Past Programs
Sacred - 2008
Hymns and Kores of theTorres Strait Islands
05/12/2008
The Torres Strait islands, nestled between the tip of Australia's Cape York Peninsula and Papua New Guinea, are home to almost 6 000 people. A part of Queensland since 1879, the islands have their own languages and culture stretching back thousands of years. Christianity came to the Torres Strait in the 1860s, but it was the London Missionary Society which made the biggest impact when they arrived in 1871, an event celebrated every year on 1 July as The Coming of the Light. In the 1920s American Pentecostal groups began to appear, and today denominations such as the Assembly of God exist alongside older churches like the Anglicans.
With the missionaries came traditional hymns. These have been adapted and are sung by congregations or choirs in local languages like Kala Lagaw Ya in the Western Islands and Meriam Mir in the Eastern Islands, often to the beat of traditional single-headed skin drums. Since the 1960s contemporary Christian songs have also appeared called kores - sung in Torres Strait Creole and English as well as the local dialects - performed with electric guitars and drums. The sacred music of the Torres Strait islands is vibrant and unique and we'll travel to three islands of the region to experience their songs, hymns and kores - Thursday Island, Mabuiag and Iama/Yam.
A Change Is Gonna Come
14/11/2008
We look back at Remembrance Day with a hymn sung at services around the world and a favourite in Australia, 'O God, Our Help in Ages Past'. An Isaac Watts hymn with music by William Croft it was first published 300 years ago in 1708. We'll also take in the Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe's evocative orchestral piece 'Small Town' which features the Last Post threading through the work. And with a United States President-elect raised in the African-American church, we look ahead with songs of hope from that tradition including one from the preacher's son, Sam Cooke, 'A Change is Gonna Come'.
The Sufi Blues
07/11/2008
This week, the poetry and stories of three Sufi mystics - Rumi, Hafiz and Nasruddin Hodja - are set to blues, folk and country music improvisations. The speaker is Ashley Ramsden, founder of the School of Storytelling in England, who travels the world with his spoken-word performances. The musician is David Bates.
Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi, the founder of the Mawlawi Sufi order in Turkey known as the Whirling Dervishes, was born in Wakhsh (Tajikistan) under the administration of Balkh in 1207 to a family of learned theologians. His shrine is in Konya, Turkey. Hafiz (Shams -ud-din Mohammed) was born in the city of Shiraz in Persia (now Iran ) around 1320. Nasruddin Hodja is a legendary Sufi holy man who lived during the Middle Ages (around 13th century), and who is renowned for his satirical stories.
The Bodhi Sutra
31/10/2008
The Bodhi Sutra is a mesmerising work by a young Australian composer, Nicholas Ng, featuring flutes, bells, drums, gongs and Mahayana Buddhist chant in Chinese and Sanskrit. It was commissioned by the Art Gallery of NSW as a kind of ambient soundtrack to their current exhibition of 6th century Chinese Buddhist sculpture, The Lost Buddhas.
We also hear music for All Souls Day from Faure's Requiem and touch on the pagan roots of Halloween with a Celtic folk song from the Orkney islands. Full of magic and shape-shifting, 'The Great Selkie', is performed by Hector Gilchrist and Liz Thompson.
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.
The Call to Prayer
03/10/2008
The Islamic call to prayer, Qur'anic recitation, and Gregorian chant all share a belief in the power of the unadorned human voice. We'll hear from each of these ancient traditions, along with scholar and Islamic chaplain Dr Abdurrahman Asaroglu who reveals the history of adhan, the call to prayer.
Swing Low, Sweet Spiritual
26/09/2008
Spirituals are the sacred folk songs of the slavery era in America, the best-known being the African-American spirituals of the 19th century like 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'. We'll hear versions of this much-loved song from Paul Robeson, Beyonce, Eric Clapton, The Fairfield Four, and Johnny Cash. And we'll discover the coded messages hidden in its lyrics.
