Past Programs
World Music - 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
