James de S Wijeyeratne: a musical doctor.

Dr Wijeyeratne wrote several books. Two of the books are specifically on music. His first book was Musical moments: a series of short essays (London: Reeves,? 1924). His second book was a novel. 77ie exiles: a tale of Ceylon student life in London (The Ceylon Morning Leader Press, 1926), dedicated to Miss Gladys de Soysa, his future wife. Even this book has two chapters devoted mainly to music, entitled "An evening with Chopin" and "A Rachmaninov recital". One of the characters in the novel is Dr Max van Linder, a Ceylonese medical doctor who had qualified at University College Hospital, and was doing postgraduate studies at the London School of Tropical Medicine. A gentle and thoughtful character with strong musical interests, Dr van Linder seems like a self-protrait of the author. Dr. Wijeyeratne's third book was Studies on musical apprecia­ tion: with special reference to western music in Ceylon (London: Reeves,? 1927). Musical moments and Studies on musical appreciation were approved by the Education Department in 1934 for use in school libraries. There is also a book called Daughter of Lanka: a tale of modern Ceylon, in which the principal character is a London-re­ turned Dr Raymond Piyas inghe. And a fifth book is Ummada-Citta: a historical romance of ancient Ceylon (Negombo, 1933).