TaKeTiNa - Rhythm Consciousness
19/09/2008
Every human life moves to a beat. From the womb to the end of life, we are driven by powerful rhythms which we barely understand - the pulse of our blood, the beat of our heart, the wheeling of the seasons, walking and breathing, sunset and sunrise. Austrian composer and percussionist Reinhard Flatischler calls this the 'forgotten power of rhythm', forgotten because he thinks our natural connection with rhythm has disappeared. Since 1970 Reinhard has been helping people reconnect with their rhythmic consciousness through a method he has devised known as TaKeTiNa. Integrating rhythms, body movement, clapping and vocalizing, TaKeTiNa is according to Reinhard, "a spiritual path using rhythm for the evolution of human consciousness."
It's also a method for healing the body and mind by re-wiring neural pathways through the use of rhythmic patterns. Reinhard himself learned the piano from the age of four and later studied at the Music University Vienna. But after travelling to India to study tabla drumming, he spent three years learning shamanistic techniques with the renowned Korean shaman and master-drummer Kim Suk Chul, and now percussion has become his life. Reinhard with his wife Cornelia was in Australia recently giving TaKeTiNa workshops and I joined the circle of followers hoping to gain an insight into rhythmic body-consciousness.
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.
The Inner Voice
22/08/2008
Two voices of hypnotic beauty take us on an inner journey of meditation. Czech singer Iva Bittova confronts time and death, while Prem Williams, from Queensland duo Sacred Earth, sings a mantra to Ganesha, the Hindu elephant-headed god who removes all obstacles.
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.
Shomyo and Shakuhachi: Buddhist Ritual Sounds from Japan
04/07/2008
Sometimes called the Gregorian chant of Japan, shomyo is Buddhist ritual chant that goes back more than 1000 years. The two major schools of shomyo, Shingon and Tendai, were transmitted by Japanese priests from T'ang dynasty China in the 9th century. Beautiful and hypnotic, shomyo is the voice of a 1000 years. We'll also hear the Japanese bamboo flute, the shakuhachi, played by two masters currently in Australia for the World Shakuhachi Festival, Kaoru Kakizakai and Christopher Yohmei Blasdel. And one of Japan's greatest living shakuhachi players, Katsuya Yokoyama, will explain some of the Zen concepts underlying the honkyoku, the sacred music of Zen.
Lutheran Hymns from Lake Wobegon
13/06/2008
Lake Wobegon is a small town in the American state of Minnesota that exists only in the mind of humorist and writer Garrison Keillor. In a rambling reminiscence that may or may not be true, Keillor explains the difficulties of keeping a music director at the nearby Holy Trinity Lutheran church.
Lutherans have a wonderful history of congregational hymn singing. And Luther himself said that "Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise".
Among the hymns this week will be an arrangement of 'A Mighty Fortress is Our God' (Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott), written by Luther himself, and a favorite of Protestant congregations everywhere, 'Now Thank We All Our God' (Nun danket).
If you're a regular listener to Radio National you might have heard the Garrison Keillor Radio Show broadcast last Summer. It's an edited version of his long-running radio show on American public radio, A Prairie Home Companion.
As well as being host and writer of A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison presents The Writer's Almanac heard on public radio stations across the USA and around the world. And he's also the author of more than a dozen books, including Lake Wobegon Days. He was born in Minnesota in 1942 and while he now worships at an Episcopalian church in New York city where he lives, Garrison has in the past been a member of the Lutheran church, and was born into a family belonging to the Plymouth Brethren, a fundamentalist Christian denomination which he's since left.
Finally, to coincide with the Australian visit of the Dalai Lama this week, we hear chanting from the Gyuto Monks of Tibet, a Special Message recorded by His Holiness in 2000, and a Long Life Song for the Dalai Lama by Ama La Olo Bhuti.
Dear God: Songs of Doubt
06/06/2008
Aristotle described philosophy as the art of doubting well, but in the world of religion doubt's generally unwelcome. Of course that doesn't stop a lot people, including many devout believers, experiencing severe doubt at some stage in their life and this week we hear songs exploring that sense of doubt and uncertainty, from Jeff Buckley, XTC, Morrissey, and Katie Noonan with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
Swamiji and the Bhajan
30/05/2008
Bhajans are Hindu devotional songs in praise of the Divine. They began centuries ago as Hindu religious hymns, sung during puja or worship, and are considered to be the words of great masters or saints. Over time they were simplified so that ordinary working people could understand and relate to them. This is reflected in the musical style - simple repetitive melodies and dancing rhythms - and in the easy to follow lyrics praising God. His Holiness Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda, an Indian Yogi born in Rajasthan, has encouraged the use of bhajans today and in this special program we'll hear from Swamiji himself talking about this tradition of devotional singing, and introducing several Rajasthani bhajans. We'll also sample the best of modern India, with the new album from Anoushka Shankar, Breathing Under Water which blends sitar and electronics.
