Past Programs
Christianity - 2008
The Rapping Priest
21/11/2008
Fr Stan Fortuna is a Catholic priest and a founding member of the Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, an order established in the heart of the South Bronx in 1987. But he is also a musician known worldwide as 'the rapping priest'. Even after 20 years it's not a title he's totally comfortable with. "It sounds like, 'Oh, the chihuahua in the pet store', you know what I mean, but there's nothing novel about it because it's essentially all about the gospel."
With his salt-and-pepper hair and long grey robes, Fr Stan cuts an unlikely figure on stage. But as soon as he opens his mouth, it's clear this rapping priest is the real deal. He grew up in New York City becoming a professional jazz musician. But in his early adulthood he dedicated his life to God and became an ordained priest. While studying for the priesthood in Spanish Harlem, Fr Stan discovered the style he calls 'rhythm and rhyme' and noticing its similarity to jazz improvisation, decided this was a musical form he could work with.
The Songs and Silence of Taize
17/10/2008
Three times a day the French hill-top village of Taize in Burgundy comes to a standstill. The church bells call everyone to stop what they are doing and come to prayer. And thousands of young people from around the world, pilgrims to Taize, do just that because prayer and worship at the Taize community is a unique experience. It involves the white-robed brothers of the community and the pilgrims coming together to sing short songs over and over again in a service that also includes a long period of silence for contemplation.
Director of Music, Br Jean Marie, was in Australia recently conducting a series of Taize services and Geoff Wood went along with his microphone to join the hundreds of worshippers eager to sing out their faith.
Special Audio Downloads
Download an extended interview with Br Jean-Marie from the Taize community in France. The duration is 14.47.
A Walk on the Quiet Side
12/09/2008
Singer-songwriters take over this week, with Catholic rocker Mike Mangione, and Lou Reed, who has taken up various spiritual practices like tai chi and meditation. We also feature Texan-born Beth Nielsen Chapman and her Human Family Songbook, better known as her new album Prism, a collection of devotional music from the world's religious traditions. We dip into Beth's 2004 album Hymns, liturgical music sung mainly in Latin. She's described the music as the liturgical hits of her Catholic childhood. And there's room for a little Mozart.
David Fanshawe's <i>African Sanctus</i>, Pt 2
05/09/2008
A Masai milking song from Kenya and a lamentation for a dead fisherman in Uganda - these were some of the traditional songs of Africa recorded by composer David Fanshawe in the late 1960s and early 70s as he journeyed up the Nile from Cairo to Khartoum. As Fanshawe himself explains, songs like these inspired his setting of the Catholic Mass, African Sanctus, and opened up African music to the world.
David Fanshawe's <i>African Sanctus</i>, Pt 1
29/08/2008
First performed in 1972 African Sanctus is a setting of the Latin mass combining rock music with traditional African singing and drumming. English composer and explorer David Fanshawe recounts some of his amazing stories of travelling up the Nile and recording music in Egypt, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya in the 1960s and 70s.
All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed
15/08/2008
Mary, the mother of Jesus, has been a source of musical inspiration for centuries and with the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrated today our music takes its inspiration from the life of Mary. Our guide to Marian music is Richard Black, the artistic director of the Chroma Vocal Ensemble, who introduces music from Tomas Luis de Victoria, Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Hildegard von Bingen.
Ira Tucker and the Dixie Hummingbirds
08/08/2008
One of the grand old men of American gospel music, and one of the great singers of the 20th century, passed away recently and you probably didn't even hear about it. Ira Tucker, who died in Philadelphia on the 24th of June this year, was the flamboyant lead singer for gospel quartet the Dixie Hummingbirds for an amazing 70 years.
Pioneers of the modern gospel quartet sound, the Dixie Hummingbirds were one of the most enduring and successful groups of their time. Formed in 1928 in Greenville, South Carolina, the group started singing in the Bethel Church of God. In 1938 a teenage Ira Tucker joined and stayed until his death this year. The young Tucker had a baritone voice that surpassed most others with its range and strength, but Ira Tucker's showmanship also captivated audiences and congregations wherever the Dixie Hummingbirds played. He would jump off stages and race down aisles and many believe his style paved the way for soul singers like James Brown.
