Tahitian Music

Tahitian music is the music of Tahiti and the Society Islands of French Polynesia, built on two pillars: the *himene*, the dense part-singing inherited from pre-Christian chant and reshaped by Protestant hymnody, and the percussive dance music of the *'ori Tahiti*, driven by slit-gong *to'ere* and skin drums. Ukulele, guitar and accordion joined the ensemble in the twentieth century, and a popular song tradition grew around Papeete bandleaders such as *Eddie Lund*, whose #Tahiti# label recordings carried the islands' sound worldwide, while village choirs like *The Tahitian Choir* of Rapa Iti preserved the older polyphony.