2004 Music
Hinetekakara
Works with taonga pūoro, Voice and instrumental ensemble, Collaborations
For kaikaranga, taonga pūoro and bassoon
Text by Aroha Yates-Smith
The first performance of Hinetekakara was given by Aroha Yates-Smith (kaikaranga), Richard Nunns (taonga pūoro), George Zukerman (bassoon) in Tamatekapua, the marae at Ohinemutu near Rotorua in March 2004.
About the work
Hinetekakara is an ancestress of Aroha Yates-Smith, whose own composition is embedded in mine. The interpretation of her chants is as follows:
- The singer invokes the spirit of her ancestress beside the rippling waters of Lake Rotorua.
- Tuhohomatakaka conducts the tapu-raising ceremony over Ihenga.
- Hinetekakara, participating in the ceremony, meets Ihenga and they fall in love.
- Hinetekakara’s lullaby welcoming her new-born son, Tuariki.
- Ihenga discovers the murdered body of Hinetekakara at the lake.
- The singer farewells her ancestress.
There are 3 other versions of this work, although this was the original.
Hinetekakara for kaikaranga, taonga pūoro and flutes
Hinetekakara for kaikaranga, taonga pūoro and ensemble
Hinetekakara for kaikaranga, taonga pūoro, flute, alto flute, and bassoon
About Hinetekakara
Many years ago, Hinetekakara lived with her husband (or father, according to some traditions) Ihenga on the edge of Lake Rotorua. Returning from a hunting trip, Ihenga discovered the body of his beloved Hinetekakara by the lake, murdered, and sang his mournful lament. The settlement at Ohinemutu is named for her (meaning ‘the end of the woman’).
Instrumentation
The taonga pūoro played in this piece are, in order:
- pūtatara — conch shell trumpet
- pūtōrino matai — wooden pūtorino
- pūmotomoto — shakuhachi-like wooden flute
- pūpūharakeke — flax snail
- pūkaea — war trumpet, and
- nguru rākau maire — wooden nose flute.
Score
Buy or borrow the score from SOUNZ.
Te mauri o te awa
For two women’s voices
Text by the composer
The first performance, by Ana Good and Ramonda Te Maiharoa Taleni, was in the middle of the bridge over the Waitaki, on State Highway 1, on Waitangi Day (6 February) 2004 at a festival celebrating the river and the Waitaha people of the area.
About the work
The text of Te mauri o te awa is in te reo Māori and celebrates the Waitaki River in Otago — this work is sometimes called Waitaki.
It describes the journey of the river from the first drop of rain, the first flurry of snow high in the Southern Alps to the dissipating of the force of the river in te moana-nui-a-kiwa, the Pacific Ocean.
Score and recording
Buy or borrow the score from SOUNZ.
An archival performance on CD was released in 2004.