- country:Solomon Islands
- style(s):Gospel, Vocal
- label:Wantok Musik
- type:Large Ensemble
- gender:male, female
- instrumentation:a cappella
- artist posted by:Wantok Musik
Line up
- Ol Sing Blong Plantesen (acappella singing)
Links
Ol Sing Blong Plantesen - Plantation Songs - brings to light the fascinating and creative tradition of Salvesen, a song and dance form that emerged from the sorrowful and alienating years of South Sea Islanders' indentured labor in the cane fields of Queensland from the 1860s to the turn of the century.
This release highlights the exuberant a cappella singing of Pacific Islanders and offers a glimpse into the surprising reach of African American spirituals in the late nineteenth century.
Salvesen is the only known creative form to survive from the labor trade years and is still performed today in the central islands of Vanuatu. It combines African American spirituals and gospel hymns with a Vanuatu customary circular dance. Accompanied by a limited edition, extensively researched and richly illustrated book documenting the history of the music, Ol Sing Blong Plantesen is a testimony to the South Sea Islanders' capacity for turning sorrow into a lasting expression of joy.
Many people are aware of South Sea Islanders’ major contribution to the Queensland sugar industry. This was a time when, over a period of 40 years from the 1860s, exploitative recruiters made almost 900 voyages to and from the islands north of Australia, most frequently to Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, in search of cheap labour. Pejoratively labelled ‘Kanakas’, Islands men and women were indentured as labourers on Australian plantations and farms where they endured slave-like conditions and a gruelling work regime. Besides instances of suicide, thousands died from disease.
Almost unknown, however, is that a fascinating and creative song and dance tradition survives from those sorrowful and alienating years in the central islands of Vanuatu. This tradition is known as salvesen (salvation) and was created from combining African American spirituals and gospel hymns learnt at plantation night schools, with a Vanuatu customary circular dance. It is the only known creative form to survive from the labour trade years that is still performed today.
Salvesen points to the immense popularity of the Fisk Jubilee Singers during of their three- and half-year tour of Australia and New Zealand, 1886-1889. Performed during the Christmas and New Year period, it is a Pacific Islands parallel to the Caribbean Jonkonnu cultural parade and the African American slaves’ Watch Service.
This new release, Ol Sing Blong Plantesen—Plantation Songs—brings salvesen to listeners interested in Pacific music and history and global choral traditions more broadly. It includes a selection of spirituals and gospel songs recorded in Maskelyne Islands and Epi Island in Vanuatu.
The performances resound with the exuberant a cappella singing for which Pacific Islanders are renowned. Accompanying the recordings is a limited edition, richly illustrated, compact 80-page book documenting the history of this music tradition, which includes the song lyrics and translations.
Salvesen sprang from the intention of a shipload of returning labourers to transplant a Salvation Army “revival” outreach unit to their small island. These men and women left Australia in 1906 in keeping with a mass deportation order that was passed by Australia’s new federal parliament in 1901, part of what became known as the White Australia policy. Passed down through oral tradition, the songs were combined with uniforms, military drill, a round dance, illustrative song gestures and other unique features.
This unique release documents a precious trace and reminder of not only the suffering and abuse South Sea Islanders endured, but also the loss of life and humiliation of deportation. As documented in this anthology, salvesen stands as a tribute to Islanders’ capacity for turning songs learnt during a time of sorrow into a lasting expression of joy.