Sri Chinmoy Songs Weblog

New Database Format

Medur Wilson — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 11:44:56

The song database has been undergoing a rebuild for the past month. The intention is to enable us to recreate the online database from Sundari's master copy. I have successfully created a new online db from the local File Maker Pro file and am in the process of testing it for bugs and omissions.

I hope to have this completed by the end of this year.

Sri Chinmoy, 1931 - 2007

Medur Wilson — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:30:02

Spiritual master and world harmony leader Sri Chinmoy passed away on the 11th of October 2007, at his home in New York.

He leaves us with his legacy of a lifetime of singing and songwriting. Right up until his passing he maintained his customary intensity, composing songs and performing his musical compositions.

Songbook Browse Page Is Now Available

Medur Wilson — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:11:07

The Songbook Browse page is now available on the main tab bar at the Browse link.

This site's entire contents of published songs may be accessed here by browsing through the published songbooks by Sri Chinmoy. The Songbooks are listed alphabetically by title with a page of songbooks for each letter (or number).

Also the Songbook view page has been modified to rectify some bugs. The songs in a songbook are now batched to make page loading quicker.

Please note that some published songbooks may have some unpublished songs in them so the page numbering may not seem correct even though it is ...

Medur

Sri Chinmoy's Greatest Hits

Noivedya Juddery — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 08:20:41

It's a pertinent question: if a songwriter composes a multitude of songs, how can anyone choose the "best" or the "greatest"? The question has often been pondered by Sri Chinmoy's students, as they consider his ouevre of 13,000 Bengali and 7000 English songs. But then, even other highly prolific composers - from Rabindranath Tagore to Franz Schubert to Sir Paul McCartney - have their so-called "greatest hits", the songs most often cited by admirers and musical critics alike. Among 2,000 songs, Tagore has two National Anthems, India's "Jana Gana Mana" and Bangladesh's "Amar Sonaar Baanglaa". Schubert wrote 600 songs, but "Erlkönig", one of his early compositions, was a stand-out. McCartney excelled (and still excels) at writing light pop songs, but even within these limits, a handful of songs - "Yesterday", "Hey Jude" - seem to stand out for their beauty or poignancy.

But again, what of Sri Chinmoy? With most songwriters, it is said, their output is a collection of emotional highs and lows. (The inspiration of "Hey Jude" and the sadness of "Yesterday" are an example.) Sri Chinmoy says that his inspiration comes from a higher source, a source of inspiration, so it does not really fit this premise.

In 2004, a group of his students from Australia and New Zealand voted for the "spiritual top 40" - their favourite 40 songs by Sri Chinmoy. The top 10, as one would expect, was full of songs that are well-known to all his students, the ones that have somehow stood out even among his many songs - and which, in some cases, he asks his students to sing regularly as part of their meditation.

Four were English songs. Many of his English songs are catchy and upbeat, exhibiting spiritual truths in a joyous and celebratory way. Several of his Bengali songs, meanwhile, have a soulful, meditative quality. That is obvious in the top 10. The powerful "Borobodur", written about the famous Buddhist temple near Jogyakarta in Indonesia (and therefore, about the Lord Buddha himself), is haunting and seems to echo deep within, even if the singer is unfamiliar with the language. "Usha Bala Elo" is beautiful and utterly simple - so simple that it is often used in meditation classes as an easy-to-learn exercise in meditative music. "Rangiye De Ma" is also simple, and extremely sweet.

The number one song - Sri Chinmoy's own favourite - was "Jiban Debata", a song that, in four short lines, encompasses so much of his spiritual teaching. It is an invocation of the peace, power and enlightenment of meditation.

Songbook Browse Page Will be Available Soon

Medur Wilson — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 21:19:25

I will be publishing a Songbook browse page soon. Site visitors will be able to browse a listing of songbooks in the database alphabetically.

Andrew has started scanning songbooks and we will be uploading the scores on an ongoing basis.

Song Database is Now Officially Local

Medur Wilson — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 06:22:07

Spoke to Sundari about database issues. Database is now local in Filemaker Pro 8.5 format. The understanding is that she will maintain the database locally and from time to time will send me a copy of her data for upload to the internet site.

Her first pass through the new database is about 80% complete. I am working on the transfer process. Likely will make heavy use of XML.

I am going to post a wish list of site improvements in a separate post.

Richard Has a New Name

Medur Wilson — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 18:06:10

Just a note to congratulate Tejvan (formerly Richard) Pettinger on his new spiritual name.

Also, welcome to Andrew Davies in Christchurch NZ coming in as a Quality Assurance specialist. He will be reviewing the site and making comments as required.

About This Site Page Added Today

Medur Wilson — Sat, 26 May 2007 18:46:12

New page added. I put a link to this page up in the portal tab bar (just below the masthead). It should help newcomers get oriented quickly to the features and usage of the site.

I forgot to mention Ed Silverton in my previous posting. Ed did all of the beautiful artwork for the site.

Sri Chinmoy Songs Weblog starts today

Medur Wilson — Thu, 24 May 2007 11:30:53

Welcome to the Sri Chinmoy Songs weblog.

Hi.

My name is Medur Wilson. I am the custodian of this site (webmaster - if you will).

This blog will be a place to visit to view the latest news regarding the development and progress of this site. We will be posting updates on upcoming features and site improvements from time to time.

The blog format also allows and welcomes public input in the form of comments. This will be a means to get feedback and suggestions from visitors to the site.

Sri Chinmoy Songs is managed by the ongoing hard work of:

Sundari Michaelian, who is responsible for the song content of the site;

Richard Pettinger, who has been maintaining the site for the past several years; and

Medur Wilson. I am looking after the site's structure and functionality.