“Singing is prayer two times”: a transnational perspective on “religious music,” musical performance and urban religiosity­in­Cameroon­and­Switzerland­

Music is a cultural product and has followed routes of migration (Connell and Gibson­2003:­160),­entering­through­urban­centers­into­rural­areas,­but­also­taking­ the reverse path. Like music, religion has a mobile and transformative dimension (Hüwelmeier and Krause 2010; Rytter and Olwig 2011; Shankar and Adogame 2012) and brings new dynamics to urban contexts, especially when combined with new media. As a cultural product, music has been used as a medium for Christian­proselytization,­and­in­recent­years­“religious­music”­has­intensified­as­ a means of evangelization emanating from urban centers. This is noticeable in the many ways religion meets new media (Campbell 2010), in the vibrant marketing of “religious” (read “Christian”) media productions and their local and global dissemination, and in the growing popularity of gospel groups and choir associations as a global movement. However, music may not only be a means for religious conversion,­it­can­also­be­a­form­of­prayer­(for­example,­Berliner­1975/76:­132;­ Rosenwein 2000: 42), and a form of ritual communication with spiritual beings (Merriam­1964:­217).­In­this­chapter,­I­will­focus­on­Christian­choral­music­as­ a form of prayer and place-making in the migration of Cameroonians to Europe. I do this by analyzing the interplay between processes of religious innovation and spiritualization in urban Africa and the invention of religious events for the migrants within semi-rural and urban areas of Europe.1