REVIEWED BY BARRY WOODS MAORI SONGS WITH STRINGS KIWI E.C. 20

Te Ao Hou, June 1961, Page 62

REVIEWED BY BARRY WOODS MAORI SONGS WITH STRINGS KIWI E.C. 20 Kirimamae (Phyllis Williams) and the Alex Lindsay Orchestra. If ever the intermixture of Pakeha Maori cultures was better presented on records, I have yet to hear it. The beautiful sound of the Maori language combined with splendid orchestrations is a delightful involvement for the listener. Sincere effort in congealing the plasticity of the Maori language, sentiments of the people, and echoes of the past, without resorting to the vulgar methods of the nineteen-thirties, is rare. Kirimamae, using her plaintive voice as an instrument of the orchestra, charms the listener into a complete feeling of Maoritanga. This is made all the more remarkable when the harmonies used rely little upon traditional Maori chant form, and show a marked influence by French lyric folk songs. This may be purely incidental, but it is none-the-less present in the orchestral arrangement. Purely to provoke discussion … the French settlement of parts of New Zealand in the 19th Century should have influenced the Maori vocal arts of the time in some way. I mention this not to give credence to my previous remarks, but as an avenue of research. Mention must be made of the elegant playing of the cello in ‘E Tangi Tikapa’ by Marie Vandewart. The sensitive control of the Alex Lindsay Orchestra will, I hope, be further presented by Kiwi Records in this style of work.