ABSTRACT
Nepal’s music culture reflects interactions among native Nepalese, Tibetan, and Indian musical traditions, as well as the coexistence of Buddhist, Hindu, and animist traditions. Nepal’s population consists of people of Tibeto-Burman and Indo-Aryan origin. Beginning with the migration of North Indian court musicians in the seventeenth century, Nepal has experienced a continuous influx of musical elements. Since the 1950s, this influx has included the adaptation of North Indian light classical music and Hindi film song characteristics into the modern Nepalese song repertoire. Influences from the North are evident in Buddhist music and in the music cultures of ethnic groups living in the northern parts of the country, such as the Sherpas [see Tibetan Culture in South Asia].
