Traditional music
Traditional Sri Lankan music is intimately linked to the country's colonial history. The Portuguese were the first to arrive in the country in the early 16th century. They brought with them and introduced the guitar and the ukulele. The Portuguese were also accompanied by Africans, conscripts or slaves, who brought a style of music called baila . A mixture of Afro-Portuguese and Sri Lankan elements, baila is one of the oldest musical genres in the country. However, its entry into popular culture only occurred in the 1960s, in the capable hands of Wally Bastianz, a true pioneer who adapted African rhythms to the Sinhalese language and allowed the genre to permeate the society. Later, it was the great names of the genre such as M.S. Fernando (nicknamed "the Emperor of baila") and Maxwell Mendis who brought it to its peak in the 1990s, when it was Desmond de Silva who was considered the king of the genre. Still very popular, jerky and feverish, this music has married with time other aesthetics such as calypso or electronic music to give birth to new genres.
Another remarkable traditional genre, nurthi is the adoption of a dramatic form inspired by Indian theater that appeared in Sri Lanka in the late 19th century. Characterized by its dialogues declaimed to music, the genre is an important part of the local musical production.
One of the great names, if not the greatest, of Sinhalese music is by far Amaradeva (1927-2016). Born Wannakuwatta Mitiwaduge Don Albert Perera, this singer, violinist and composer revolutionized local music by crossing Sinhalese tradition and Indian raga, giving birth to a new genre, Sarala Gee. A fan of all kinds of experimentation, he also incorporated Western harmonies into his music and often used Indian instruments such as the sitar (a long-necked Indian lute), the tabla (a percussion instrument of Indian origin) and the harmonium (similar to the organ). Through his ubiquitous work, he has worked for theater, television and film - transcending generations and ethnic or class affiliations, Amaradeva has achieved a unique, almost royal status.
Not as revered but still adored, Premasiri Khemadasa (1937-2008) was one of the country's most celebrated musicians. Initially a flautist, he became famous for composing music that combines Sinhalese folk tunes with Hindustani and Western influences. The presence of lyrical songs in his music is particularly noteworthy, demonstrating a thorough knowledge of opera and harmony. Finally, among the "fathers" of modern Sinhalese music, it is impossible not to mention Ananda Samarakone (1911-1962), who also shone in the register of Sarala Gee but is best remembered as the author of Sri Lanka Matha, the Sri Lankan national anthem.
Genres, musicians or works that are all opportunities to appreciate the typical instruments of the country such as the large family of drums including the gataberaya (or gatabera), yak-beraya, dawula, thammatama, udekki or rabana, the thalampata cymbals, horanewa, a kind of double-reed oboe or the hakkediya, a conch used as a trumpet.
One suspects that there are few occasions as beautiful as the Esala Perahera in Kandy to embrace the musical (and other) traditions of Sri Lanka. This festival, one of the most colorful in all of Asia, takes place over ten days and delves deep into the heart of Sri Lankan culture. Alternatively, the Galle Music Festival is a good option, with part of its program devoted to traditional music.
Classical music
It was the Portuguese who introduced classical music to Sri Lanka during colonization, although there was a marked increase during the English era. Since then, Western classical music has been played and taught in the country, including in schools during secondary and tertiary education. Although the country has not produced any major players in the field, a few names remain important at the national level and have sometimes even been noticed internationally. Starting with the aforementioned Premasiri Khemadasa, who fused the best of the local folk heritage with classical Indian ragas and the Western musical tradition to compose great symphonies like Muhuda and Mage Kale Mavni. He also composed a cantata Pirinivan Mangalya, probably the only Buddhist cantata, and is one of the few, if not the only musician, to have composed operas in Sinhalese. Manasawila is undoubtedly the one that made him famous.
Among the musicians, the world-renowned cellist Rohan de Saram, a Briton of Sri Lankan origin, and the pianists Rohan de Silva and Malinee Peris, as well as the violinist Dinesh Subasinghe (known for reintroducing the Ravanahatha, a fiddle that is an ancestor of the violin), are among the most renowned. However, it is really the pianist Tanya Ekanayaka who has made a name for herself in recent years thanks to several albums released on the excellent Naxos label, in which references to Sri Lankan folk melodies are multiplied. The Sri Lanka Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest orchestras in South Asia and performs regularly in Colombo. This is an opportunity to hear the best of the country in this field.
Popular music
Sri Lankan music has known two cardinal figures embodied by Sunil Santha and Rukmani Devi. The former is considered one of the great benefactors of national music. An influential composer and singer, many of the film hits of the 1950s and 1960s contained one of his compositions. An immortal figure of the local "variety", just like Rukmani Devi, a leading actress in the mid-twentieth century and an outstanding singer who was nicknamed the "Nightingale of Sri Lanka". Adored in hundreds of films where she demonstrated her talent, Rukmani Devi also remains famous for her voice and songs that are unmistakable in the hearts of Sri Lankans.
In the 1960s, the country saw the emergence of a wave of pop groups such as Los Cabelleros, La Ceylonians, La Bambas or Los Muchachos. All played a calypso-influenced baila style influenced by the music of Harry Belafonte and whose stars of the genre were The Moonstones, and The Golden Chimes.
In the following decades, cultural openness favored the integration of new music such as pop and R&B. Thus, the duo Bathiya and Santhush appeared on the music scene in the 1990s with a music inspired as much by European groups as by Sinhalese, Tamil and English melodies.
Note that the famous singer M.I.A is of Sri Lankan origin. Although she was born on British territory, Mathangi Arulpragasam spent the first ten years of her life in Sri Lanka, in Jaffna, considered the cultural capital of Sri Lankan Tamils. She is a committed and arty electro hip hop icon and is back in 2022 with a new album called MATA.
