AIR FORCE BAND PLAYS MAORI SYMPHONY
programme of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Band, which provided music for a pass-ing-out ceremony at Rongotai Aerodrome last Sunday, was Llewellyn Jones’s symphonic work Tre principal item on the
"Maori Rhapsody," which had only once before been performed in public. The band, which has been welded into an efficient combination by its conductor, Flight-Lieutenant Gladstone Hill, is adding a number of Maori works }to its repertoire, and "Maori Rhapsody"
is a fitting complement to several works by Alfred Hill. Mr. Jones, who is a well known Auckland pianist and arranger, wrote "Maori Rhapsody" nearly 18 months ago, and it was first played by the Auckland Symphony Orchestra, under Colin Muston. It received an ovation from an Auckland Town Hall audience, and was immediately recognised as a work of considerable importance. It is believed, in fact, to be the first symphony written on a Maori theme. Llewellyn Jones is of Welsh birth, but has lived most of his life in New Zealand. He received his early musical education as a choirboy in the cathedral at Newport, Monmouthshire. In New Zealand, he came into musical prominence when he toured with the Marcus Show orchestra as pianist and arranger under Albert Coleman, a former member of Stokowski’s Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. His services as atranger were retained while the Marcus Show was touring Australia, South Africa and India. "Maori Rhapsody" is not his first composition. One which attracted attention was an amusing "Popeye Symphony," built round the cartoon character. The "Popeye Symphony" is also being arranged for the Air Force Band. In Modern Style "Maori Rhapsody" is truly Maori, but traditional themes such as the Kamata Haka are treated in a modern style. One of the melodies, a canoe song which has been passed down from generation to generation in the Arawa tribe, had never been written down before Mf, Jones heard an old Maori woman sing« ing it. The Air Force Band, with its stron brass section, makes the war songs hakas of "Maori Rhapsody" especial stirring, and altogether it should one of the most popular items on band’s programmes. Another Maori work recently arranged for the band is "Tangi," one of Alfred Hill’s lesser known ¢ompositions,
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 83, 24 January 1941, Page 12
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372AIR FORCE BAND PLAYS MAORI SYMPHONY New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 83, 24 January 1941, Page 12
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