http://repository.lib.vpa.ac.lk/handle/123456789/109 Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:57:26 GMT 2026-04-20T12:57:26Z http://repository.lib.vpa.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2483 Indian Ālāp and Vietnamese Dạo: A Study on Teaching Individual Creativity Jähnichen, Gisa In this study, the transmission of some essentials in music tradition from two different places in Asia, namely India and Vietnam, is taken as a metaphor to be further applied on cultural and social analysis in order to achieve a better understanding of how creativity is taught and culturally established. Indian music is asserted as a Guru centered science. The process of transmitting knowledge might be successful as far as the teacher gains satisfaction by the student’s behavior and capability of receiving and applying knowledge. Similar yet different processes can be observed with teaching in the South Vietnamese music tradition. Ālāp is a part in north Indian classical music as well as the Dạo in the Vietnamese music tradition. They dominantly create the mood of a Rāga or a Ðiệu respectively. The final outcome is an improvisation. Individuality and creativity develop in a process of tension between rules and breaking rules. Metaphorically, there are strong parallels to other subjects of transmitting social and cultural patterns of communication. Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMT http://repository.lib.vpa.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2483 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repository.lib.vpa.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2482 The Musical Representation of Sri Lankan Kaffirs Abeysekara, Geethika; Meddegoda, Chinthaka Prageeth This study presents a very small community within the Sinhalese context of Sri Lanka in light of academic interest: the Kaffirs. Their communal history reaches far back into colonial times, and they did not distinguish clearly from which territories in Africa these Kaffirs, an expression introduced by Portuguese rulers for slaves and servants brought to Sri Lanka from African shores, came and how they identify. Currently, Kaffirs are seen through the gaze of public writings and common biases. They are believed to have their performance styles and their strong association with the drum, dance, and vocal genres integrated into the canon of Sinhalese traditions. One specific vocal expression is the singing of manja songs, which are introduced and roughly analysed in this short paper. Manja songs are not so widely known to all people living in Sri Lanka. A specific study of these songs has not yet taken place. The main methods used are micro-analysis, literature studies, and open interviews with those who are connected to Kaffirs, either as members of the group or as people related to their studies and performing arts. Beyond pre senting the exciting text repertoire, it is to connect the musical skills that come with this way of singing with related arts such as dancing and drumming. The Kaffirs’ performance potentials are widely underestimated. Many Kaffirs were integrated, through marriage and social subordination, into the current society. Yet, it is important to focus on the snippets in the history of specific performance skills and their relatedness to another continent in order to help understand global issues and their future. Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT http://repository.lib.vpa.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2482 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repository.lib.vpa.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2481 The Mandoharp of Amaradheva and Its Use in the 1980s and 1990s Meddegoda, Chinthaka Prageeth The discrimination of instrumental sound in the evaluation and appreciation of Amaradheva’s (born in 1927, passed away in 2016) performances lead to a big gap between praising vocal achievements and using his unique musical instrument that he created out of two, as he stated. This paper is to analyse this instrumental creation and the way how he used it. The reasons for its decline will also play a role. He could have used another musical instrument, the Indian svarmandal, but he pre ferred his own creation. The sound he tried to produce should sound well in the context of his singing. His popularity was based on his deep knowledge of Indian classical music, mainly light classical music. As a violinist, he tried to idealize a speci昀椀c sound to be 昀椀琀琀ing in his time, voice, and social environment. For this small research, I consult his as an inheritor, read evaluations given in the literature and other shapes of documents, and I analyse the musical ergology of the instrument. It can be found that all parts of the instrument play an important role in achieving the desired sound. This study can give an insight into media re昀氀ections on musical instruments in Sri Lanka. Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT http://repository.lib.vpa.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2481 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z http://repository.lib.vpa.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2480 Review of ‘Jim Sykes (2018). The Musical Gift: Sonic Generosity in Post-War Sri Lanka Meddegoda, Chinthaka Prageeth The author’s efforts to draw a cartography of music practices in Sri Lanka and proposing terms such as musical gift, musical giving, and sonic generosity using the views and practices of Sri Lankan drumming, ritual singing, and dancing is impressive and should be widely appreciated. In her review, Gamburd (2019) provides an impressive summary about the entire book together with some remarks on the author’s political bias and missing content in his fieldwork experience, particularly with informants and his teacher. However, I do not fully agree on Gamburd as Sykes has shared some remarkable fieldwork experiences. He really tried to highlight these experiences as a necessity in order to gain insights into his topic. A large amount of scientific literature, newspaper articles, and other sound and audiovisual sources are referred to describe various elements of the music practices, their ethnic, religious, political, economic and social conditions and relations starting from the Era of Ravana up to the year 2018. Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT http://repository.lib.vpa.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2480 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z