The seventh death anniversary of veteran lyricist Ajantha Ranasinghe falls on March 2. A commemoration ceremony titled ‘Ajantha Gee Avarajana’ will be held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute at 3pm.

Ajantha Ranasinghe

Although Ranasinghe is no more the songs written by him will survive for posterity.  His works dominated the music field in the 70s and there rarely was a film at that time without songs written by him.  We have inherited from his tinkling chain of songs those with a romantic flavour and those depicting woes and sorrows of love. Close to a 1000 lyrics that gained mass popularity had been penned by him.  Ranasinghe performed a unique role as a lyricist whose imagination blended with a mastery of the language to produce some memorable lyrics.

 

Melodies of his songs were a result of his linguistic mastery in Sanskrit and Sinhala.  Ranasinghe was not only a composer, but also a researcher.

 

The rhythmic melody of his songs contrasts with the classical beauty of the theme.  Children’s songs composed by him are simple in language but have deep meaning. 

 

His love for the cultural heritage of the land and literature is worth mentioning. Ranasinghe had been greatly influenced by folk songs. It is seldom that we find lyricists of his calibre who can mould the language to produce a work of art. 

 

 

Songs written by him were sung by Pandith Amaradewa, Visharada Nanda Malini, Dayaratne Ranatunga, Latha Walola, Rukmani Devi, Milton Mallawarachchi, Sangeeth Nipun Sanath Nandasiri, Neela Wickeremasinghe, Victor Ratnayke and H.R.Jothipala, Edward Jayakody and many others. 

 

A song is an aesthetic achievement which contains the imagination of the composer. When music is added the vocalist is able to produce a forceful performance.