GREAT SONGS OF THE MAORI

Te Ao Hou, March 1967, Page 61

GREAT SONGS OF THE MAORI Salem X.P. 5006 12 in. 33 ½ L. P. This enjoyable record features the Church College Maori Culture Group (Latter Day Saints) of Hamilton. Since it was founded in 1958 the Church College of New Zealand has devoted a great deal of effort to teaching and fostering interest in Maori language and culture. Te Arohanui Concert Party which toured so successfully throughout the United States several years ago consisted of members of the Mormon faith, many of whom were products of the Church College. Approximately one hundred students at the College, Maori and Pakeha, attend daily classes in chant, action song, haka, Maori games and handicraft. The average age of the students is fourteen years. This recording shows the quality and versatility of these young performers under their Maori instructor James Elkington. The hakas are somewhat tame, as is natural when performed by youngsters, but the musical items are very competently done. It is not surprising of course that some of the best Maori choral music has been recorded by groups from boarding schools where there is time to give the students the necessary grounding and discipline in the vocal arts. On this disc the sacred music is the best. The music is sung without any striving for effect and the balance between the various sections of the choir is good throughout. There is a particularly fine version of Evan Steven's ‘Song of the Redeemed’, better known in Maori as ‘Kia Kotahi Katoa’, and the young singers tackle the complex part-singing with vigour and confidence. Instructor in music at the College is Peter Henderson. It is pleasant also to hear a Maori group performing unaccompanied without an obtrusive guitar thumping out a constant rhythm. Too many Maori groups use the guitar accompaniment as a psychological prop without which they feel they cannot perform. The cover is a spectacular one, featuring, by courtesy of the Board of Trustees of the National Art Gallery, one of H. Lindsay Richardson's paintings of a Maori woman's head. The notes describing each item are adequate but are marred by some grammatical errors in the English and spelling mistakes in the Maori.