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“Dinuk Wijeratne embodies in his writing a truly empathetic lens to diverse audiences. This is because Dinuk has such an omnivorous musical appetite, and has the unique ability to synthesize all of his interests into an authentic, compelling voice. All at once, seasoned concert-goers get the full bouquet of beauty, technique, and intricacy they would expect of our greatest composers; new explorers find themselves completely immersed in the rhythmic, melodic appeal of some of the most exciting music of today. I believe Dinuk’s strength is that he is never daunted by what others may have precluded to be impossible.” – Adrian Fung: the Afiara String Quartet; Vice-President of Innovation, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems (2015)*

Duration: 14 minutes

Instrumentation: string quartet

World premiere: 21C Music Festival, Koerner Hall, Toronto, Ontario, May 23rd 2015

Commissioned by the Afiara String Quartet

*Winner of the 2016 JUNO & ECMA: ‘Classical Composition of the Year’

Composer’s original program note (2015):

 “I found the concept of this unique project to be irresistible: ‘Pop’-influenced music for a Classical string quartet. Almost as irresistible as the musicians involved. The ‘Afiaras’ (as I like to call them) are astonishingly equidistant from tradition and innovation. And so I sought to create for them my own kind of ‘collision of old and new’, where the beauty and meaning of vintage poems might inspire the kind of loops, grooves, and catchy tunes heard in Pop. The melodies are, in fact, settings of the poem texts with the words stripped away. Contained in ‘A Letter from the After-life’ are two quotes from Schubert’s Death & the Maiden quartet. Ironically, they struck me as being Pop-like and so I allowed them to emerge as though improvised; then to be improvised upon.”

The poems of ‘Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems’

1. ‘A letter from the After-life’
I sent my Soul through the Invisible,
Some letter of that After-life to spell:
And by and by my Soul return’d to me,
And answer’d “I Myself am Heav’n and Hell”

from the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1048–1131), trans. Edward Fitzgerald (1809–1883)

2. ‘I will not let thee go’
I will not let thee go.
Ends all our month-long love in this?
Can it be summed up so,
Quit in a single kiss?
I will not let thee go.
…
I have thee by the hands,
And will not let thee go. 

Excerpt from the poem by Robert Bridges (1844–1930)

SCORE & AUDIO

1 – A letter from the after-life

2 – I will not let you go

Purchase full score and parts in PDF format – $35 USD (please allow up to 48 hours for email delivery).

NB: There is a rental fee for the string orchestra version of ‘A Letter from the Afterlife’. Please contact for inquiries.

'Exuberantly creative'

the New York Times

'An artist who reflects a positive vision of our cultural future.'

the Toronto Star

'A modern polymath...one of Canada’s
most sought-after classical artists'

The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra

'I'm a big fan of Dinuk. To experience the birth of a new piece of his is exciting.'

James Ehnes

'The [Tabla Concerto] is fantastic, complex, and brilliant.
The orchestration and solo writing are masterful. I didn’t
think one could pull off [such] a concerto, but Dinuk did.
I don’t know of anything like it. The audience went crazy
after it for good reason.'

John Corigliano

'[The] mesmerizing Sri Lankan-Canadian composer/conductor/pianist Dinuk
Wijeratne…proving his inestimable chops in all three disciplines while living up
to his creative reputation.'

the WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

'He is representative of the best of a new generation of musicians
who work fearlessly in a variety of styles with flair and imagination'

Ara Guzelimian
Dean - the Juilliard School
Former Director - Carnegie Hall

'Dinuk Wijeratne is a musical force to be reckoned with.'

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

'Internationally acclaimed'

the North Sea Jazz Festival

'Compelling'

The Telegraph (UK) on the Tabla Concerto

'Dinuk Wijeratne continues to astonish us'

the Chronicle Herald

'Dinuk is one of the most gifted musicians I know.'

Bernhard Gueller
Music Director Laureate - Symphony Nova Scotia
Former Music Director - Johannesburg Philharmonic, Cape Town Philharmonic, Nuremburg Symphony

'Young Dynamo'

the Coast

'[Dinuk] is a fabulous composer writing music full of energy,
expressivity, rhythmic complexity and non-stop excitement.
As a composer, conductor, pianist, improviser and experimenter
across various musical genres, Dinuk redefines what a classical
musician is and does.'

Christos Hatzis

'An artist internationally respected for his virtuosity and sensitivity'

the CBC

'Wijeratne's multi-disciplinary piano-playing sounds like
the work of an entire backing band....stretch[ing] his
audience's conception of how the instrument should sound'

Lebanon Daily Star

'[The] Tabla Concerto is a pioneering work of musical fusion,
a seamless integration of the most complex aspects of
North Indian Classical Tabla music into a totally Western model.'

Bernhard Gueller
Music Director Laureate - Symphony Nova Scotia
Former Music Director - Johannesburg Philharmonic, Cape Town Philharmonic, Nuremburg Symphony

'Dinuk Wijeratne’s Tabla Concerto is a breath of fresh air
in the repertoire – a vibrant, colourful piece that orchestras
love to play, and audiences will never forget.'

JoAnn Falletta
Music Director - Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra & Virginia Symphony Orchestra
Principal Conductor - the Ulster Orchestra

'Remarkable piano artistry....he has an enviable touch'

the California Chronicle

'Wijeratne’s extraordinary setting was the last of three concerts featuring
works commemorating Bishop. Not only interesting but apocalyptic - an
exciting whirlpool of energy and tranquility, marking the impact of Portuguese
steel on Brazilian rainforest and aboriginal humanity, and rising in its latter
stages to an apotheosis of movement and drums. The music was a brutal
exposition of colonialism at its nastiest, yet colourful, exotic, vividly original,
and sent over the top by the last section.'

the CHRONICLE HERALD on 'Brazil, January 1, 1502'

'Dinuk embodies the true meaning of an artist. His creative
approach to composition brings a fresh virtuosity to an age old
art form. Invisible Cities is a milestone in the genre.'

TorQ Percussion Quartet

'Voraciously curious, indefatigably adventurous,
Dinuk is an artist who appears to be constantly
challenging himself.'

Sri Lanka Sunday Times

'[Love Triangle] is the kind of direction I like to see composers who are writing for chamber music go in.
What [Dinuk] is able to do so expertly is articulate a mix of sounds, and a mix of worlds.'

Roman Borys, the GRYPHON TRIO

'[The] East-meets-West work bristles with the energy of a coiled spring,
fuelled by a near-impossible melting pot of Indian tabla-like dance rhythms,
funky jazz riffs, tonal clusters and extended instrumental techniques. It left
the impression one had just journeyed into the heart of a strange new world
of breathtaking beauty and joyous energy, and it earned a rousing standing
ovation by the bewitched crowd.'

the WINNIPEG FREE PRESS on 'Gajaga Vannama'

'One of the most exciting compositional voices in this country right now.'

the CBC (2023)

'The Tabla Concerto [is] an east-west fusion at once beguiling, deeply serious and joyous.
Wijeratne creates an entirely original soundscape.'

The Guardian, UK