MAORI MUSIC

Evening Star, Issue 22617, 8 April 1937, Page 7

MAORI MUSIC

REEFING THE SPIRIT ALIVE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF ROTORUA CHOIR Maori music as it is known to-day is not really Maori. The original Maori music is only ■ a monotonous chant, devoid of tone-colour, but there is a deep significance in it that definitely links, with the tradition of the native people.. This, information was, given to the ‘ Evening Star > this morning, by Miss Te Mauri Meihana, who is 1 at .present on a broadcasting tour of the Dominion. _ , ■ The chants, she said, arc used only at receptions and Maori gatherings, and are apt to be -misinterpreted by thqse who do not understand the Maori traditions. When the pakeha came to New Zealand .he brought certain melodies with him, some of the notes and tones of which have _ since been adapted to the Maori tradition by quite a number of composers, but, in the opinion of Miss Meihana, the only composer who really pictures something of the Maori spirit in song is Mr Alfred Hill.

When Miss Meihana was in Christchurch early this week she renewed her acquaintance with Mr Gil Dech, pianist and conductor, who superintended the making of gramophone records-of the Rotorua Maori Choir eight years ago. At that time Mr Dech regarded Miss Meihana as a singer of more than usual merit. He trained her, and under his tuition she developed her voice to unusual beauty and quality. Had it not for Mr Dech, she said, she would never have gained an appreciation of the finer points of singing, a'hd he was also the man who had made the choir famous throughout the world. Some of the singers in the choir were becoming too old to carry on now, hut in Rotorua there was a small band of supporters working for its re-establish-ment. It was hoped that Mr Alfred Hill might eventually establish a new choir to take the place of the disbanded organisation. He would probably link the best of the older singers with the choice of the younger ones, and maintain the essence of Maori tradition. At the same time, the choir would be sufficiently modern' to be entertaining to those who were unacquainted with Maori life. The main idea was to keep the Maori spirit alive in modern music.