Tag Archives Baha’i devotional music

The Exalted One: A Bicentenary Album by Elika Mahony

Interviews, Music 3 Comments

After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Elika Mahony has released an album in honor of the bicentenary of the Birth of the Bab and it’s befittingly titled The Exalted One. The 11 songs on the album set the prayers and Writings of the Bab to music with piano, cello, guitar, tiple, cuatro (South American instruments) and soaring voice.

I am eager and excited to share my conversation with Elika with you for two reasons: for one, it’s wonderful to shine a light on creative endeavors in these months leading up to the bicentenary of the Birth of the Bab but also because Elika is donating the sales of The Exalted One from May 23rd to July 10th to the construction of the Shrine of Abdu’l-Baha! Here is some more information about the album and how it came together: Continue reading →

OMG: A German Grunge Rock Album Based on the Baha’i Writings

Interviews, Music 3 Comments

Here at Baha’i Blog we’re passionate about the arts, and we love celebrating the diverse ways in which Baha’is and their friends around the world express the Revelation of Baha’u’llah through various forms of artistic expression.

During the recent global celebrations of the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Baha’u’llah, we witnessed an exciting wave of artistic initiatives in all parts of the world to honor this special period in history, which the Universal House of Justice called “…the single greatest worldwide opportunity there has ever been for connecting hearts to Baha’u’llah”.

Inspired by “this special period in history”, a Baha’i in Austria named Arno Kerche decided to release an album called OMG. Most of the songs on OMG are based on the Baha’i Writings in German, and the style is grunge rock. Baha’i-inspired music in this genre is rare, and Baha’i-inspired music in this genre in German is even more rare, so I decided to get in touch with Arno to find out more about his story and how OMG came to be:  Continue reading →

An Interview with Ramine Yazhari About ‘Rejoice’

Interviews, Music 2 Comments

Ramine Yazhari has released a devotional album in honour of the bicentenary anniversary of the Birth of Baha’u’llah. The album is titled Rejoice and its melodies are soaring (you can stream it here on Bandcamp). Last year, Ramine released a single called ‘This Newborn Child’ and I listened to it over and over and over again, finding inspiration each time I heard it. You may also recognize Ramine’s voice from his devotional album dedicated to the centenary of Abdu’l-Baha’s travels to the West, Long Journey. I was glad to learn that Rejoice had been released and Ramine very graciously agreed to tell us a little about how the album came together. I hope you enjoy our conversation:

Continue reading →

7 Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions Based on the Writings of the Bab

Holy Days, Music 2 Comments

In honour of the anniversary of the Birth of the Bab, we thought we’d showcase all of our Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions whose lyrics are based on His Writings. There are only seven, but they are mighty and powerful nevertheless! This short list both begins and ends with different melodies to one of my favourite prayers revealed by the Bab that begins “I adjure Thee by Thy might, O my God!” Continue reading →

43 Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions Songs Based on the Writings of Baha’u’llah

Music 2 Comments

In honour of the Bicentenary of the anniversary of the Birth of Baha’u’llah, we thought we’d showcase all of our Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions whose lyrics are based on the Writings of Baha’u’llah — and there are currently 43 of them! To celebrate the world embracing vision of Baha’u’llah, we’ve begun with those songs in a variety languages other than English, then we showcase all the Studio Sessions in English based on The Hidden Words, those based on quotations from Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, and finally, those that sing prayers revealed by Baha’u’llah.

You can find out more about Studio Session here, watch the Baha’i Blog Studio Sessions series here on our YouTube Channel, and listen and download the songs from our Soundcloud playlist.

We hope highlighting these songs in this manner helps you prepare for this joyous Holy Day! Continue reading →