His Holiness Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda, simply known as Swamiji, comes from a lineage of respected yogis in the Hindu tradition of Yoga Vedanta. He was born in the harsh desert region of Rajasthan in north-west India, and met his spiritual master 'Holy Guruji' at the age of thirteen. After years of rigorous spiritual practice, in 1972 he moved to Europe where he developed a comprehensive system called Yoga in Daily Life based on traditional yoga practices but tailored to modern life.
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.
Sikhs and Baha'is Singing the Name of God
11/04/2008
This week we visit the temples of two religious traditions which are often misunderstood or simply overlooked, the Sikhs and the Baha'is. They each have a rich tradition of devotional singing and they're celebrating major holy festivals this month.
Some weeks are definitely busier than others and that's particularly the case at the moment with the change of seasons, traditionally a time when many religions celebrate major festivals. And so I've found myself these past few weeks visiting the temples of the Sikhs and the Bahai's. They're both monotheistic, worshipping One God, and they're both celebrating major holy festivals this month and I thought you'd like to hear some of their music. And to do that we're going inside a Bahai House of worship, and a Sikh gurdwara or temple to hear singing and chanting of the Sikh scriptures.
So let's begin by taking a drive up to the northern beaches of Sydney and across into the hills of suburban Ingleside. There in the bushland near a national park is the nine-sided temple of the Australian Baha'is with its graceful white dome rising out of the surrounding trees.
There are 6 million Baha'is worldwide, with about 17 000 in Australia. Baha'is follow the teachings of a Persian nobleman Baha'u'llah who lived from 1817 to 1892 and is believed by Baha'is to be the most recent in the line of Messengers of God stretching back through history. The words of Baha'u'allah are used in many of the Baha'i songs including two that we'll hear in moment and they're usually sung in three main languages of English, Arabic and Farsi. They don't allow instruments in the House of Worship so a lot of Bahai sacred music is sung by unaccompanied choirs.
April is a significant month for Baha'is. Their holy festival of Ridvan begins at sunset on the 21st and last for 12 days commemorating Baha'u'llah's time in the garden of Ridvan in 1863 where he announced he was the promised prophet.
April is also a special month for Sikhs with their New Year starting next week around the 13 and 14th of April. The New Year festival Vaisakhi is doubly important because it also commemorates the year 1699, when Sikhism was born as a collective faith through the tenth Sikh Guru Goband Singh who formed the Khalsa, the Brotherhood so Saint Soldiers to oppose injustice and oppression. It's a day when Sikhs dedicate themselves to the teachings of their gurus and pledge their service to the community and to all faiths.
Sihks have a proud tradition of opposing caste and class distinctions, they believe in equality and they follow One God, Waheguru. The faith began in the Punjab region of India over 500 years ago and has now spread around the world with about 26 million followers, making it the sixth largest religion.
They wear a distinctive turban and worship in a Gurdwara. The Sikh Gurdwara in Glenwood in Western Sydney is massive and impressive, the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and while I was there I wore a small gold-coloured turban as a sign of respect. I was also allowed to record some of prayers and singing of verses from the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib. So we'll hear some of that now and then a studio recording of a shabad, a devotional song, Sikh scripture set to music, calling Sikhs to come together and sing the bani's, the sacred Sikh teachings.
Hymns Ancient and Electronic
04/04/2008
Celebrating one of the world's most influential hymnbooks, Hymns Ancient and Modern published in 1861, we hear Australian composer Nicole Skeltys explain why she's begun writing hymns for the electronic age, using samples from the Apollo moon landing of 1969. We also hear a traditional choral version of Alfred Lord Tennyson's favourite hymn, 'Holy Holy Holy', and a bluegrass rendition of 'How Great Thou Art'.
