Songbroker Welcomes Hirini Melbourne
Songbroker is very proud to welcome Hirini Melbourne to the Composer catalogue.
Hirini (Sid) Melbourne ONZM (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu) was a composer, singer, university lecturer, poet and author. He is widely revered for his life-long contribution to Maori culture, particularly the revival of Nga Taonga Puoro (the musical instruments of Māori). A member of Ngā Tamatoa (which petitioned the New Zealand Government to have Maori taught in schools), he studied at the University of Auckland and later became the Dean and associate professor of Maori and Pacific development at the University of Waikato.
Hirini is a significant figure in the revival of the Maori language with dozens of his now classic songs sung in classrooms throughout New Zealand. The power of his melodies and the brilliance of his compositions have still to be widely recognised beyond the classroom however.
Melbourne had started composing waiata (songs) early in his career. In the last two decades of his life his musical interests extended to a fascination with traditional Maori instruments (ngā taonga pūoro). In 1985 he subsequently met ethnomusicologist and performer Richard Nunns. The two regularly performed together on marae, and in schools, galleries and concerts. They also collected traditional knowledge about the instruments and how they were played.
Nunns and Melbourne released several recordings: Toiapiapi (1991), Te Kuraroa (1998), Te Ku te Whe (1994), and Te Hekenga-ā-rangi (2003), all widely regarded as influential in the ongoing ngā taonga pūoro revival. Rattle Records released Te Ku Te Whe, which included both original and traditional compositions and Te Hekenga-ā-rangi, where Melbourne and Nunns teamed with Aroha Yates-Smith. Te Hekenga-ā-rangi was recorded just weeks before Melbourne's death.
Melbourne regularly used his compositions to invoke the advice of elders to preserve and advance tikanga Māori. Melbourne's song E Kui e Koro incorporates the whakatauki (Māori proverb) "Mate kāinga tahi, Ora Kāinga rua" (when one home fails, have another to go to). Many Melbourne songs have been performed by other New Zealand musicians including Hinewehi Mohi, Moana Maniapoto, the Topp Twins and Mere Boynton.
Melbourne was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2003 New Year Honours for services to Māori language, music and culture, and in 2009 he and Richard Nunns were inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.
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