It was during his time at rubber company, he learned music from musicians T. Sandarasekara and Lionel Edirisinghe. Then he excelled sitar and violin. During this time, he worked as a sub-music director for a stage play called
Carnival. The play was produced by his father and wrote by Mathupala, his elder uncle. His younger uncle A. D. Piyasena also played a child character in this play. In 1942, Somapala passed as a Radio Artist. His first song was recorded with renowned musicians
Sunil Santha and Surya Sankar Molligoda. At the same time, he met his future wife Chithra Perera. In 1946, he first sang a song with Chitra. He composed many songs to Chitra and together they sang several duets including:
Yamuna Yamuna Sobana,
Dambulu Gale and
Sukomala Bada Lelawa. For this song
Yamuna Yamuna Sobana, Somapala first used clarinet, saxophone, piano, guitar, drummer, double bass. That song became world famous where the daughter of Governor Soulbury, Ramsbottom requested this song and sent it to the
His Master's Voice label which was put on disk and sent abroad. In 1954, the film
East in the West produced by the British Department of State Information had the good fortune of incorporating the song
Isurumuniya into a foreign film for the first time. The duo later made several popular songs in the early classical song history such as:
Lalita Kalā Opa Karanā,
Sīgiri Landunē æyi Oba Thanivī,
Dambulu Galē,
Dunhinda Hælenā,
Sukomala Banda Lelavā,
Uḍaraṭa Kandukara Siriyā Paradana,
Sarasamu Lankā Naḷavamu Lankā,
Isurumuṇiyehi Pætali Galeka,
Dakuṇu Lakē Aga Nagarē Gālu Purē Siri,
Nuvara Alankārē,
Nuvara Vævē,
Pembara Mātā and
Raṭa Raṭa Ekkoṭa. On 4 March 1955, he became a film music director with the blockbuster
Asoka. Somapala composed the music for the film and all the songs were extremely popular and all the songs were taken from Hindi and Tamil films. Some songs were taken from the Hindi films
Anarkali and
Dosth and also from the Tamil films
Avan. Some songs such as
Katharagame,
Pem Geethe and
Sumihiri Paane were recorded twice in Sri Lanka and in Madras for commercials. In 1958, Somapala became a radio producer and became an additional music controller. Somapala was involved in a film for the second time in 1956 with
Dingiri Menika. In the film, he was a co-music director with an Indian composer S. S. Veda. In the film, he produced the popular songs:
Peradiga Muthu Atayay Me and
Goviyawe Rataka Bale. Somapala directed music for 51 films of many genre which include the blockbusters
Deyiyannē Raṭē,
Deepaśhikā,
Hathara Maha Nidhānaya,
Kinkiṇi Paāda,
Sudu Duva,
Akka Nagō,
Pravēsam Venna,
Dæn Matakada,
Hathara Denāma Sūrayō,
Adarē Hitenava Dækkama,
Abhirahasa,
Suhada Pætuma,
Thuṣhārā,
Sūrayā Sūrayāmayi,
Lassana Kella,
Damayanthi,
Pembara Madhū and
Chaṇḍi Shyāmā. All the songs composed and directed by Somapala for the film
Deepashika were popular but were imitated from Indian film songs. Somapala and Chitra won the Swarna Sankha Award for Popular Film Music Director in 1966. They have performed in London, Paris, Wales, California and Geneva. However, in the late 1983, many people accuse Somapala of copying Hindi melodies. But, he stated that he put a series of local lyrics to a Hindi song and present it through a series of melodies that touch the heart of the local fans. On Sunday, 18 May 1952, Somapala wrote an article in Lankadeepa entitled 'Why do I do hybrid music?' to answer criticism. Most of his film songs were written by
Karunaratne Abeysekera where all became popular. ==Filmography==