Music of French Polynesia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

French Polynesia came to the forefront of the world music scene in 1992, with the release of The Tahitian Choir's recordings of unaccompanied vocal Christian music called himene tarava, recorded by French musicologist Pascal Nabet-Meyer. This form of singing is common in French Polynesia and the Cook Islands, and is distinguished by a unique drop in pitch at the end of the phrases, which is a characteristic formed by several different voices; it is also accompanied by steady grunting of staccato, nonsensical syllables.

[edit] References

  • Linkels, Ad. "The Real Music of Paradise". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 218-229. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
Polynesian music
Easter Island - Fiji - Hawaii - Samoa - Tonga - Tuvalu - Wallis and Futuna

French Polynesia: Austral - Marquesas and Tahiti - Tuamotus
New Zealand: Chatham Islands - Cook Islands - Maori - Niue - Tokelau