Author: Hill, Alfred.

Format: Sheet music pair, both with lithograph cover and with previous owner’s name “Minette Greenaway” annotated in ink upper right, one with “Paling’s Sydney” wet stamp upper left, 4pp, 35.7 x 25.7cm.

1). Waiata Poi (Mara): A Maori Poi Song, 1908. Text includes “Sung by Mr Kennerley Rumford. Chappell & Co. Ltd. 50 New Bond Street, London, W. New edition. Copyright MCMVIII by Chappell & Co., Ltd. The copyright…for all countries except the Dominion of New Zealand. Dedicated to C.F. Goldie, Esq.” Printed throughout are translations of Maori words, such as “Poi” and “piu-piu.”

2). Home, Little Maori, Home. A Maori Love Song, 1911. Text includes “Dedicated to H.B. Philcox Esq. A. Eady & Co., 112 Queen Street, Auckland, NZ. Copyright MCMXI, by A. Eady & Co.” Annotated in pencil throughout with different lyrics than those printed.

Alfred Hill (Australian/NZ, 1869–1960) “was the most significant classical composer of New Zealand’s colonial period…A notable aspect of Hill’s music composition was his interest in Māori music and culture, [which] also led to Hill collecting waiata and arranging them for piano accompaniment…Several songs he wrote on Māori themes, such as Waiata poi and Waiata Māori, became wildly popular in their own right.” Ref: NLNZ.

Foxing, chips and small tears to edges, sheets loose from wrappers.