Records by Alan Armstrong

The Maranga Club [Kiwi LC-3 12in. 33]1/3 LP This is a Maori disc with a difference. There is not one action song or haka to be heard in the recording, which consists mainly of items of a religious or semi-religious nature. The record is notable as presenting two compositions of considerable interest by a Maori composer, Arapeta Awatere. The first, ‘Maranga’, shows a skilful blending of the old and new in Maori musical idiom and some attractive part singing. Opinion will doubtless be divided on the merits of superimposing narration on choral items although this does make a Maori composition more intelligibile to Pakehas. The second work, ‘He Tangi mo Maharaia Winiata’, also contains some good singing. Unfortunately the narration accompanying it is most indistinct. Two popular songs, ‘He Rau Tutu’ and ‘Pokarekare’, are included. ‘Pokarekare’ is the most obvious example of a fault from which most of the items suffer—repetition rather than progression. In this song two verses are sung twice through and one is sung four times, each verse being interspersed with the chorus. The listener who does not understand Maori and have the interest of the words to sustain him will grow tired long before the song comes to an overdue close. The major work ‘Maranga’ is similarly marred a little by overstatement of its themes. By and large however, it is a composition of beauty and originality and a welcome addition to the repertoire of Maori music. The singing of the choir is disciplined and precise and the conductor, Mr Awatere, keeps a firm hand on them to prevent the stridency which often mars Maori choral singing. The solo singing however is curiously expressionless. I have a feeling that there is more scope for adventurous harmonies with this fine choir than is evident on the record, but doubtless it is only a beginning. A serious school of modern Maori music embodying a harmonious blending of the traditional and the twentieth century has yet to come but ‘Maranga’ could well be the forerunner of such a development.

JUST PUBLISHED MAORI LAND CORPORATIONS by NORMAN SMITH Judge of the Maori Land Court This book is essential reading for all corporation committee members and administrators, and for the legal and accountancy professions, and should also prove useful to all Maori land-owners. There are about three hundred Maori Land Corporations in New Zealand, and the incorporation system occupies a position of some prominence in the administration and management of Maori lands. This small book puts into narrative form, shorn of much legal phraseology and technicality, what committees of management may do and how they may do it, and covers such aspects as the mode and effect of incorporation, and the rights, powers, and duties of these corporations and their management committees. It concludes with a commentary on the operation of the system and deals with some of the pitfalls that exist and how best committees may avoid them. The author is the senior judge of the Maori Land Court, and is now resident judge at Rotorua. His previous book published by Reeds, Maori Land Law, the standard legal textbook on the subject, is still available at 42s. AVAILABLE FROM LEADING BOOKSELLERS Price 10s. 6d. Published by A. H. & A. W. REED, 182 Wakefield Street, Wellington