Original version

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

The Documentary

Documentaries

Factual

Investigating global developments, issues and affairs.

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

The Documentary: Music that Unites Us

Buskers in Cyprus

30/04/2016 GMT

Music that Unites Us

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Music that Unites Us

The music of the world that unites fans - even across borders that divide old enemies

The music of the world that unites fans - even across borders that divide old enemies.

In the Indian Punjab, two young teenage girls are singing ancient poetry written by a Muslim Sufi saint buried over the border in Pakistan. Meanwhile, across the barbed wire in Pakistan, the female folk singer Bali Jatti, whose music is inspired by Indian culture, is performing to a rapturous crowd of Pakistani men. This is not the only example of split-identity music which unites fans across borders that divide old enemies. Asad Ali Chaudhry also explores Cypriot folk music shared by Greeks and Turks, and how a Russian folk metal band came to have a strong Finnish influence.

(Photo: A street music group in the old part of the Cypriot capital, Nicosia, 2013. Credit: Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Documentary

Music that Unites Us

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

About BBC World Service