MUSIC AT ROTORUA

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20740, 25 February 1939, Page 3 (Supplement)

MUSIC AT ROTORUA

MAORI OR HAWAIIAN? CRITICISM BY ALFRED HILL Alfred Hill, the well-known composer who wrote “Waiata Poi anrl other popular songs, indulged in some trenchant criticism at a gathering Oj. Maoris in Rotorua. He said : “When I want to hear Hawaiian music Igo to Hawaii. If you go on singing Hawaiian music you will find that no oversea visitors will attend your concerts in Rotorua. You will kill the ‘goose that lays the golden egg. “Go back to your elders before it is too late. Learn from them before they depart, to the Reinga. llow is it that so few of the young people of to-day can chant? Why are they more interested in jazz than in the music of their ancestors? People, come to New Zealand to hear Maori music—not to listen to Hawaiian jazz!

“There are too many innovations in both music and dancing.” The composer made particular references to changes in poi-dancing, which, he said, were not an improvement.

"These alterations have crept in almost imperceptibly,” he declared,

“and it is time that they were arrested. If they continue, what will the end be? I am your friend, an old friend of the Maori people, and I know you will forgive me if I speak frankly.”