Words, Music and Action

Te Ao Hou, April 1956, Page 47

Words, Music and Action Tuini Ngawai's complete works comprise over two hundred songs. Many have a subject matter that occurs in most poetry—love, death, war, the peace of God. Others are songs of everyday life. Particularly in her shearing songs Miss Ngawai has given lively and accomplished pictures of New Zealand. Many songs again are on subjects peculiarly Maori such as the numerous welcome songs. In the main, she bases her style of action songs on the tradition made by Sir Apirana Ngata, Paraire Tomoana and others who developed the

modern action song in the beginning of this century. With so few of these songs published it is hard to study just what Tuini Ngawai's own contribution was. Sir Apirana greatly admired her work. Her language is always pure, economical, forceful and precise. The haunting reminiscences of ancient words and ideas often provide a peculiar depth. They are, in Tuini Ngawai's work, never mere repetitions of older chants, but are given a new life in her muscular modern language. She also excells in the blending of words, music and action. As she composes she has all the three elements in mind. Miss Ngawai sometimes composes her own music (as in Karangatia Ra and E Nga Rangatahi, printed in this issue) but more often uses existing melodies. She rarely changes these melodies and ingeniously fits her words to the existing music. Very often the words are incomplete without the actions. This is not because the poet could not find more expressive words, but because the actions adequately convey the feeling. A strong individual character runs through all the songs and it is no accident that her party was called ‘Te Hokowhitu-a-Tu’. A war-like strength is evident everywhere; the attitude to pain and misfortune is perhaps peculiarly Maori, certainly different from most European poetry—pain is not described, analysed or escaped from but fought like an enemy. Does the use of popular hits show lack of originality? If one compares the original song ‘Love Walked In’ with ‘Arohaina Mai,’ the spirit is entirely changed although the tune is still about the same. Obviously, Tuini Ngawai only uses the popular hit because it suits her purpose, not because she is forced to lean on it. The people love musical hits and what the people already love is made the basis for an artistic production. Miss Ngawai does not compose for the chosen few but for her own people in Tokomaru Bay, as she finds them. After my visit to Makomako we travelled back together on the shearer's truck. In the middle sat Tuini singing. Twenty voices joined in with gusto. Someone offered her a guitar but she turned it down. She just continued singing. With the next song she had changed her mind, she now wanted the guitar and took it. Strumming this guitar, she was completely part of her people; as they were singing her songs she could see how they experienced them, what feelings were stirred. After thousands of years of civilisation European poets are still dreaming of rediscovering this lost unity with the people.