The music of Sri Lanka originates in cultural traditions deriving from three influences: the religious practices of Buddhism, the aftereffects of Portuguese colonization, and the commercial and historical influence of Indian culture - specifically, Bollywood cinema. The Theravada sect of Buddhism has influenced Sri Lankan Music since Buddhism arrived in Sri Lanka two millennia ago.
Portuguese colonizers arrived centuries after the Buddha, in the mid 15th century, bringing with them cantiga ballads, ukuleles and guitars; as well as descendants of Africa (referred to, historically, as kaffrinhas), who brought with them a style of music now referred to as baila. The people of these two regions, and the musical traditions they brought with them, served to contribute further to the diverse musical roots of modern Sri Lankan music.
Read more about Music Of Sri Lanka: Folk Music, Traditional Folk Music of Sri Lanka, Endemic Instruments (The Béra), Western Music, Recorded Music, Twenty First Century Woks, Rock Music
Famous quotes containing the words music of and/or music:
“If mass communications blend together harmoniously, and often unnoticeably, art, politics, religion, and philosophy with commercials, they bring these realms of culture to their common denominator—the commodity form. The music of the soul is also the music of salesmanship. Exchange value, not truth value, counts.”
—Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979)
“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but nature more,”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)