Nicole Skeltys is an Australian composer best known for being part of the successful dance group Biftek. But Nicole has had some life-changing events recently, including illness, and these have prompted her to re-evaluate her life and to take on a spiritual journey. Describing herself as a 'technological angel', she's now teamed up with Tanya Andrea Stadelmann in a group called The Jilted Brides and has been writing what she calls electronic hymns. In fact on their album Larceny of Love Nicole has written a suite of three hymns and we hear the final hymn called 'Joy', filled with treated voices for choir, synthesisers, bells and the sound of the Apollo astronauts.
Faith on Tour
28/03/2008
It's been a busy month for music lovers with world-class performers arriving in Australia every week it seems, and so tonight on The Rhythm Divine we're going to play catch up - with music from singers and musicians you might have missed. We're taking faith on tour and our line-up includes the Sufi-influenced Turkish musician Omar Faruk Tekbilek; the pure tones of Deva Premal, a follower of Osho whose Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh chants are mesmerising; and Irish singer Sinead O'Connor whose latest album is called Theology, with songs taking the Book of Psalms for inspiration.
Good Friday - Shadows and Light
21/03/2008
Good Friday is the darkest day of the Christian calendar, the day of the Crucifixion and death of Christ, so our music this week is tinged with sadness. We hear soprano Dawn Upshaw with the 2nd movement of Gorecki's 'Symphony of Sorrowful Songs', and an excerpt from the 'Tenebrae Responses for Good Friday', a work for 6 voices by the brooding and ill-starred Italian Renaissance prince, Gesualdo.
Carlo Gesualdo was one of those astonishing Renaissance noblemen who seemed to have it all. He was the Prince of Venosa in Italy and this gave him the education, the money and the leisure time to write some 140 madrigals during his lifetime. But he lived and died on the edge of madness. In 1590 he punished his wife's adultery by killing her and her lover. This shocking act seems to have weighed heavily on his conscience and in 1611 he composed a work for Holy Week filled with a dark grief, of intense regret.
Gesualdo was lamenting the death of Christ but also I think lamenting his own blighted life, which included a second unsuccessful marriage and the death of his only son in childhood. The work is known as the 'Tenebrae Responses' and it is sacred music with text in Latin for the three days leading up to Easter. Tenebrae is Latin for shadows or darkness and it refers to the darkness of Christ's death but also more literally, this music was written for the church service just as evening was falling when candles would be lit and one by as the evening service and the singing continued the candles would be extinguished, leaving the chapel in darkness.
The music for each day consisted of antiphons and psalms which were chanted and then nine readings from the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, chanted by a single voice, followed by nine responses sung by the six-voice choir. So we'll hear just a portion from the Good Friday service, with the first reading, chanted, from the Lamentations of Jeremiah, followed by its response.
We'll end with two works that take us out of the dark and claustrophobic world of Gesualdo and into the brighter light of the Elizabethan Englishman Orlando Gibbons, with his tiny gem of a hymn 'Drop Drop Slow Tears', followed by the 'Crucifixus' for 8 voices by the Venetian composer Antonio Lotti, a near contemporary of Bach. Both works sung by the choir of St Paul's Cathedral in London under John Scott and if you enjoyed last week's show about the sounds of sacred space you'll appreciate the reverb of the choir under St Paul's massive dome.
Easter is a remarkable time with melancholy followed by joy, darkness leading to light, over the course of three days, and so whether you're celebrating Easter or just taking time out, I hope you give yourself the chance to reflect on the relationship between sadness and renewed hope, and the part it plays in all our lives.
And that's the rhythm divine.
The Sounds of Sacred Space
14/03/2008
Medieval cathedrals did more than simply inspire awe. They acted as superb resonating spaces to enhance the power of the liturgy and the human voice. In fact, sacred spaces from many traditions have acted in just this way. Our 'architectural instruments' this week include the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, Westminster Abbey, the Abbey du Thoronet in Provence, the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York city, and the Taj Mahal.
