Various Artists - Fiji: Songs Of Love & Homeland String Band / Var - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

CD includes photobook, postcards, and photocard set.

Recorded in 1976, Polynesian Songs and Games features songs from Bellona, a small island south of the Solomon Island chain. The music of Bellona favors vocal arrangements accompanied by the sparse percussive rhythms of sounding boardings and clapping. According to field recordist Jane Mink Rossen, InchAlthough the musical materials are limited, they are used to great effect through constant variation within a song, implemented by individual improvisation.Inch Liner notes include an overview of the music of Bellona, track notes, translated lyrics, and photographs.

This album, compiled in 1996, features 17 love songs from the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music. Expressing many hues of this universal emotion, the musical performances range from solo voice to instrumental, and include traditional forms that have all but vanished, as well as those that have been influenced by modern technology. Consider three tracks to illustrate InchLam SithandoneInch (track 1) is a courtship song performed in southern Laos. Lams feature one set of singers challenging another set and can last for hours; the excerpt on this recording is only the end of one lam. InchBar'ahInch (InchDance of Youth,Inch track 9) is a participatory dance popular among the young people of southern Oman. Although a traditional music style, this performance reflects the influence of television and electronic technology. From Greece, InchAli kaimeni mu kardiaInch (InchMy Poor Heart,Inch track 11) documents a vocal tradition whose carriers have since passed away.