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Since
July
2000 a big impulse has been given to the use of
traditional music of the Saramaccans in their devotional
gatherings.
Istvan Dely, a
professional percussionist from Columbia, contributed
enormously to this process. As a result of a few months work
in the Upper Suriname area and in French Guyana, we now have
some twenty new compositions, made by Saramaccan Baha'i
friends. Texts of the songs are partly their own wording,
expressing the joy of being a Baha'i, partly they are Baha'i
prayers and short quotations from the Baha'i writings.
Naturally, traditional percussion instruments like the apinti
play an important role in this music.
Examples of this new
and yet traditional Baha'i mu sic can be heard on a CD with the
title "Limbo Teeja", which means "Brilliant
Star" in the Saramaccan language. The CD contains also
some traditional Saramaccan songs, with a spiritual content.
Some fragments from
the CD:
Ya
Baha'u'llah Abha
Tangi mi o gi
Matu Gadu
Bahai
boto do
Di seeka
u di goonliba
The CD costs US $
7.50 (excl. cost of mailing) and can be ordered from the
Friedland Institute, c/o National Spiritual Assembly of the
Baha'is of Suriname, P.O.Box 2427, Paramaribo; Suriname (South
America) Email: ngrsur@sr.net
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