As We Speak
One of my favourite alto saxophonists is veteran jazz legend David Sanborn, I’ve loved him forever. Well, as long as there’s been an ‘As We Speak’ album. David Sanborn originally released ‘As We Speak’ in 1990 and quickly tracks like Port Of Call, As We Speak and Straight to the Heart became firm favs of mine.
To me the album seems to get better over time, it resonates in my memory and evokes a soulfulness that’s hard to pin-point exactly. Perhaps it just reminds me of a time when, like all the music we stow in our hearts. They allow us to sing soulfully in our being. Māori oriori has the same affect on me.
Classical Mōteatea
I was listening to Brian Morris, Executive Director of Huia Publishers talk around a “classical mōteatea (mōteatea is more generally used to describe the type of song we might refer to in English as classical Māori chant) called ‘Nau Mai E Tama’.
Nau Mai E Tama is a particular oriori (translated as lullaby) that belongs to Wairarapa and the descendants of Tuteremoana, Ngai Tara rangatira. I wanted to cry Brian’s interpretation of it was so heart-rending, the great love of a mother for her deceased son. It’s like all great writing that evokes deep emotions from deep places. We feel the mother’s great love and her great sorrow too, we feel what she feels and I felt almost inconsolable too.
We also looked at the Ngati Kahungunu oriori ‘Pine Pine te Kura’. I’ve written up the first verse and translation as a sampler. “It is an extraordinary and beautiful example of rhythmic organisation of a high order, with melody in a subordinate role. The chant is intoned generally on one note only. The song is addressed to Te Umurangi, the ‘little tiny treasure’ who is descended from Te Whatui-apiti, a great Ngati Kahungunu chief and warrior of Hawke’s Bay.”
Pine Pine te Kura
Pinepine te kura, hau te kura, l little tiny treasure, treasure of renown,
Whanake te kura i raro i Awarua; l The treasure who came from below Awarua;
Ko te kura nui, ko te kura roa, l The noble treasure, the famous treasure,
Ko te kura o tawhiti na Tuhaepo! l The treasure from afar off, the treasure of Tuhaepo!
Tenei te tira hou, tenei haramai nei; l A strange visitor is he, lately arrived here:
Ko te Umurangi, na te Whatuiapiti. l He is Te Umurangi, descended from Te Whatui-apiti.
Nau mai, e tama, ki te taiao nei, l Welcome, O son, welcome to this world of life.
Ki’ whakangungua koe ki te kahikatoa, l You are to be ritually strengthened with the kahikatoa,
Ki te tumatakuru, ki te tara ongaonga; l With the tumatakuru and the taraongaonga;
Nga tairo ra nahau, e Kupe, l These were the thorny obstructions that you, O Kupe,
I waiho i te ao nei. l Bequeathed unto this world.
“Musically, it is possible to put each type of chant into one of two broad groups according to whether it is sung or recited. Amongst the sung types of chant are the waiata of all kinds including the Tangi, Waiata aroha (love long), and Waiata whaiaipo (sweetheart song); the Oriori (lullaby) and the Pao (entertainment song).
The recited songs include the Patere (historical or genealogical tour), Whakaaraara pa (watch song), Kaioraora (abusive song), Tauparapara (recitation before speaking) and Karakia (incantation). In addition to these there exist a few others perhaps best described as semi-sung. Notable amongst these is the Karanga which is the generic name for the calls of all kinds performed by women on the marae. It includes Powhiri (greeting calls) and Poroporoaki (farewell calls).
Differences between Sung and Recited Chants
The sung type of chant differs from the recited in the following ways: It is melodically organised. That’s to say, it has a recognisable air made up of notes definite enough in pitch to be capable of arrangement in the form of a scale. Rises and falls of pitch may become established in some recited songs but they cannot be arranged in scale form.
Secondly, the melody of sung items can be melismatic i.e. more than one note can be sung per syllable. Recited songs by contrast are always syllabic and melisma cannot occur. Sung items nearly always have a much slower tempo than recited ones. This results both from melisma and the greater tendency to dwell upon certain notes. The latter is particularly in evidence in the ‘drags’. Recited songs on the other hand, particularly karakia, sometimes rattle along at tempos in excess of 300 syllables per minute.
The characteristics of sung items which make for slower tempo, have their effect also on metre and rhythm. For example the durational values of the notes employed in recited song tend to be fewer than those of the sung items. Often, indeed, there are only two—long and short.” As we Speak, it’s like two worlds colliding.
