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All over the world, countless people sing in choirs, creating beautiful harmonies. Singing together can be a potent source of joy, but singing sacred songs makes the effect even greater.
Choirs of any size, anywhere, can find pleasure in vocalizing the stirring spiritual words of the Baha’i writings or by singing songs inspired by Baha’i themes of oneness, love, and worship. Abdu’l-Baha wrote:
Consider how much the art of music is admired and praised. Try, if thou canst, to use spiritual melodies, songs and tunes, and to bring the earthly music into harmony with the celestial melody. Then thou wilt notice what a great influence music hath and what heavenly joy and life it conferreth. Strike up such a melody and tune as to cause the nightingales of divine mysteries to be filled with joy and ecstasy.
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Choirs can promote the Bahá’í teaching of the oneness of humanity by singing songs from different languages and cultures. Any choir that chooses to do so can thereby also extend its impact and become more welcoming to a wider audience. A 2013 study by Ilari, Chen-Hafteck, and Crawford concluded that:
Through multicultural singing we may develop musical abilities, express emotions, and learn about others. … we may also be invited to challenge the cultural and ethnic stereotypes that were previously learned, and ultimately, see changes in ourselves.
How beautifully these findings echo this statement of the Universal House of Justice: “The aim of the Baha’i Faith is to maintain cultural diversity while promoting the unity of all peoples. This diversity will enrich human life in a peaceful world society.”
If you sing in a choir, the newly redesigned Baha’i Choral Music website can help your choir find songs that are spiritually uplifting, many of them available as a free download. The site, which has been around since 2015 but has recently been completely redesigned, is an online collection of more than 1000 choral songs on Baha’i-related themes. The extensive site currently features songs in 45 languages from more than 300 composers. For the vast majority of the songs, the score is available for immediate download. Some also have audio files that allow people to get an idea of what the songs sound like, or even “teaching tracks,” with each part recorded separately to help choir members learn them quickly.
The site allows filtering — limiting what songs are displayed by specific criteria — and filters can be set on voicing or language. The “voicing” of a song, such as “SATB” for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, “SSA” for two soprano parts and one alto part, or “Round”, gives choirs the information they need to select songs that match their membership.
Many of the songs are in English, but the site also has a good representation of songs in Arabic, Spanish, German, Persian, French, and Hindi, with a smattering of songs in other languages. The site also lists the source of the text, for example, if they come from the words of Baha’u’llah, Abdu’l-Baha, or the Bab. You can click on a song title to see full information about it and download whatever files are available.
The site offers a new feature — the ability for composers to upload songs to the database themselves. If you know a composer who has set a Baha’i text to music, or you’ve done that yourself, click on the Submit Songs tab, identify the composer, fill in information about the songs, and then upload scores and audio files for new songs. The submissions are reviewed and added to the site as soon as possible. Composers and singers are encouraged to take a look at the site and add any Baha’i-inspired songs that aren’t already included. The preference is for sheet music in PDF format, but the site can also accept other options, such as individual audio tracks for each voice part — as long as there is a way for choirs to learn the parts.
RELATED: How Music Reveals Our True Nature
Some composers sell their music or prefer to have people contact them directly, so a number of songs on the site contain a link to purchase the music elsewhere, an email address, or a contact form.
This readily accessible source of quality choral music on Baha’i themes can be shared with any choir — and if you don’t know of a choir near you that can use this sort of help, perhaps you could start one!
Daniel Levitin, author of “This is Your Brain on Music,” has analyzed the changes in people’s brain activity when they sing together, and has come to the conclusion that “feelings of belonging and mood elevation are biologically ingrained to surface with communal singing.” Who wouldn’t want that?
Alan Manifold is a passionate supporter of the infusion of arts into all aspects of the Baha'i community. He and his wife Lorraine started the Melbourne Baha'i choir, Perfect Chord, and have also organised several Australian Baha'i Choral Festivals. Alan has composed numerous pieces for...
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Lorraine is a passionate advocate for sacred choral music as well as music education and firmly believes that we can all develop our inner musicianship to our heart’s content. Her favourite activities are conducting choirs, dabbling in writing choral music in English and French, and...
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