Traditional Songs of the Maori

This classic study of indigenous Polynesian music, conducted in the 1960s, includes a survey of traditional songs in different styles that embody the fundamental values of Maori culture in New Zealand. Musical transcriptions, Maori texts, English translations, and extensive notes on more than 50 traditional Maori songs are included. Common ceremonial songs are represented, including elaborate laments, love songs, war chants, songs of welcome, and witty occasional songs.

Mervyn McLean is a former associate professor of ethnomusicology and director of the archive of Maori and Pacific music at University of Auckland. He is the author of Maori Music and Weavers of Song. Margaret Orbell is a former associate professor of Maori at the University of Canterbury. She is the author of Maori Poetry, He reta ki te maunga = Letters to the Mountain, and The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Maori Myth. They are the coauthors of Songs of a Kaumatua.