Research Catalog

Title

Music of Hindu Trinidad : songs from the India diaspora / Helen Myers.

Author

Myers, Helen, 1946-

Publication

• Chicago : University of Chicago Press, [1998]
• ©1998

Supplementary Content

Publisher description

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxxii, 510 pages : illustrations; 24 cm +

Summary

Like many other small towns in Trinidad, Felicity is populated almost entirely by East Indians. In their Caribbean exile, the residents of Felicity have created and recreated the music of their Hindu ancestors. Music of Hindu Trinidad is a fascinating account of the history and cultural significance of Hindu music that explores its symbolic, aesthetic, and psychological aspects while asking the larger question of how this music has contributed to the formation of identity in the midst of their great diaspora. Myers details the musical repertory of Felicity, which is based largely on north Indian genres including the traditional Bhojpuri folk songs and drumming styles brought by the first indentured laborers in 1845. In her engaging exploration of the fate of Indian classical music and new popular styles such as Hindi calypso, soca, and chutney, she even finds herself at the ancestral home of Trinidadian V.S. Naipaul in India. Copiously illustrated and accompanied by a compact disc, Music of Hindu Trinidad is a model ethnographic study. --

Series Statement

Chicago studies in ethnomusicology

Uniform Title

Chicago studies in ethnomusicology.

Subjects

• Music > Trinidad and Tobago > Felicity > History and criticism
• East Indians > Trinidad and Tobago > Felicity > Music > History and criticism
• Music > India > History and criticism
• Hindustani music > Trinidad and Tobago > Felicity > History and criticism

Genre/Form

• CD.
• Folk songs.
• Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 463-479), discography, and indexes.

Contents

• East Indians of the West Indies -- Roots -- Felicity -- A day in the village -- The seasons -- Speaking of music -- Local musicology -- Wedding day -- Wedding songs -- A song for Mr. Biswas -- Song of swans and snakes -- Songs of love and longing -- The Ramayan tradition -- Morning at the temple -- Music and miracles -- The death of Rani -- Chutney -- Sweet memory -- Passage to India.
• Selections on accompanying CD: Boliye Rājā Rāmachandra kī jay (Felicity Chautāl Group) (3:22) -- Saraswatī vandanā (students of the āshram of Guru H.S. Adesh) (2:42) -- Karnivāl kā desh (student of the āshram of Guru H.S. Adesh) (2:18) -- Tāssā drumming (Wedding hands, Felicity Tāssā Group) (2:58) -- Āre nadiyā kināre (Sankey Ramroop, vocals ; Rukmin Bhagaloo, ḍholak ; Saffarin Pagie, ḍhantāl) (2:59) -- Sānkara koriyā bahāro (Dhanpatee and Kalawatee Permanand) (1:15) -- Leu na Panḍiṭa Rāma (Dhanpatee and Kalawatee Permanand (1:06) -- Dasa sakhī (Dhanpatee and Kalawatee Permanand) (1:47) -- Sã̄ chha sukawā (Dhanpatee and Kalawatee Permanand) (2:16) -- Hare hare bhaiyā (Dhanpatee and Kalawatee Permanand) (1:04) -- Surāiyā gaiyā ke gobara (Dhanpatee and Kalawatee Permanand) (3:07) -- Āī gailẽ ḍala (Dhanpatee and Kalawatee Permanand) (0:52) -- Harīhara bãsawā (Dhanpatee and Kalawatee Permanand) (1:52) -- Lauwā na parichho (Dhanpatee and Kalawatee Permanand) (1:08) -- Bābā bābā (Dhanpatee and Kalawatee Permanand) (1:00) -- Sā̃jhai (Dhanpatee and Kalawatee Permanand) (0:29) -- Ādhe talaiyā (Moon Ramnarine (6:11) -- Āḍheye ṭalawā (Dhanpatee and Kalawatee Permanand) (5:16) -- Mere mana basigayo (Divine Life Society, Unit 1, Felicity) (1:35) -- Hey jagata pitaa ghagawaana (Divine Life Society, Unit 1, Felicity) (1:20) -- Shiva Shambhu deeno ki bandhu (Divine Life Society, Unit 1, Felicity) (2:21) -- Raama Raama bhaju Raama (Divine Life Society, Unit 1, Felicity) (2:29) -- Bhajale naama Niranjana kaa (Divine Life Society, Unit 1, Felicity) (3:03) -- Jai jagadisha hare (Arya Sabha, Carolina village) (1:11) -- Jai jagadisha hare (Trinidad Sevashram Sangha, Felicity (2:26) -- Jai jagadisha hare (Divine Life Society, Unit 24, Enterprise (2:21) -- Ganesh sharanam (Divine Life Society, Unit 1, Felicity) (1:28) -- Aum bhagawān (Sai Baba Devotees, Tunapuna (3:13) -- Talawā bharla saba nāga (Mahadewā Dube, Gorakhpur District, U.P., India) (3:44).

ISBN

• 0226554511
• 9780226554518
• 0226554538
• 9780226554532

LCCN

97025692

OCLC

• ocm37180945
• 37180945
• SCSB-3642808

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries