In memory of Queen Liliuokalani Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaʻeha, aka Lydia Kamakaʻeha Pākī, aka Lydia K. Dominis, who as Queen Liliʻuokalani was the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Queen Liliʻuokalani inherited the throne from her brother Kalākaua on January 29, 1891. Shortly after ascending the throne, petitions from her people began to be received through the two major political parties of the time, Hui Kalaaina and the National Reform Party. Believing she had the support of her cabinet and that to ignore such a general request from her people would be against the popular will, she moved to abrogate the existing 1887 Bayonet Constitution, by drafting a new constitution that would restore the veto power to the monarchy and voting rights to economically disenfranchised native Hawaiians and Asians. The effort to draft a new constitution never came to fruition, and it precipitated the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government. Liliʻuokalani was an accomplished author and songwriter. Her book Hawaiʻis Story by Hawaiʻis Queen gave her view of the history of her country and her overthrow; she became the first Native Hawaiian female author. Liliʻuokalani was known for her musical talent. Liliʻuokalani is said to have played guitar, piano, organ, ʻukulele and zither. She also sang alto, performing Hawaiian and English sacred and secular music. She would find herself in music. In her memoirs she wrote: To compose was as natural to me as to breathe; and this gift of nature, never having been suffered to fall into disuse, remains a source of the greatest consolation to this day.[…] Hours of which it is not yet in place to speak, which I might have found long and lonely, passed quickly and cheerfully by, occupied and soothed by the expression of my thoughts in music. Liliʻuokalani helped preserve key elements of Hawaiis traditional poetics while mixing in Western harmonies brought by the missionaries. After Liliʻuokalani was imprisoned in the ʻIolani Palace, she was denied literature and newspapers, essentially cutting her off from her people. However, she was not forbidden from having a paper and pencil, so she could continue to compose music while she was in confinement. According to Liliʻuokalani, she found, notwithstanding disadvantages, great consolation in composing. Liliʻuokalani was a very peaceful woman, and believed in a peaceful resistance. She used her musical compositions as a way to express her feelings for her people, her country, and what was happening in the political realm in Hawaii. One example of the way her music reflected her political views is her translation of the Kumulipo, the Hawaiian creation chant. While under house arrest, Liliʻuokalani feared she would never leave the palace alive, so she translated the Kumulipo in hopes that the history and culture of her people would never be lost. Another of her compositions was Aloha Oe, a song she had written previously and transcribed during her confinement. In her writings, she says At first I had no instrument, and had to transcribe the notes by voice alone; but I found, notwithstanding disadvantages, great consolation in composing, and transcribed a number of songs. Three found their way from my prison to the city of Chicago, where they were printed, among them the Aloha Oe or Farewell to Thee, which became a very popular song. Originally written as a lovers good-bye, the song came to be regarded as a symbol of, and lament for, the loss of her country. https://youtube/watch?v=Iuubc88vFu4
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 03:33:22 +0000
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