MfP’s Bill of Musical Rights #7—The European tradition of music is only one sound. All other cultures and traditions around the world deserve equal attention.
New Zealand composer Dame Gillian Whitehead, of Ngai Terangi and Tuhoe descent, composes a wide variety of music. Taonga puoro (Maori instruments), te reo Maori (Maori language), or directed improvisation are featured in some of her compositions.
Taonga puoro translates as treasures of sound, or tools of sound, or singing treasures. They were not originally instruments; they had practical uses. “The taonga had specific functions. Some were for signaling. Some were trumpets for war. Some were to assist communication with the atua (gods and spirits). Some were used to attract birds for food, or for healing, for accompanying sacred chants, or purely for entertainment, accompanying singing and dancing.”
Go down the taongo puoro rabbit hole here.
Colours of Futana is an extended improvisation with Alistair Fraser, composer and taonga puoro researcher, and Riki Pirihi, composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, academic and sound artist. The first instrument you will see and hear is… a piece of New Zealand jade!
Hineraukatauri is one of the earliest pieces where taonga puoro and Western instruments meet. In this case, Western flutes and Alistair Fraser’s putorino (one made of albatross bone and two of wood) to evoke Hine Raukatauri, the goddess of music and dance.
Of this final work, Gillian writes, “Hine-pu-te-hue translates literally as the woman of the sound of the gourd, and she is the Maori goddess of peace.” The work was written at the time of President Bush’s State of the Union address shortly before the invasion of Afghanistan, and suggests the fragility rather than the celebration of peace, particularly in a pre-European environment.
The New Zealand String Quartet is joined by Bob Bickerton (taonga puoro). Listen for the silences and the nature of the drone! Notice, also, the deep, deep listening amongst the musicians.
Taonga puoro Photo:
Photo of By Ewooll – Photos were taken by my assistant, Declan Cudd at the Rotorua Museum at a concert featuring taonga puoro in May, 2010
Previously published: for personal and website use, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32142310