The Art of Music: Specified from Medieval Classical Literature

Abstract

Music is a sophisticated medium through which human's devotion, pleasure and emotional expression are expressed. Music means a combination of singing and playing, and music is a diverse art, as expressed in The New Britannica. By the Medieval Period, music had developed to some extent into a fine art, even among the common people of Sri Lanka. It was revealed by musical institutions like Saraswati Mandapam, Shrungara Mandapam and Kavikara Mandapam and it is clear that the art of music was well known as per the information contained in the records of the present day. The purpose of this study was to examine the musical art depicted in medieval literature and the musical art from medieval classical literature. What information about the art of music is conveyed from the literature of the Medieval Period? In this study, which was conducted based on the research problem, data were collected through library references and the Internet. Data analysis was carried out using the qualitative data analysis method. In this study, literary works from the Medieval Period were used as the main source. By considering the primary and secondary data, balanced and logical conclusions were drawn and a detailed interpretation was made. There it was known from literary works that the development of musical art was limited only to the Medieval Period. There, it was known through literary works that the development of musical art was limited to the Medieval Period only. The source of medieval Sinhala literature presented numerous musical instruments that are unknown from the social and cultural background of the ongoing period and the history of multiple arts in this historical literature. The musical art of that era exists because of this great achievement. Accordingly, it can be concluded that the ancient people’s close correlation with the art of music, aesthetics, intelligence, and spirituality is superior.