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
Sri Lankabhimanya Lester James Peries ( Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකාභිමාන්ය ලෙස්ටර් ජේම්ස් පීරිස්; 5 April 1919 – 29 April 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director, screenwriter, a ...
' films ''
Rekava'' and ''
Sandesaya
''Sandesaya'' ( Sinhalese language word meaning ''The Message'') is a 1960 film. The film based on the war between the Sinhalese people and the Portuguese invaders in Sri Lanka. It was directed by Sri Lankan film director Lester James Peries. It ...
'' in 1956 and 1960. In a later comeback, he produced several experimental works.
Personal life
Sunil Santha was born on 14 April 1915 on the
Sinhalese New Year's Day in Dehiyagatha, Ja-Ela, Sri Lanka. Both his parents died before he was two years old, and Santha was raised by his grandmother. At an early age he came to the limelight when he played King Dutugamunu in a village play. One villager adorned him with a battery-powered lighted necklace.
[SunilSamara, A collection of articles (CD) – Central Archives Colombo. Sri lanka] He had his education at Dehiyagatha Vidyalaya,
St. Benedict's College, Colombo
St. Benedict's College ( Sinhala: සාන්ත බෙනඩික් විදුහල, Tamil: புனித ஆசீர்வாதப்பர் கல்லூரி) is a Catholic school located in the Kotahena area of Colombo, Sri ...
, Thudella school and
St. Aloysius' College, Galle.
At St. Benedict's College, Santha passed the school leaving certificate examination as the first in the island, with the highest marks in his class as a young adult and was awarded the Weeraratne award. In 1933, he completed the Teachers Final Examination and began work as a teacher at the Mt. Calvary School currently known as
St. Aloysius' College, Galle. While tenured there, Santha led the school to three consecutive victories at the Southern Schools Music Competition. In 1939 he passed the Intermediate Gandarva Examination and received a certificate in physical training. He also learned to play the piano and guitar at that time.
He acted and produced several dramas including "Hamlet" during this period.
In 1952, he married school teacher Bernadet Leelawathi Jayasekara.
Santha died on 11 April 1981 from a heart attack shortly after his son Jagath drowned under mysterious circumstances in a swimming pool.
His son Lanka Santha is an engineer who is married to Calista Rohini, an agricultural graduate.
Music career
In 1940 Santha gave up teaching and travelled to
Shantiniketan
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 s ...
to study music. The following year Santha enrolled at the
Bhatkhande Music Institute
Bhatkhande Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya (BSVV), formerly Bhatkhande Music Institute Deemed University, Bhatkhande College of Hindustani Music and Marris College of Music, is a state university in Lucknow. Established in 1926 by Vishnu Narayan Bhat ...
and worked to get his Visharadha Degree in 1944. He passed the final exam as the first in the first division in Sitar and Vocals, the first non-Indian Asian to do so. Joseph graduated in “Sangeetha Vishaarada” from the Bhathkanda University of Musicology and returned to Sri Lanka in 1952 and shunned his English name, Joseph John and adapted Sunil Santha. He then adopted the name "Sunil Santha".
During his studies in India he regularly contributed to Sri Lankan newspapers.
On 2 March 1946 Santha held a recital for the Kumaratunga Commemoration ceremony and was asked to record for
Radio Ceylon. Over the next six years, he would have a string of popular songs including "Olu Pipila", "Handapane", "Ho Ga Rella Negay", "Bowitiya Dan Palukan Vare", "Suwada Rosa Mal Nela", "Kokilayange", and "Mihikathanalawala." The song "Olu Pipila" is the first song to be recorded at then Radion Ceylon. Santha stressed his Sinhala heritage in his songs opting to sing in Sinhala rather than English and not copy Hindustani and Tamil songs of India. In the meantime, he joined
Hela Havula
The Hela Havula is a Sinhalese literary organisation founded by Kumaratunga Munidasa in January 1941. 'Hela Hawula' was formed as the only organization in Sri Lanka to protect and uplift the Sinhala language, Sinhala land and Sinhala culture. 'H ...
literary association. A diligent songwriter himself, Santha sang songs written by lyricists like Huberth Dissanayake,
Kumaratunga Munidasa
Kumaratunga Munidasa ( Sinhala: කුමාරතුංග මුනිදාස; 25 July 1887 – 2 March 1944) was a pioneer Sri Lankan ( Sinhalese) linguist, grammarian, commentator, and writer. He founded the Hela Havula movement, wh ...
