Category: Music

  • The extraordinary music from Malaita

    Disclaimer: Please be aware that some of the links in this article may show images of human remains, currently in museum collections. The people of the Southern part of Malaita, the largest land in the Solomon Islands, are called the ‘Are’are. Until an ethnomusicologist called Hugo Zemp from le Musée de l’Homme in Paris recorded…

  • Mass in Blue

    This weekend we went a concert in Ōtautahi Christchurch of Mass in Blue by Will Todd. The piece is a jazz version of the Latin Mass and was performed by the Christchurch City Choir with guest soprano and jazz trio. It is fantastic fun and has lots of energy and rhythm. If you have not…

  • This week’s Spotify playlist

    Each week a playlist is curated to go along with the blog. The pieces on the playlist refer to articles on the blog, sometimes obviously and sometimes more obliquely. To listen, click on the player above. If you have a paid subscription to Spotify you will hear all the pieces uninterrupted. Free subscriptions will have…

  • This week’s Spotify playlist

    Each week a playlist of audio is curated to go alongside the blog. The audio in the playlist reflects the blog articles, sometimes obviously and sometimes obliquely. You can listen to the playlist on the player above or by searching Spotify for “Music to read a blog by”. Paid subscribers will be able to hear…

  • All about poi

    You might be familiar with the Māori art of “poi“, the dextrous dance movements that use balls on cord. According to some, poi was once used by men to strengthen their wrists for battle but nowadays it is used to demonstrate skill. These poi are made from plastic covering an inner core of foam or…

  • UngKlang

    Over the past ten days Tāmaki Makaurau/ Auckland has been hosting the World Choir Games. These, the 13th Games, bring together the largest number of choirs and nations in the world – 250 groups representing 42 countries. The event is both for competitive and non-competitive performance. On Friday the Cathedral in Wellington, St John’s, played…

  • Playlist for the Week – 21st July 2024

    Each week a curation of audio from Spotify goes alongside the blog. Each of the pieces is chosen to reflect something in the blog, sometimes obviously and sometimes less so. Paying subscribers to Spotify will hear all the tracks, those with a free subscription will hear them with advertising breaks. Anyone else will hear extracts…

  • Wellington Cathedral of St Paul

    In Central Wellington/ Pōneke stands the Cathedral of St Paul. The Cathedral is the result of decades of lobbying, land purchases, interruptions and changes in materials, as well as delays between the architectural plans and the completion of the building. The first stage was finally opened in 1964 (the architect, Cecil Wood, was appointed in…

  • From a Garden in the Antipodes

    Evelyn Hayes, the pseudonym of Mary Ursula Bethell, published a book of poems about her love of plants and gardens in 1929. These poems cemented the reputation of this New Zealand poet, who had an unusual and somewhat unorthodox life. In the verses she describes the life of gardens, those who inhabit them (including a…

  • Reminiscence and memory

    This week I am in Pōneke Wellington where Festival for the Future, an event to bring young people together, is taking place. While the group I am with is at the Festival I am researching in the National Library for a project to do with oral histories on the Coast. The Library is home to…