The Source of Sound

fri 22 mar 2019 21:00 hrs

The Source of Sound involves the material, the movement and the vibration of which music arises.

Episode 42 Burma

An episode on Buddhism and music in Burma. Many people name the country mistakenly Myanmar, a name which was introduced by the military regime to cover up their atrocities. A military regime which is still in power and an army which still uses violence and genocide to maintain their position of power, despite the reluctant process of democratisation, which was introduced after the saffron revolution or the peoples’ rebellion of which monks were in the forefront in 2007. Burma is one of the few countries in Asia where the harp as a musical instrument still is part of a living tradition. Once, it was a very common musical instrument in many Asiatic countries, as we still can see on depictions of ancient monuments such as Borobudur and Angkor Wat, but nowadays you’ll only find it in Burma and with the Karen in the border region of Burma and Thailand. There is a special connection between the instrument and Buddhism in Burma. According to one of the Jataka stories about the past lives of the Buddha, he himself was once a harp player. The harp also plays an important role in rituals and songs that are connected to Buddhism.

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