By Tissa Devendra

"Young girls dressed as Sigiriya damsels performed at the residence of the Speaker…scantily clad young women in the presence of monks" (Photo caption "S/ Times 3/2") The prim disapproval implicit in this account took my mind back to the exquisitely carved dancing girls in Yapahuva’s Dalada Maligawa , Vilgam Vihara, Gadaladeniya and many other ancient temples which portray the vital role that song and dance played in Buddhist festivals of ancient Lanka. Wonderful traditions now almost erased from popular memory after the fell hand of the missionaries of 1505 abolished these "pagan rites". The caption writer’s ill-informed disapproval is a puritanical hangover of this colonial mindset.

By Susitha R. Fernando

"Yuddhetath Evith" the latest concert of the Lionel Ranwala Troupe will be held at 6.30 pm on May 7 and 8 evening at the BMICH.The show in a way of a 'cultural war' is intended to attack the spreading alienisms and eroding of traditional values of the country.

The latest in the series titled 'Gama Aulanggang' is staged in a bid to instil nationalism and an attack on those against indigenous values and embraced alienisms.

By LAWRENCE A. JOHNSON
lajohnson@MiamiHerald.com
The program of film music by Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone presented Sunday at the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts by conductor Stewart Robertson and the Florida Classical Orchestra was on the surface a low-key event of minimal musical importance.

South Asian classical music is one of the world’s most highly developed art forms, but chances are that the casual listener will have difficulty telling it apart from the more folk-oriented offerings of the Indian subcontinent. Which is fine by slide-guitar virtuoso Vishwa Mohan Bhatt; despite coming from an illustrious classical music family, and despite having studied with the equally illustrious Ravi Shankar, he believes the two forms are closely linked.

by Indeewara Thilakaratne
The rudiments of any musical system could be traced back to the very basic forms of sounds and tones. Those sounds are commonly found in the folk music and among the not-so-formal sound patterns in folk songs. In the ancient times, the folk songs were composed instantaneously and spread throughout the country principally by word of mouth. In the process, the composers of the folk songs who were the folks engaged in diverse trades had altered the wording as well as the rhythms of those songs resulting in the formation of several versions of the same song.

Inspiring saga
Gama Awlangngnang concert consists of songs composed by late Lionel Ranwala based on folk songs. "Me Aurudu Kale", Gama Awlangngnang Haba Patalangnang" songs originally composed by Ranwala will be included in the concert.
by Ranga Chandrarathne

It's been a bad autumn for the classical recording industry. On the heels of Tower Records' demise, Sony BMG Music Entertainment has axed the president of its classical music division and six other key staff.

The major downsizing was reported yesterday by MusicalAmerica.com and today by The New York Times.