,
Raipiyel Tennakoon,
Arisen Ahubudu
Kalasuri Arisen Ahubudu ( Sinhala: අරිසෙන් අහුබුදු; 18 March 1920 – 26 May 2011) was a Sri Lankan writer, orator, scholar, playwright, teacher (Guru), Sinhala lyricist, author and poet. He is a member of the Hela Ha ...
and Fr.
Marcelline Jayakody
Fr. Marcelline Jayakody ( Sinhala: මර්සලින් ජයකොඩි පියතුමා) (3 June 1902 ─ January 15, 1998) was a Sri Lankan Catholic priest, musician, lyricist, author, journalist and an exponent of indigenous cult ...
.
In 1952, Santha was banned from Radio Ceylon after refusing to audition for Indian musician Ratanjankar, whom the corporation had brought from South India to oversee the direction of music on their stations.
Santha experienced monetary problems after being terminated from Radio Ceylon. His songbooks were plagiarised, his songs were sold without consent or royalties by copyright violators. He tried his hand at various trades like photography, selling clothes and electronics over the next few years.
In 1953, Santha started a small school at the Maradana Newton building, vowing to teach 10 pupils for free. He often helped fellow artists and promising talent. He wrote to newspapers about the plight of
Ananda Samarakoon and tried to bring attention to the composer of the national anthem. At a time when Albert Perera (later known as
W.D. Amaradeva) who used to play violin at Sunil's performances, was in need of help, Sunil gave him two of his music classes at Panadura to teach and make a living. Sunil also helped collect money to send Amaradewa for further studies in India.
In 1955 journalist
DB Dhanapala started a campaign to expose Santha's plight and raised some money through his column on ''Lankadeepa''.
In 1967 Director General Mr.
Neville Jayaweera
Neville Jayaweera (23 October 1930 - 10 May 2020) was a member of the Ceylon Civil Service (1955-1972). He was handpicked by the Prime Minister of Ceylon, Dudley Senanayake, to be both Chairman and Director-General of the Ceylon Broadcasting Cor ...
asked Santha to come back to the national radio service. Santha worked with
W.D. Amaradeva and H. W. Rupasinghe to audition the artists.
Sunil Shantha was the first to compose the world's first one note song which is a masterpiece, in 1967. It is named as "Gum Gum Gum" (Wasp Song), which is sung in the tune of a Wasp's hum. In Sinhalese, the song is called as "ගුම් ගුම් ගුම් (බඹර ගීය)". Sunil Shantha used to sing this masterpiece along with his colleague
Ivor Dennis
Kala Keerthi Pasquel Ge Don Augustine Ivor Dennis ( si, ඊවෝර් ඩෙනිස්) (28 May 1932 – 18 June 2018) was a popular Sri Lankan veteran playback singer who was also known as the former student of veteran icon Sunil Santha ...
for the performances and for the ''Radio Ceylon'' by the time.
Santha moved into his uncle's house in 1970 as he was evicted from the rental house he lived in. In 1977 a record titled ''Sunil Gee'' was produced.
In 1980, a record titled ''Seegiril Gee'' was produced.
This contained a set of songs written and composed by Sunil with melodies using only four notes. The lyrics were based on Sigiri Kurutu Gee (sigiri graffiti). The songs are remarkable in that they used traditional Sri Lankan drums and other instruments to create a unique sound.
See also
Hela Havula
The Hela Havula is a Sinhalese literary organisation founded by Kumaratunga Munidasa in January 1941. 'Hela Hawula' was formed as the only organization in Sri Lanka to protect and uplift the Sinhala language, Sinhala land and Sinhala culture. 'H ...
References
External links
Interview_with_Gurudevi_Sunil_Shantha_in_1977_by_Radio_Ceylon_also_known_as_Sri_Lanka_Broadcasting_Corporation_[Sinhala/nowiki>.html" ;"title="inhala">
Interview with Gurudevi Sunil Shantha in 1977 by Radio Ceylon also known as Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation [Sinhala
/nowiki>">inhala">Interview with Gurudevi Sunil Shantha in 1977 by Radio Ceylon also known as Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation [Sinhala
/nowiki>
Old Sinhalese Music by Sunil Santha
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santha, Sunil
1915 births
1981 deaths
Hela Havula
20th-century Sri Lankan male singers
Sri Lankan Roman Catholics
Sinhalese singers