LONG before Christianity and the tides of westernisation reached our shores, ancient unique sounds shaped the natural sense of rhythm and music of the indigenous Fijians.
Traditional chants — from meke chants to chants of old which were distinctive in their tones and scales — were entirely different from western sounds.
These chants distinguished the iTaukei identity and were the basis of Fijian musicality of which its foundations were rooted in.
This week, The Fiji Times Backtracks takes you back through the mists of time in Fiji, re-discovering the mystiques of traditional chants, or vucu, which have been either lost or re-shaped over the years.
Decades or even centuries ago, these traditional chants were part of everyday life in most villages and communal settings in Fiji.
Some of these chants were sung or performed at various occasions, from the birth of a child to installing of chiefs, from informal to large traditional state ceremonies.
A commonly known traditional chant is the vakalutuivoce, which was sung before fisher folks went out to fish and guide them to the reef.
The sound of the vakalutuivoce would also be sung by the men upon returning from the sea.
Another is the va vuni gasau, which were said to be commonly sung by people in the highlands of Viti Levu and was more of a battle chant.
The va vuni gasau is said to have made items such as war clubs, or others such as canoes lighter, making it move more swiftly and faster during battles in the pre-colonial days.
According to Simione Sevudredre, an adviser on iTaukei culture, different chants were sung in different environments and wordings and had a clear demarcation to its intent.
“When we are looking at and talking about traditional chants, we are not referring to western influenced chants,” he said.
“These are not your ordinary line of singing that you would normally hear in any recording of choirs and groups.
“These are the ones that were around in years back. The last of the kind of these chants are in the old meke songs that were recorded in the 1950s, the tones that do not follow the major minor scale.
“They are quite significant, these chants, at different frequencies they would psych up battle armies.
“In a different style, different tempo and different frequencies again, it can calm a storm and conjure the wind.”
These specific chants are even said to have mana in it, which could control natural elements if they were sung the right way and by the right people.
Sere vasi and meke ni veimei se vakawele gone, (lullabies and nursery rhymes), are also among common types of traditional chants.
The sere vasi are poems which are recited and more “spontaneously” created than other types.
They are composed when the composer is being inspired by something, for instance, the rising sun or the sunset, etc.
It can take the form of reminiscences or prophecies or personal anticipations or anything meriting spontaneous expression.
The poet vividly describes the situation and then uses imagery, metaphors, and alliteration to explicitly explain the feelings he/she has at the moment. Thus one can see it is a form of relaxation.
According to Mr Sevudredre, sere vasi is sacred and serious too, where the text is not ready made, for only specific people chant it.
This is chanted when the performer is lying down, and as soon as he begins another person lies beside him to accompany the performer.
The second person’s role is merely to sound off the first’s voice so as to give some musical motivation to the whole things.
He does not utter any word for he would not know anyway.
As soon as the word passes around that a sere vasi is on, the people immediately gather to listen, with of course kava in their midst.
The chanter mentions things that gods have seen to be hindering social cohesion, things that are to be put right and also forecasts events in the near future.
The meke ni veimei se vakawele gone, covers a wide area from lullabies to games and rhymes.
These are for toddlers, preschoolers and for those in the primary classes that are between the ages from birth to 10 years old.
For the young ones there are lullabies (meke ni veimei) which are sung by grandmothers or mothers, or aunts, and the function is to make the baby go to sleep.
Not all lullabies are composed and sung to make babies sleep, however, but also to keep their minds occupied, especially to divert their attention from the mother who is perhaps busy with household chores.
Mr Sevudredre said the traditional chants also varied in different provinces and village settings around Fiji.
And while a few villages are passing their unique traditional chants to the next generation through the meke ni yaqona, a lot has been lost and reshaped.
“A large portion of the chants have been forgotten and watered down,” Mr Sevudredre said.
“There are documented texts though, but their tunes or melodies are lost. The ones that still remain are the meke chants, especially the very old chants that are sung at the yaqona vakaturaga ceremonies.
“With due respect, one of the fore reasons for this was the arrival of the lotu, (Christianity/church) which brought its own style of singing.”
But the underlying question many would ask is — how important is it for these traditional chants to be maintained within the traditional iTaukei system?
Mr Sevudredre said simply put, these chants were the bedrock of indigenous psychology development, articulation, psychomotor coordination, collaboration and co-operation.
“They helped instil and establish the indigenous Fijian ethos that distinguishes our identity, the centre that keeps society from falling apart,” he said.
“It’s our sound, it identifies us. We may sing and speak another sound, but it belongs to someone else, it’s not ours.” Mr Sevudredre said some of these chants were also prophetic and some retold of oral histories of Fiji that were yet to be written.
“If we do not revive it, nobody in the world is going to revive it,” Mr Sevudredre said.
“About a decade or so ago, I was part of an alumni conference of the post-program Ship for World Youth. There were four of us representing Fiji.
“There were alumni from Europe, America, Latin America, and Africa. During dinner, each country was asked to sing or perform an impromptu cultural item.
“Fortunately, I had taken a Black Rose cd with me and I played a track. Not only was the dinner turned into a brief taura-tale (dancing) session, when it was over, two alumni reps, one from Greece and one from Egypt came up to me and remarked how the sounds from the song was one they had never had and never known as far as their knowledge from the civilisations were concerned — the Greek and Egyptian.
“I found this observation very empowering, in that a little country that is a dot on the globe can offer a sound that is fresh and unique to the world.
“And mind you, that was only Black Rose, who had infused chants into the songs. Imagine if the pure chants had been sung or performed!”
Mr Sevudredre also highlighted the importance of keeping these traditional chants revived, which was an integral part of the literature of our society, be it oral or written literature. In doing this, Mr Sevudredre has engaged with musical duo Nemani Vanua and Talei Draunibaka, fondly known as Nem and Talei, in telling the stories behind these traditional chants at the Tribute to the Classics 2017 music event.
“My involvement with Tribute to the Classics is entirely out of a passion for culture, and in this instance, the performing arts,” he said.
“What started off initially as an informal talanoa session on oral history and tradition over the kava bowl one evening led to more intense discussion on culture as an inspiration for the TTTC theme.
“One evening, we were talking about meke and the difficulty in recordings of old meke tones and chants and how the meke sounds of today have been influenced by western major and minor scales.
“Discussion over the weeks evolved from meke chants to chants of old that were unique in their tones and scales which were entirely different from western sounds, and the difficulty in ‘retraining’ the ear and the mind to reproduce these ancient unique sounds.”
The Tribute to the Classics Black Tie event this year, which will be held at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva this Saturday, is expected to have an empowering, uplifting and emotional effect — centered around traditional Fijian music as well as paying tribute to indigenous women.
With new composers to be honoured this year, the premium music event has been organised in two streams “The Black Tie Event” at the Grand Pacific Hotel this Saturday, November 18 and the “Public Event” at the Vodafone Arena in Suva on December 2.
