"Immortal Melodies" is the first ever Esraj Instrumental CD to be released in Sri Lanka.

The CD is an instrumental collection of 16 sinhala and hindi songs played by Sarath Kumarasinghe, an accomplished young musician who is one of the foremost Esraj players in Sri Lanka.

The song collection for the CD was selected from more than 150 songs. All the Hindi songs selected for the CD were from immensely popular films released in the sixties and seventies originally sung by immortals greats, the likes of Mohamed Rafi, Latha Mangeskar, Mukhesh and Manna Dey.

Sinhala songs are a mix of golden classics of the sixties and seventies, and some of the very popular songs of the nineties, sung by singers of the young generation. The original singers include Pandit W.D.Amaradeva, Latha Walpola, Dayaratne Ranatunga, Nanda Malini, T.M.Jayaratne, H.R.Jothipala, Milton Mallawarachchi, Sunil Edirisinghe & Deepika Priyadharshini Peiris.

The greats behind the melodies include Padmashree Shanker/Jaikishen, Naushad, Ravi, Pandith Amaradeva, Premasiri Khemadasa, P.Dunstan de Silva, Rohana Weerasinghe, Rohitha Wijesuriya, M.M.A.Haque & Mohamed Salie.

The CD is a production Vijaya Ramanayake of Tharanga International Limited, the pioneers of records & cassettes production in Sri Lanka.

Acknowledgements

The producers of Immortal Melodies while delighted to be involved in this important endeavour, wish to kindly acknowledge the contributions made by all the esteemed musicians of Sri Lanka and India, whose haunting melodies have thrilled millions of filmgoers and music listeners in many countries for more than 5 decades.

This CD endeavours to make an instrumental interpretation of these undying musical pieces while bringing out the soothingly sweet tone of the Esraj to the ears of the light music listners all over the world.

Esraj (Esraaj) is an instrument with a recorded history of several centuries. With its' origin in India, the instrument is predominantly used as an accompaniment for classical music singers and musicians.

The shape of the instrument resembles a smaller version of the well known insrument, the Sitar. The fretboard and fret placingss of the instrument are identical to that of the Sitar. However, the similarity almost ends there.

The Esraj is a string instrument played with a bow. The instrument has four main strings and fifteen vibration strings. Only the first (and occasionally the second) strings are played. Other strings serve as vibration strings to make a full and deep, soothing tone.

Unlike the Sitar which has a bottom part which is hard, the Esraj has a leather covering at the bottom similar to that of a Banjo with a bridge which keeps the strings together. The bowing is done just above the bridge, as in violins and violas. The Esraj is played while the player is in a sitting position with the bottom part of the instrument (where bowing is done) is resting on the lap of the player.

There are two major playing styles of this instrument. In the Bhatkhande style, the top part of the instrument is rested against the left shoulder of the player while playing, whereas in the Shanthiniketan style, the instrument is held on a freestanding ninety degree posture while playing.

Song List

Like to listen to some of the songs ?

We have small clips of six songs from the CD>. These songs are playable with Real Audio or Windows Media (or any audio playing software plug-ins. Go ahead. Enjoy some quality music.

(If you do not have Real Audio Player or Windows Media, you can download from the links we give below).

Real Player


Windows Media

About Sarath

Sarath is an accomplished Esraj player in Sri Lanka. He commenced playing the instrument at the age of 12 years while in the secondary school. A product of the Thurstan College, Colombo, he was the first student from his school to offer oriental music for the G.C.E. Ordinary Level Examination.

Sarath travelled to Lucknow, India in 1975 and obtained a first division grade in the Prathama Examination for vocal and instrumental music. He has participated in numerous recordings and performed on radio television and stage performances.

His first solo recording of six sinhala and hindi songs was telecasted by Independent Television Network of Sri Lanka in the year 2000, which was the first musical programme in the country which featured the Esraj as the lead voice.

The background musical score for "Wekande Walawwa", the latest film by the distinguished director, Dr.Lester James Pieris carries Sarath's Esraj musical pieces, composed by Pradeep Ratnayake, the young music director, who was responsible for the musical score of the film.

Delivery: Registered mail

Delivery time: 7 days

Payment terms: Cash, bank draft or money order

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OTHER COUNTRIES

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