha'' to become the national anthem. Edirsinghe then became the founding principal of the Government College of Fine Arts (Music) in October 1953, which is now known as the

. His talents were acknowledged by greats such as

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

and

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

. In 1986 he was awarded with the honorary title of 'Kalashoori'. Edirisinghe died on 22 May 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edirisinghe, Lionel 1913 births 1988 deaths Alumni of Richmond College, Galle Alumni of Mahinda College Sinhalese musicians Sri Lankan composers Sri Lankan musicologists 20th-century musicologists People from Galle District Academia in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan academics Academics from Galle People from Galle