MAORI MUSIC PRESERVED

New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 737, 28 August 1953, Page 19

MAORI MUSIC PRESERVED

O save some _ traditional Maori music from extinction, two men recently made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They were W. T. Ngata, an officer of the Maori Affairs Department, and J: M. Barraud, an NZBS .technician, The place they visited is a village about 80 miles north-east. by road from Gisborne. Shown’ 6n the maps as Waitakaro, it ‘s knowr locally as Hiruharam@; the Maori name "for Jerusalem. A See 9 The dbject of the visit’ to Hifdhatana was to record as many"as possible of the chants ‘contained in Sir-Apirana Ngata’s book Nga Moteatea, This book s published almost 30 years ago, but tunes that went with the poetry could not be get down as no satisfactory musical notation was available. More secently, "Ashley Heenan, an NZBS. officer, hag ‘bat chitin a notation for Maoii music, is has yet to-¢ ptance. Mr, Neate-oh is son) Used. a portable CB atl dee owned’ ‘by © Pau Purposes" Fund Board-which the projectand operatéd. by Mr, Barraud. After five days’ work the pair had obtained recordings of some 150. chants. ‘Later, in other parts: of the country, attempts will be made to obtain more. Mr. Ngata considers iit. auplikely, however, that more than half of ‘the chants in Nga Moteatea will have survived. The choir of Ngati Porou people used for the recording numbered from 12 to 20 at various times, and consisted largely of elderly people, Their average age was about 70, with one singer just on 90. Mr. Ngata thought their voices recorded "remarkably well." "And, of course, it was only the old people who remembered the‘ chants. "The young people know ie! a few they happen to like." In addition to the chants, the teain recorded some items. by local schoolchildren, and by the Hikurangi parish choir. Wherever possible, chants not included in Nga Moteatea will also be rewh

corded, but few are anticipated. Mr. Negata found that some of the old chants were still changing and growing, but there were few recent compositions. In the past, attempts to record Maori music often met with opposition. The reason was that much music, for instance, sacred music; is intended -for specific occasions. It was feared use | might be made of it merely for enter- | tainment. Nowadays, however, more and more people are becoming conscious of | ‘the need to preserve this music, and opposition is crumbling. The tape recordings made at Hiru-. harama are now in the possession of the | Maori Purposes Fund Board. It is in- | tended to make pressings from them so that disc recordings can be made avail- | able to the Maori people, Copies will be preserved by the board, and probably | by various libraries. For its own Maori Library, the NZBS | is cutting dise copies from the original | tapes. This is not without difficulty, as the tapes of portable recorders tend to slow down as the battery weakens. This shows as a speeding effect when the tape is played back on a normal machine. However, technicians have found a way to combat this effect, and the chants that find their way to the library will be neither too fast nor too slow.