Music Of Baháʼí Faith

The Baháʼí Faith arose in 19th‑century Persia (Iran), and early devotional practice naturally reflected Persian and Azerbaijani vocal traditions. Believers chanted prayers and passages from the Báb’s and Bahá’u’lláh’s writings using local cantillation styles. As the Faith spread to the Caucasus, the Ottoman and Russian Empires, South Asia, and the West, new believers began creating hymns and simple melodies in their own languages, especially in North America and Europe in the early 1900s.

With the growth of diverse Baháʼí communities, music diversified. Western Baháʼís wrote English‑language hymns and choral works for Feasts and holy days, while Iranian and Central Asian communities continued chant‑based traditions. By the mid‑century, public concerts and interfaith events featured Baháʼí performers. Although not strictly “devotional,” mainstream acts such as Seals & Crofts carried Baháʼí themes of unity and spirituality into popular soft rock during the 1970s, raising the public profile of the Faith’s music culture.

From the 1980s–1990s, large Baháʼí choirs formed (e.g., Voices of Bahá) under conductors such as Tom Price, performing original oratorios and multi‑lingual works that set scripture to music. Major gatherings, like the 1992 Baháʼí World Congress, produced landmark choral recordings. Independent artists on several continents began studio albums of prayers and passages in multiple languages, helping establish a recognizable contemporary “Baháʼí devotional” sound.

Today, music of the Baháʼí Faith spans intimate singer‑songwriter devotions, Persian‑Arabic chant, gospel and world‑fusion choirs, children’s songs for moral education, and hip‑hop/spoken‑word settings of scripture. International collaboration—often online—has multiplied repertoire and translated works into dozens of languages, while maintaining the core principle: music as a vehicle for communal devotion and the oneness of humanity.