Music of New Zealand

New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 324, 7 September 1945, Page 8

Music of New Zealand

Not without misgivings did I switch to 4YA for a BBC recorded, programme called "Music of New Zealand." What would it prove to contain-some of those Viennese waltz tunes sung to Maori words, which are erroneously ‘accepted as genuine Maori music? A haka arranged for instruments? Or something else equally spurious? I was wrong, thank goodness. * The programme _ contained what it advertised, New Zealand music. It contained Douglas Lilburn’s Overture "Ao-tea-roa," a rhapsodically beautiful composition, and Alfred Hill’s "Maori Rhapsody." Too much insistence on the "tui-and-rata" motif is as fatal to a piece of music as to & poem, and so far there have been few New Zealand composers who have. dared to discard the Maori influence in favour of writing just music, Douglas Lilburn can be relied upon to write nothing that is not purely musical; but I confess that I had previously placed Alfred Hill in the "tui-and-rata" category, judging him only by his popular songs. After hearing "Maori Rhapsody," I must qualify that judgment. The Maori influence is here, but carefully subordinated to the music, which, although more orthodox and less interesting in theme and construction than Lilburn’s, is still an expressive portrayal of various Maori rites which lend themselves to music teadily enough. After these. two contrasting and interesting examples of New Zealand music at its: best, why on earth did the BBC decide that a fitting finish to the programme would be ‘"Waiata Poi," scored for resounding brass and clashing cymbals?