It was at the age of 17 years that Domingos Santano Rodrigues developed an interest in music. The boy from the picturesque village of Arambol learnt the solfagio from mestri Caetan D’Souza, who was then the church choir master. “My mentor taught the village children all the musical instruments free of cost,” Rodrigues narrates. “He had a band of his own and his band members would participate for feasts, weddings and tiatrs. But on the sly, they would perform at various festive occasions and earn independently. This attitude irked mestri Caetan and he gave up the responsibility of tutoring the novices,” he adds.

“My father, Francis Rodrigues, was a toddy tapper by profession, but was equally involved in cashew plantation and fishing trade. He approached mestri Caetan and requested him to teach me the wind instrument. Initially, due to past experiences, he was reluctant, but later obliged,” informs this musician. “As my guru was an expert in penning ‘solfam’ and well versed with all blowing instruments, I slowly picked up the skill of playing the trumpet and started walking in his footsteps. This initiative helped reduce his burden,” he continues.

Rodrigues, popularly known as Dominic de Arambol on the tiatr stage, encountered rough waters along the journey to where he is today. “I used to spend my early mornings assisting my dad in toddy tapping and then head to school. When evening dawned, I would push the canoe in the sea and go fishing,” he reveals.

When mestri Caetan passed away due to a massive heart attack, a void was created and Rodrigues stepped into his shoes to assist in church choirs. “Those who were trained under the tutelage of mestri Caetan did not attend his funeral, but many craved to be his successor in the church. In order to take a final decision on the issue, a meeting was called and villager Agostinho Mandrekar suggested that only mestri Caetan’s assistant can continue as choir master. The congregation supported his decision,” he informs.

For nine consecutive years, Rodrigues continued his services as a mestri in the parish church. He also formed his own band – Domson – and performed for village tiatrs, feasts and weddings. During his dedicated services as the choir master, Rodrigues earned merely Rs 60 annually as his salary and for every mass, he would get a stipend of Rs 2. He sought a hike from the concerned authorities, but to no avail.

“My inner voice told me not to continue, but get out of the village and I would be a winner,” he confesses. “The parish priest called a meeting and informed the assembly that I was quitting. The concerned authorities decided to increase my salary to Rs 2,500, but I remained firm on my resolve,” he says.

In 1983 Rodrigues gave up his services at the parish level and headed to Mumbai for better prospects. In a couple of days, he was introduced to Alfred Rose by musician Babush. “Within a fortnight, I was asked to prepare my passport and along with Alfred Rose’s troupe, I flew to Kuwait for a musical show,” he recollects.

Thereafter, he was a part of presentations at tiatrs staged by C Alvares, Prem Kumar, Wilfi Rebimbus, Jacinto Vaz, M Boyer and several other directors in Mumbai. After 7 years of fruitful performances in Mumbai, in 1989, when Rodrigues’ father expired, he decided to return to Goa.

On returning home, this musician went to meet fellow musician Josinho from Velim. He had met him in Bombay during an interview wherein around 72 musicians across India had assembled for an audition, out of which only 13 were selected, including Rodrigues. To his surprise, noted director Jose Rod along with comedian Filipe visited this musician’s residence and requested him to perform for his tiatr ‘Mauli’. “In the month of March, as cashew plantation was at its peak, I obliged only for limited shows. I performed only 11 shows and returned home, but he continued till 179 shows,” he mentions. 

Thereafter, it was joint performances with Josinho de Velim and the duo contributed much in the arena of music, with inputs for almost 250 cassettes. After the duo decided to part ways, Rodrigues performed for Menino de Bandar’s troupe for 10 years, followed by Prince Jacob’s troupe for 10 years and 4 months. 

This year’s recipient of the State Cultural Award, Rodrigues has also performed in tiatrs staged by comedian Agostinho, Mariano Fernandes and several other directors. His musical contribution towards Marathi dramas staged at Arambol, Bollywood films at Mumbai and circus shows at Margao, Mapusa and Sanvordem cannot be ignored. 

“The efforts put in by musicians of yesteryears to learn solfagio are immense and intense. Today, music is available at your fingertips with the help of chords. Still, learning solfagio is very important as it makes the task of penning notes easier. And if you are well versed with ‘solfam’ (reading and writing), there is no dearth to your prosperity and fame along with other musicians,” Rodrigues signs off.