Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa
23 May - 12:23 pm NZ
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Composer of the Week
Sunday to Friday at 9 am
Sunday, 20 May 2012: Taonga pūoro - Traditional Māori Instuments
9am Sunday 20 May and 7pm Monday 21 May 2012
- Composers of the Week - Taonga Puoro
Amelia Nurse finds out about the use of traditional Maori instruments. (53′59″)
- From Composer of the Week on 20 May 2012
This week we’re featuring compositions using taonga pūoro. Amelia Nurse spoke to composers and performers about the issues of combining Māori and Western music. Richard Nunns, Horomona Horo, Martin Lodge and Gillian Whitehead share their views with her.
Video: Tales from Te Papa - Music to Maori Ears
There are some interesting issues:
Māori instruments were traditionally associated with particular occasions. Concerts for entertainment didn’t exist. Is it possible to preserve the integrity of the instruments in a Western context?
There is no notation associated with taonga puoro and each performer gets different sounds from the instruments, so how do composers describe what they want to be played? If the performer is improvising, who owns the composition?
All of these issues are discussed in the programme but because not all the material made it into the programme, Amelia’s full interviews are available to listen to on this page.
- Horomona Horo
Composer, practitioner and cross genre collaborator Horomona Horo talks to Amelia Nurse. (40′59″)
- From Composer of the Week on 18 May 2012
- Martin Lodge
Composer Martin Lodge talks to Amelia Nurse. (24′37″)
- From Composer of the Week on 18 May 2012
- Richard Nunns
Composer Richard Nunns talks about combining taonga puoro with Western composition. (38′51″)
- From Composer of the Week on 18 May 2012
- Gillian Whitehead
Composer Gillian Whitehead describes how she first heard and began composing for taonga puoro. (13′08″)
- From Composer of the Week on 18 May 2012
An Introduction to Taonga Puoro
- An Introduction to Taonga Puoro by Shane James
Te Papa's kaitiaki taonga Maori, Shane James (28′31″)
- From Composer of the Week on 18 May 2012
- Putorino 1
Demonstration by Shane James. (08″)
- From Composer of the Week on 18 May 2012
- Putorino 2
Demonstration by Shane James. (07″)
- From Composer of the Week on 18 May 2012
- Putorino 3
Demonstration by Shane James. (13″)
- From Composer of the Week on 18 May 2012
- Putatara
Demonstration by Shane James. (10″)
- From Composer of the Week on 18 May 2012
- Koauau
Demonstration by Shane James. (09″)
- From Composer of the Week on 18 May 2012
- Nguru
Demonstration by Shane James. (11″)
- From Composer of the Week on 18 May 2012
- Hue
Demonstration by Shane James. (06″)
- From Composer of the Week on 18 May 2012
- Puriri Hua
Demonstration by Shane James. (15″)
- From Composer of the Week on 18 May 2012
- Pukaea
Demonstration by Shane James. (08″)
- From Composer of the Week on 18 May 2012
For more in-depth introductions to the instruments, listen to Richard Nunns introducing and playing them for Radio New Zealand in He Ara Pūoro.
Information
Tune in on Sunday mornings at 9am and Monday nights at 7pm for a half hour introduction to the week's featured composer. The presenters share their great depth of knowledge on the subject, and play musical examples to guide you through. This introductory audio is also available on demand.
Then every weekday morning we play a selection of the composer’s works.
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Composer of the Week
Audio Library
There are 53 audio items in the programme library
- Richard Wagner Bicentenary (1813-1883)
- Wagner In Perspective (1813-1883)
- The Mozart Fellowship at the University of Otago
- Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813 – 1888)
- Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758)
- Leos Janacek (1854-1928)
- Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
- Witold Lutosławski (1913 - 1994)
- Programme Library
