Folksongs & Sacred Music From Nepal

Nepal has a diversified music. On the one hand, raga music (an influence from India) is considered their national art, while folk music is regional and is related to the different ethnic people of Nepal. Except for two excerpts of raga pieces ("Basant" and "Ramkali"), this CD presents a sampling of the folk and sacred music of Nepal. In fact, religious and folk music are closely tied to the music of the Himalayas. There are also farming, seasonal, heroic songs, and dances, but with religious characters underlying them. Despite India's influence on their music, they have very few instruments: the Nepalese Sarangi, the Basuri (the Nepalese version of the Indian Bansuri, a bamboo transverse flute), the Bai (a straight wooden flute), and the Ponga (a long copper horn), plus a good number of percussion instruments (such as drums, cymbals, and more), which will vary, depending on the ethnic people a song or dance comes from.