Improvisation of Ethno-Musicological Aspects in Sri Lankan Film Music (Study based on Abā and Agnidāhaya Sinhala Movies

Abstract

The focus of this study is to identify the Ethno Musicological aspects and its improvisation in Sri Lankan film music industry. The origin of the term ‘ethnomusicology’ is attributed to the Dutch scholar Jaap Kunst (1950), who used it, in the subtitle of his book musicologia. It is the anthropology of music, the study of music in its cultural, historical, economic and linguistic context. In this paper, the question of how ethnomusicologist and scholars might treat music composed to accompany film is explored in a cultural context by analysing the music applied in the renowned Sri Lankan films Abā and Agnidāhaya directed by Jackson Anthony and Jayantha Chandrasiri respectively. In the particular context of film that often times utilizes and applies the technology and its subsidiary tools to innovate a unique cultural demonstration through its art work, nurtures its authenticity by various aspects; choreography, costume, make-up and obviously using music as a cultural tool. In the films Abā, and Agnidāhaya, this aspect has been demonstrated at a significant level. Thus, they portrayed certain characteristics that necessarily promoted and propagated the Sri Lankan culture among other pieces of art work. In an overall, observation, Abā and Agnidāhaya, and its film music can be identified as a prelude to the Sri Lankan film industry in terms representing the ethno-musicological aspects which presenting the cultural norms and values of the selected community. The materials used to examine this concept include the literary survey, audio-video records and characteristic phrases as well as field survey conducted by the candidate.