The Sufi Master of the Reed Flute
01/08/2008
"Music is the language of God", says Omar Faruk Tekbilek. "It is language without tongue and lips. It speaks from heart to heart." Turkish musician Omar Faruk Tekbilek is a world music superstar, and yet he humbly calls himself a servant of God, and a faithful Sufi seeking divine union. Omar learned Sufism as a boy growing up in Turkey and for a number of years he undertook formal studies with a view to becoming a cleric. Music though was his first love and in time his religious schooling gave way to a life devoted to the study of Turkish classical music. Since then Omar has become a world-renowned musician mastering several instruments including the ney, the bamboo flute associated with Sufism. While in Istanbul, Omar met the Mevlevi order of Sufis, known in the West as the Whirling Dervishes. He didn't join the order, but studied with the head Neyzen (ney player), Aka Gunduz Kutbay, who became a major inspiration.
According to Omar, the sound of the ney is the cry of the human soul separated from God. His life-long quest has been to heal that division, and he tells me about his life in music this week.
Music for a Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
25/07/2008
Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain is the legendary resting place of the apostle St James the Greater (whose Feast Day is celebrated today), and along with Rome, Jerusalem and Mecca it's one of the world's most popular pilgrimage destinations. On our way there tonight we'll hear music from Galicia, the Celtic region that surrounds the city, with folk group Luar na Lubre. As well, there are pilgrims' anthems from the middle ages sung by The Chieftains and by Anonymous 4, and we'll hear from a modern-day pilgrim, Tony Kevin, who walked the Camino de Santiago in 2006.
The Soweto Gospel Choir
23/05/2008
There are almost 50 million South Africans and four out of every five are evangelical Christians. Church singing is at the heart of the Soweto Gospel Choir, and this week we hear the choir performing, and reflecting on, their unique combination of Protestant hymns and African tribal traditions.
Bluegrass Angels
16/05/2008
Born in the hills of Kentucky in the 1930s, bluegrass music is noteable for its use of mandolin and banjo, simple harmonies, and its powerful streak of Protestant fatalism. In recent years, a new wave of female singers and songwriters have revitalised the gospel heart of bluegrass music and this week we hear some of the best, including Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch and the Cox Family.
Holy Ghost Singing
09/05/2008
Pentecostal worship is often loud, emotional and ecstatic and our music this week reflects that with Hillsong, and the Christian City Church at Oxford Falls, rocking out. More traditional music for Pentecost is heard in the famous 9th century chant, 'Veni creator spiritus', and an orchestral adaptation of the hymn by Australian composer Ross Edwards.
Just over 100 years ago in 1906 a small African-American church in Los Angeles began holding prayer meetings that soon had people shouting out and speaking strange languages. It became known as the Azusa Street Revival and is considered the start of the modern Pentecostal movement.
Pentecostalism itself began to appear in the late 19th century and was a term of disrespect initially given by its enemies, but in the 1920s as the early denominations formed it began to be used with pride. Today the Assemblies of God is the largest Pentecostal denomination world-wide with about 50 million followers. And Hillsong, from the Hills district of Sydney, are one of the most successful Assemblies of God churches, with praise and worship music playing a big part in their appeal.
A lot of Pentecostal churches don't worship or sing in traditional ways, with hymns and church services, preferring instead to let the Holy Spirit show them the way. In fact, some won't play any music less than five years old, and many like the Christian City Church at Oxford Falls, have their own recording studios and rehearsal spaces to make sure the music is as fresh as it can be.
The Christian City Church in Australia is part of a worldwide network of independent churches, although with their belief in the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues, they're firmly in the Pentecostal tradition. And that's a tradition that draws on the Book of Acts, Chapter 2, in the New Testament describing the disciples of Jesus at a prayer meeting on the day of Pentecost being visited by the Holy Spirit in the form of a rushing wind, tongues of fire over their heads and strange languages being uttered.
Pentecost means 50 days; in this case 50 days after Easter, and is considered the birthday of the Christian church. The Feast of Pentecost is celebrated this Sunday 11 May.
