GRAMOPHONES

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1002, 19 June 1930, Page 6

GRAMOPHONES

NOTABLE RECORDINGS COLUMBIA ACHIEVEMENT IN MAORI MUSIC AN EXCELLENT SERIES Both from the historical and the musical point of view, Columbia has accomplished a notable achievement in its latest recording efforts, and the results are such as will please all New Zealanders. The company has just put on to the market a set of Maori records which are unique, and which set a new standard in this field of New Zealand musical activities. These records by the Maori Choir at Rotorua, made at Ohinemutu in April, are authentic in every respect. Among New Zealanders the Maori race has been noted for its musical capabilities, and the songs chosen bear ample witness to this. There are many Maori songs well known to Europeans, but in the Columbia batch there appear several which, little known before, should become famous. The Maori has been fortunate in that nature has endowed him and his womenfolk with voices having a beautiful liquid quality of tone that makes for a standard of choral and solo work which it would be hard to equal anywhere else in the world. The Don Cossacks Choir was a fine musical organisation, but in its field the Maori Choir of Rotorua is just as notable. Then, too, the muted cadences of Maori traditional melodies make the singing of a ,aori chorus unforgettable—a thing of “linked sweetness long drawn out.” If one adds to this a receptive ear and marvellous adaptability—take, for example, the Maori rendering of English hymns, as taught by the early missionaries—one has something memorable in the way of music. The Arawas at Rotorua have long specialised in the vocal arts, particularly the Ngati Whaakaue hapn at Ohinemutu. The songs and talents of this branch of the tribe have been passed on from generation to generation, and today a choir of about 30 young Maoris, specially selected, is a perfect specimen of the Maori art of music at its highest pitch. This is the choir which has produced the Columbia’ series.

For balance and rhythmic beauty, it would be hard to beat the bracket of Maori love ditties—each of them well-known —“Pokarekare” and “Te Taniwha,” sung by the choir. Each has a simple, haunting tune, and each is given admirably, with the choir giving the impression of a grand organ at times. “Te Taniwha” » has a soprano soloist to lead it, and there is humming accompaniment which adds to the effect.

In different vein are “Te Opi Tuatahi” and “I Runga O Nga Puke,” two stirring marching songs, the latter written by the Hon. Sir Apirana Ngata, Minister of Native Affairs. These are strongly-marked, vigorous songs, given with dash by the choir, the male voices being particularly impres sive. On the reverse side of this disc is a fishing shanty, “Kara Karu,” just

as fine, and similar in spirit. This was written by the Rt. Rev. F. A. Bennett, Bishop of Aotearoa. Here the choir gives a typically Maori version of a real Maori song. This record is well worth while

Impressive In their simple dignity, with the plaintive undernote of grief running all the way through, are “■Matangi” (“I Grieve for You”), u d “E Hotu Nei” (“I Long for You”). The solo portion of each is sung by a very fine soprano, whose voice never shows the artificiality that so often mars the work of her European sisters. The choir excels in the ac-

companiment, and the air gives ample scope for those liquid notes that distinguish the Maori voice. Both of these songs haunt the memory.

To the missionary hymns taught Ms ancestors in their days of savagery, the Maori has transferred the genius of his race, and, though one can trace the English tune, nevertheless. it bears the pleasing marks of Maori harmony. Two typical examples of hymns such as this are “Au E Ibu” (“Jesu, Lover of My Soul”) and “Karaunatia” (“Crown Him”). To hear a Maori choir singing English hymns is an unforgettable experience, and this record is very fine indeed. The hymns are actually enhanced in beauty.

In addition to the choral recordings, there are several solos sung admirably and naturally. The Maori has no need to depend upon art for his singing, for his singing is art itself. Everything is unforced and the melody seems to well from the throat of the singer as easily as the trills and warblings do from that of a bird. The recording of the solos is remarkable for its naturalness and clarity.

“Hine E Hine” (“Dearest") and “Wairangi” (“May I Not Love You”), are sung by Te Mauri Meihana, a soprano with a fine sense of expression, so that, as with an operatic singer, one does not need to know the words to follow the sense. She sings with restraint these two songs. Much °n the same traditional air, but nevertheless enjoyable, these numbers are pleasant entertainment. The only song in English in the whole batch is sung by a tenor, Tiawlii Ratete, who has a light, pleasing voice with a remarkable range. His English song is “The Maori Flute,” a fairly well-known air, and on the re verse he sings a lovely piece of liquid melody, “Ako Ako O Te Rangi”