The recording of "Teatro Kumbaya" used by Sara Nossa Terra [1] and all the other groups was in English with music by a synthesizer and drum set. The vocal part alternated between a young man and a group of women, with the one singing the verses and the other the chorus.
The chorus used the standard "Kumbaya" melody with one group singing "kumbaya my Lord" as the statement, and the others echoing "kumbaya." The eight-line verses had two lines addressed to God, with one a slight variation on the other. This was followed by a line from "Kumbaya" like "someone’s praying Lord" sung twice. The quatrain was repeated with a different inquiry and a different allusion to the original song.
In 2018, a nine member ensemble from A Igreja Batista Filadélfia of Salvador, Brazil, uploaded a version in Portuguese. Unlike many, it also translated Lord to Senhor.
The first verse was a duet that began when a young woman sang the first line, and a young man the second. In the chorus, the three women at stage left sang the statements in the chorus, and the three men and other three women shadowed them. During the second verse, the groups used the same gender division as the soloists had done, but with diverging chordal harmony.
During the dissonant section, which was strictly instrumental in Sara Nossa Terra’s version, the group sang "me senhor" over and over. With each repetition, the number of notes in the chords expanded.
The group elaborated the ending with more repetitions of "me senhor." It sang "kumbaya" four times, each higher, then three more times at the original pitches. The nine held the last note.
Performers
Sara Nossa Terra
Vocal Soloist: man
Vocal Group: women
Instrumental Accompaniment: synthesizer
Rhythm Accompaniment: drum set
Igreja Batista Filadélfia
Vocal Soloist: woman and man
Vocal Group: six women and three men
Vocal Director: man
Instrumental Accompaniment: synthesizer
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Credits
Igreja Batista Filadélfia
"The correct spelling is Kumbaya (‘Kumbaya, my Lord’) in Gullah’s spiritual song (circa 1920), sung in the South Carolina islands.
"It means ‘Come to us, my Lord.’
"Subsequently American missionaries took the song to Angola, which is why it is wrongly said that it is an Angolan song." [2]
Notes on Lyrics
Sara Nossa Terra
Language: English
Pronunciation: kum BYE yah
Verses: kumbaya, allusions to crying, praying, calling
Vocabulary
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: verse-chorus
Verse Repetition Pattern: none
Ending: repetitions of "Oh Lord"
Unique Features: reduction of original song to chorus
Igreja Batista Filadélfia
Language: Portuguese
Pronunciation: KUM bi yeah
Term for Deity: Senhor
Ending: repetitions of "Oh Lord," followed by repetitions of "kumbaya"
Notes on Music
Sara Nossa Terra
Opening Phrase: chorus was 1-3-5, verse was original
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: ABABCB where A was a vocal soloist, B was a vocal group, and C had no vocal part
Singing Style: solo with echo, one syllable to one note except for "Lord" in the second line of the chorus
Igreja Batista Filadélfia
Opening Phrase: same as Sara Nossa Terra
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: ABABCB where A was two soloists, B and C were the group
Singing Style: chordal harmony that went beyond triads
Occasion: Ministério de Louvor (worship ministry)
Location: three-sided altar of church; the walls were white above a stone wainscoting. Posters and a wide-screen television were hung on the walls. Amplifiers and a large arrangement of white flowers were at the front of the platform.
Microphones: they all had hand-held mikes.
Clothing: the women wore black dresses of different styles; the men wore black shirts and slacks; the conductor wore a black suit.
Notes on Movement
Igreja Batista Filadélfia
Three women stood on one side and three on the other, with the men in the center. They held their microphones with both hands and stood still. The soloists remained in place so the director stepped aside to let both be seen. He returned to his position in the center and used both arms to conduct; he bounced a little to mark the rhythm.
Notes on Audience
Igreja Batista Filadélfia
The video stopped before any reaction could be recorded.
Notes on Performers
A Igreja Batista Filadélfia was established in Salvador, Bahia, the religious center of Brazil, in 1902. The neighborhood of Caixa D’Água was near the city’s reservoirs, and the church took its original name from one, Cruz do Cosme. [3] It later was changed to brotherhood.
The congregation remained loyal to Baptist theology as imported by Southerners fleeing Reconstruction, [4] and did not become a charismatic church. Its statement of beliefs held to liberty of conscience and education that merges reason and faith. [5] It said a religious service
"must be consistent with the nature of God, in his holiness: an experience, therefore, of adoration and confession which expresses itself with fear and humility. Cult is not mere form and ritual, but an experience with the living God, through meditation and self-giving. It is not simply a religious service, but a communion with God in the reality of praise, the sincerity of love and the beauty of holiness. The worship becomes significant when the inspiration of the presence of God, the proclamation of the gospel, the freedom and action of the Spirit are combined with reverence and order." [6]
Availability
Igreja Batista Filadélfia
YouTube: uploaded by Filadélfia - Primeira Igreja Batista de Salvador on 19 March 2018.
End Notes
1. Sara Nossa Terra and the other groups who did movements to the song were discussed in the post for 25 October 2018.
2. YouTube notes translated by Google Translate.
3. Deocleciano Ferreira. "História." Church’s website. February 2011.
4. The first Baptists evangelists in Brazil were Z. C. Taylor, whose father considered migrating to Brazil from Missouri, before resettling in Texas. His interest in Brazil led W. B. Bagley to go before him. Bagley was living in Plantersville, Texas, at the time they met. The third person important person, Solomon Ginsburg, was a Polish Jew converted in London. He moved to Brazil as a Congregationalist, and was reconverted by Taylor. (Glendon Donald Grober. "An Introduction to and Critical Reproduction of The Z.C. Taylor Manuscript: The Rise and Progress of Baptist Missions in Brazil." MA thesis. Ouachita Baptist University, 1969.)
5. "Princípios." Church’s website. Translated by Google Translate.
6. "Princípios." Translated by Google Translate.
No comments:
Post a Comment