From 'God Still Loves the World' to 'Spreading the Light'
Source: CM Paul *
Mumbai, December 04 2012:
Most choirs in Asia may have lustily sung the popular hymn 'God Still Loves the World', but not many may know the composer, and fewer still the circumstance under which he composed this song.
"I am surprised that what started as a hobby during my theology days in Bangalore continues to inspire today's generation," says composer of the song Fr Peter Gonsalves a Social Communication Professor at Salesian University Rome.
This year marks 25 years of his priestly ministry and TejParasarini Mumbai which he founded in 1992 released a CD containing 70 (seventy) of his inspirational songs in MP3 format on 1st December.
The CD is aptly named, The Peter Gonsalves Collection � Lyrical Food for the Soul.
"The idea of 'Tej-prasarini' first began in the villages of drought-stricken Ahmednagar, about 250 kms from Mumbai," says Gonsalves reminiscing the origins of his music ministry recording rural folk music on a portable tape recorder 30 years ago.
"I saw the rural folk engaged in proclaiming their beliefs through community prayer songs called bhajans (brief repetitive songs)," tells Gonsalves a Signis World member representing Salesian congregation.
|
He adds, "early experiments in recording some of these expressions of faith, gave birth to the idea of preserving and promoting them in the form of audio-cassettes" .
The entrepreneur in him showed up when "the recordings thus executed were sold back at cost price to the villagers who were delighted to hear their own music played on audio cassette players" .
After the modest success of this initiative in Ahmedabad, and with its base shifted to Pune, Tej-prasarini launched out into more professional recordings as well as video productions on social themes.
Collaboration with the pioneering Marathi lyricist and Radio Evangelist of Pune, Mr.Jayantkumar Tribhuvan, who suggested the music company's name Tejprasarini, improved the quality of the Marathi productions.
The sudden burst of childish laughter caught in a crowded bus in Bangalore in 1984 delighted Gonsalves who saw a happy baby staring at him as she lay on her mother's lap.
Tagore's words flashed in his mind: "Every child comes with the message that God is not yet given up on man" and was born the winning title-song of his first music album that spelled hope: 'God still loves the world' .
Gonsalve's transfer to Mumbai in 1993 further boosted music recordings in English and Hindi and helped the product reach schools and parishes.
* The sender of this news can be contacted at cmpaul53(at)gmail(dot)com .