1685
29/02/2008
It was a very good year for music. 1685 saw the birth of George Frideric Handel on 23 February, Johann Sebastian Bach on 21 March and Domenico Scarlatti on 26 October. Handel and Bach were German Lutherans while Scarlatti was an Italian Catholic who became maestro of the Cappella Giulia in Rome. Our music includes an excerpt from the Biblical oratorio Israel in Egypt by Handel and one of the ever-popular arias from Bach's sacred cantata BWV 82 ('Ich habe genug').
Music and the Maharishi
22/02/2008
The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who died this month aged 91 was the founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement. The Maharishi became world famous as the Indian swami who brought meditation to the West and cosmic consciousness to The Beatles and The Beach Boys in the 1960s.
The Beach Boys met the Maharishi in December 1967 and took him on tour with them during 1968 with disastrous consequences. Between songs he would chant and deliver wise teachings but the crowds usually booed him off stage. Most of The Beach Boys moved on but Mike Love remained a long-time devotee of the Maharishi. The Scottish folk singer Donovan and flautist Paul Horn were also followers and we'll hear both those artists later tonight as we follow the music and the Maharishi. We'll also hear from the swami hismelf, interviewed on BBC Radio in 1969.
The Beatles spent several weeks at the Maharishi's ashram in Rishikesh, India in February 1968 but left soon after hearing rumours that the guru had made sexual advances to one of the women on the meditation course. There was never any evidence behind these accusations but it was enough to plant a seed of doubt in their minds. It was during the course that about half of The Beatles White album was written, mostly on acoustic guitars giving the album its laidback feel.
The Maharishi's message was always a simple one: 'Life is bliss. Man is born to enjoy. Within everyone is an unlimited reservoir of energy, intelligence, and happiness.' Meditation, and a personal mantra, were a means of tapping into this reservoir of energy.
Although he was mocked as the 'giggling guru', he was an ordained monk in a venerable Hindu tradition. According to the TM movement, more than 6 million people have undergone TM training.
The Abbey and the Ashram
15/02/2008
Evening hymns from the Benedictine nuns of Jamberoo, an enclosed order in an Abbey in rural NSW, and the Moola mantra sung by Deva Premal and Miten, devotees of Osho, formerly known as the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.
The nuns were featured in the ABC TV series The Abbey late last year on Compass. Unlike an ashram which encourages devotees to live an integrated spiritual life in the world, the Benedictine Abbey at Jamberoo is totally enclosed, devoted to meditation and prayer, and they stop whatever they're doing to sing the Liturgy of the Hours seven times a day.
It's evening and the final office of the day, Compline, when the nuns are officially released from the day's activities to a quieter night watch. We'll start with a hymn by Hildegard of Bingen, O Quam Preciosa featuring Sister Magdalene Mather, and then the Nunc Dimittis.
Following that we hear the Moola mantra, sung in the ancient religious language of Sanskrit. It affirms the Oneness of God, the eternal reality and begins OM SAT CHIT ANANDA - the primordial sound of the universe, truth, pure consciousness, bliss...
Deva Premal, who was born in Germany, and Miten, a one-time rock musician from England who toured with Fleetwood Mac and Lou Reed in the 1970s, are devotees of Osho, formerly known as the Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh. They've been together since 1991 and are massively popular around the world for their music and chanting which is based on the principle of music as a spiritual practice, one of the daily devotions of every ashram or spiritual retreat.
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.
Blowing Zen
11/01/2008
Japan in the 16th century was in the grip of civil war. Feudal lords fought each other for the right to rule, and bandits roamed the countryside. Yet out of this turmoil came a Zen sect with a tradition of music as spiritual practice whose influence continues today. They were the Fuke sect, and the monks of this Rinzai lineage became famous as the komuso, the Zen Priests of Nothingness. Drawn from the ranks of masterless samurai, the komuso were renowned for their skill in playing the Japanese bamboo flute, the shakuhachi.
Dress in white robes with short swords, they wore tall basket-shaped hats over their heads to suppress their identity and their ego. The repertoire created by the komuso was known as the honkyoku, 'original pieces'. More than just music of great beauty, these pieces were considered to be part of a spiritual practice, a Zen practice, and the act of playing them came to be called suizen, blowing meditation.
First broadcast 30 March 2007.
