Oahu, Hawaii, 1877. The last monarch of the Hawaiian Islands, Queen Liliookalani, prepared her party for their trip to Honolulu after spending time at the country ranch of Colonel James Harbot Boyd. As she mounted her horse, looking back to make sure everyone was ready, she saw Boyd pull one of her friends into a tender hug. Surrounded by the island's lush flora, the lovers kiss goodbye passionately and then longingly for separation.
Moved by this declaration of love, the romantic Hawaiian monarch began to hum a ditty and embark on the journey. Soon the entire party was swept away by the haunting melody, singing wordless tunes with her. Back home, Lili Uokalani began writing lyrics for her song:
A Love Hug,
A Love Hug (Before I Leave)
Until we meet again.
This song of love's embrace, known as "Aloha'Oe," was published in 1884 and became the most famous of Queen Lili'okalani's verses, but This is just one of the more than 200 works she made during her lifetime. Born in 1838, Liliokalani began receiving musical training as part of her education at around the age of seven. Under the teachings of missionaries, she was a singer who was good at singing and dancing, with perfect pitch, and was good at playing guitar, piano, organ, harp and guzheng. Oriokalani spent his early years in the Hawaiian Islands during a unique time, a cultural fusion of Native Hawaiian traditions and Western culture following the arrival of pineapple farmers and sugar plantation owners.
As a member of the Hawaiian aristocracy, Oriokalani was exposed to both worlds equally. Her first language was Hawaiian and she was well versed in Hawaiian legends and poetry. However, most of her musical training was in Western styles such as hymns and waltzes, which would form the backbone of much of her work.
While she is remembered in the Western historical canon as a statesman, her musical legacy parallels her political career, and her melodies and poetry were sung throughout the Hawaiian Islands and remain among the most popular. One of the most popular composers. John Troutman said:
"She was a brilliant poseur, and she created a song that was an amalgamation of all these different influences on the island.", Smithsonian USA Curator of American Music at the National Museum of History, where one of her records is in the collection. "Her melodies reflect the influence of hymns and other Western musical ideas, but the storyline, emphasis on place and emphasis on island people are all based on native Hawaiian traditions. She is one of the most successful poseurs, demonstrating how to The potential of all these different musical elements combined is such that her repertoire remains at the forefront of today's Hawaiian musician performances
Lili?uokalani is known for her love songs such as "Aloha'Oe But." Her less popular tunes are quite political. In 1893, a group led by U.S. Secretary Stevens overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy, and Queen Liliokalani was placed under house arrest at "Iolani Palace." During her time there, she put up many works in tribute to her motherland and people.
One of the songs is "Mai Wakinekona a Iolani Hale". Lili?uokalani wrote the lyrics to the song anonymously and published it in Hawaiian Language Weekly, subversively conveying how she was imprisoned. The following week, someone posted a lyric in response: "We hear, O One of Heaven, our Ruler, we support you." Lili?uokalani continued: "My love for you will never be Broken. “I will always be grateful for your support. The anonymous letter continued for three months and was eventually set to music in 1895.
The piece was only recently discovered. Many of the Queen's lesser-known positions are now being newly appreciated Ian's language is fighting back after years of oppression Amy Stillman, a Native Hawaiian and professor in the Department of American Culture and Music at the University of Michigan, said the Hawaiian language of her parents' generation was "defeated." , her generation had no access to the language of their ancestors; Stillman didn't learn Hawaiian until after college. Once she had a firm grasp of the language, Stillman says, a completely different history began to emerge.
“What we learn (in school) about Hawaiian history is that annexation is a good thing. ". "We read historians and they wrote that no one opposed the annexation. If you read in English, you won't find anyone opposed to the annexation. When you get into the Hawaiian etymology, that's just opposition. Due to the lack of our language, we are cut off from the source.
But now that the Hawaiian language is beginning to flourish again and historians are beginning to see the lyrics as a legitimate source of understanding history, many of Lili?uokalani's forgotten songs are resurfacing.
The 2014 publication of "The Queen's Songbook," the first authoritatively published collection of Lili'ookalani's writings, provides insights not only into the history of the Hawaiian Islands but also into the personality of the queen herself, Stillman said.
Although Liliokalani was in a loveless marriage, she never lost her romantic passion. "Love is a great thing when it's here for me. It's like my diamond necklace, my personal ornament," she wrote in the song "Nohea I Mu?olaulani." A song she composed while watching a spinning lawn sprinkler overflows with her whims—“Something so wonderful that quietly captivates my mind.”
Above all, her songs express a strong sense of justice and her desire for peace, as seen in "The Queen's Prayer," which she wrote while in prison. "While she was trying to overthrow the regime, she was steadfast in her insistence that her people would not engage in violence or bloodshed in opposition," Tillman said. ". "In (the Queen's Prayer) she is (writing) the wrongs that have been done to her and her people. But, it's worth noting that in the third stanza, she says, "Despite these mistakes, we must forgive them." This is her Christian heart, and this is her Aloha. She lived Aloha, she led Aloha, she shaped Aloha for her people, and she continues to shape Aloha for us.
This feeling of "aloha" - a traditional Hawaiian greeting that conveys love, friendship and peace - is what led Lili Uokalani and her followers to use her Music comes*** to annex Hawaii and share the world of Hawaiian culture with it. In 1897, in Washington, D.C., in an effort to petition President Grover Cleveland to reinstate sovereignty over the Hawaiian Islands, Lily Uokalani completed the piling work on Booker Mailer Harvey, her most recent work at the time. Comprehensive music collection. Later, scholar Amy Stillman (Beth Py Lieberman) said she sent one copy to Queen Victoria and donated another to the Library of Congress. "Queen Lili?uokalani (above, memorial statue in Honolulu)" lived with Aloha, she shaped Aloha for her people, she continues to shape Aloha for us, and the Queen's music was heard in 1912 used in the Broadway play Birds of Paradise, which toured the continental United States.
"Lili?uokalani truly recognized the power of music from the beginning," Troutman said. "Her work shows that she was interested in reaching out and sharing these musical ideas and cultural ideas with non-Hawaiian people. In some ways, she became a musical diplomat.
She found a way to celebrate the multi-dimensionality of a music that incorporates both the heritage of the Islands and new ideas that incorporate their own ideas of *** and the music that remains so powerful today. For the people of Hawaii, the importance of place