One of the most famous traditional hymns for Pentecost, sung in the style of Gregorian chant from the 9th century, is 'Veni creator spiritus'. It was adapted by the Australian composer Ross Edwards for his string octet 'Veni Creator Spiritus', Come, O Creator Spirit.
Tibetan Incantations
08/02/2008
Born into a family of Tibetan nomads, Tenzin Choegyal now sings and records the songs of the Tibetan nomadic people, including the music known as 'spiritual incantations', an offering of Buddhist mantras sung in melodic form. With Tibetan New Year, or Losar, taking place this week, Tenzin reveals the religious ideas underpinning his music.
We also hear one of the the first spirituals to be published with music in the United States (December 1861) 'Go Down Moses', sung by Mavis Staples with Lucky Peterson on the B3 organ. And we end with Benedictine nuns at prayer.
Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet
01/02/2008
When you have no home and a song is your only possession, music can be a life-line. This week, Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day' sung by the Sydney Street Choir and composer Gavin Bryars' 1971 work, 'Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet' which combines the voice of a homeless man recorded at London's Waterloo station with Tom Waits' distinctive growl.
The Sydney Street Choir was formed in 2001 by Jonathon Welch to empower homeless and disadvantaged people, giving them a sense of purpose and a public voice. Jonathon moved to Melbourne and formed the Choir of Hard Knocks, but the Sydney Street Choir continues to thrive and to sing under the direction of Peter Lehner. They recently cut their first album and Geoff Wood, who sat in on some of the recording sessions, plays the choir's moving version of Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day'.
We also hear from teenage jazz-influenced singer-songwriter Sonya Kitchell. Her song, 'So Lonely' is just one of 17 new recordings from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Madeleine Peyroux and Pete Seeger, on a CD called Give Us Your Poor, part of a wider campaign to help end homelessness in the US.
The Rhythm Divine also travels back to 1971 when the English composer Gavin Bryars came across a homeless man near Waterloo Station in London. He was singing a religious song which Bryars caught on his tape recorder. Back in his studio Bryars discovered his piano was in tune with the old man's voice which he put on a tape loop, and he began improvising around the melody. Years later the completed work became an international sensation. 'Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet' combined an orchestral backing and the grizzled voice of Tom Waits with the haunting voice of the old man at Waterloo Station, singing his song of faith. It remains one of Bryars most powerful and moving works.
Ravi Shankar and the Chants of India
25/01/2008
There's much more to Ravi Shankar than mastery of the sitar. George Harrison called him the 'godfather of world music' for his efforts in popularising Hindustani classical music in the West, and his daughters Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones have forged brilliant musical careers themselves. But Ravi Shankar has also been an important spiritual ambassador, arranging and recording Sanskrit chants from Hindu scriptures like the Vedas and the Upanishads. This week we feature his album Chants of India in which Hindu prayers and mantras have been set to music. And we hear from his famous daughters.
First broadcast 3 August 2007.
Amazing Grace
18/01/2008
It's one of the world's most popular hymns, and one of the most recorded songs in history. Written in 1772 by a former slave trader who found God during a storm on the high seas, Amazing Grace has endured to become a classic, in the church and on the pop charts. So this week, some remarkable versions of Amazing Grace, including Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Rod Stewart and an ecstatic live performance by Aretha Franklin.
First broadcast 23 March 2007.
Freedom Songs
04/01/2008
They were the songs that galvanised the American Civil Rights Movement in the late 1950s and early 60s. Taken up first by street protesters, and then by musicians like Pete Seeger, The Weavers and The Staple Singers, songs like 'We Shall Overcome' and 'Study War No More' became international anthems for freedom. But how many people realised they were singing versions of 19th century gospel songs and hymns?
When I was a student in Brisbane in the early 1980s I remember hearing protest songs being sung during the street marches that took place then. But it wasn't until recently that I found out many of those songs came out of the church. So tonight I thought I'd play you some of those songs, those reworked hymns, including 'Down by the Riverside' and 'We Shall Not be Moved'. And they're still going strong even now. We'll hear two very recent versions by Mavis Staples, and Bruce Springsteen, as well as some of the Civil Rights performers like The Weavers and The Freedom Singers.
First broadcast 13 July 2007.
