Music from Queen Lili‘uokalani Manuscript Collections
Music from Queen Lili‘uokalani
Manuscript Collections
Selections from several collections relating to the musical life of Lydia Liliʻu Kamakaʻeha Pākī are presented in this digital online exhibition. The young Lydia Pākī was a student of music from an early age and by her teen years was considered an accomplished musician and composer. Proficient on several instruments, she composed more than 150 songs and was considered an expert in sight-reading music.
Together with her three royal siblings—David Kalākaua, William Pitt Leleiōhoku, and Miriam Likelike—Princess, and later Queen, Liliʻuokalani composed and performed many of the songs that are considered “classics” of Hawaiian music today. The four, referred to collectively as “Nā Lani ‘Ehā” (The Four Heavenly Ones), have been termed “the Patrons of Hawaiian culture” by the modern-day Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame, which describes them as “not only giants in the field of Hawaiian music but form the very cornerstones of subsequent Hawaiian culture and arts.”
In 1866, at the age of 28, Lydia composed “He Mele Lahui Hawaii” which became her country’s national anthem. Her best-known song ‘Aloha ʻOe’ was composed in 1878 and after publication, the Hawaiian composition became a popular song outside of the Islands.
The records in this digital exhibition contain not only original hand-written compositions of Queen Liliʻuokalani, but also some of the music books from her personal library that she studied and learned from. They span several collections at the Hawaiʻi State Archives including the Queen Liliʻuokalani Manuscript Collection (Series M93), Queen Liliʻuokalani Trust Manuscript Collection (Series M397), and Liliʻuokalani Elementary School Cornerstone Manuscript Collection (Series M494). The records are presented as PDFs that can be downloaded.
Included in this collection are:
- The personal hand-written songbook of Liliʻuokalani that contains several of her most significant compositions including the 1866 national anthem, “He Mele Lahui Hawaii.”
- Autographed sheet music personally placed by Mōʻīwahine (Queen) Liliʻuokalani inside the cornerstone of Liliʻuokalani Elementary School in Kaimukī, Oʻahu on April 12, 1912
- “Ancestral song composed by Keaulumoku for Aikanaka, grandfather of Liliʻuokalani, at time of his birth”
Nā Mele mai Ka ʻOhina Palapala a ka
Mōʻīwahine ʻo Liliʻuokalani
Mōʻīwahine ʻo Liliʻuokalani
Aia ma loko o kēia hōʻikeʻike paʻeʻe nā koho mai kekahi mau ʻohina e pili ana i ka noʻeau haku mele ʻana o Lydia Liliʻu Kamakaʻeha Pākī. ʻO Lydia Pākī he haumana mele mai kona wā kamāliʻi a i kona wā ʻōpio i ʻike ʻia ai ʻo ia he haku mele a he hoʻokani pila ʻiuʻiu. Mākaukau loa ʻo ia i kekahi mau pila hoʻokani, ua haku ʻo ia i nā mele he 150 a keu, a he nalukai ʻo ia i nā ʻaleʻale o ka heluhelu mua ʻana i nā palapala mele.
Me kona mau hoahānau aliʻi he 3—ʻO David Kalākaua, William Pitt Leleiōhoku, a me Miriam Likelike— i haku pū a hīmeni pū ai ʻo Liliʻuokalani, ke kamāliʻi wahine a ma hope aku ka mōʻīwahine, i nā mele he nui e kapa ʻia nei “nā panina” o ka mele Hawaiʻi i kēia lā. ʻO nā “Nā Lani ʻEhā,” lākou a ua kapa ʻia lākou “nā Pakelona o ka Moʻomeheu Hawaiʻi” e ka Hale o nā Mea Kaulana o ka Mele Hawaiʻi o kēia au, a wehewehena pū ʻia pēia “ʻaʻole lākou he mau kānaka koʻikoʻi ʻo nā mele Hawaiʻi wale nō, ʻo lākou nō ke kihi pōhaku e hoʻokahua ai i ka hana noʻeau a ka Hawaiʻi.”
Ma 1866, i kona piha makahiki he 28,” ua haku ʻo Lydia i ka mele ʻo “He Mele Lāhui Hawaiʻi” i mele lāhui o Hawaiʻi nei . ʻO kona mele kaulana loa ʻo ia ʻo “Aloha ʻOe” i haku ʻia ma 1878 a ma hope i paʻi ʻia, ua hele a kaulana ia mele Hawaiʻi i waho o ko Hawaiʻi pae ʻāina.
Aia ma loko o kēia hōʻikeʻike paʻeʻe nā palapala mele kākau lima kumu a ka Mōʻīwahine ʻo Liliʻuokalani, pēia pū nā puke mele no loko o kona waihona puke pilikino āna i hoʻopaʻa haʻawina a aʻo mai ai. No loko mai nō o ka Waihona Palapala Aupuni o ka Mokuʻāina ʻo Hawaiʻi ia mau ʻohina palapala pēnei, ka ʻOhina Palapala a ka Mōʻīwahine ʻo Liliʻuokalani (Pukaʻina M93), ka ʻOhina Palapala a ka Waiwai Noho Kahu O Liliʻuokalani (Pukaʻina M397), a me ka ʻOhina Palapala a ka Pōhaku Kihi o Ke Kula Haʻahaʻa ʻo Liliʻuokalani (Pukaʻina M494). Ua hōʻike ʻia nā palapala ma ke ʻano he mau PDF no ka hoʻoili ʻana.
Eia nā palapala ma loko o kēia ʻohina:
- Ka puke mele kākau lima pilikino a Liliʻuokalani me kona mau mele kaulana e like me ka mele lāhui o 1866 ʻo “He Mele Lāhui Hawaiʻi.”
- Nā palapala mele kākau inoa ʻia i hoʻokomo ʻia e ka Mōʻīwahine ʻo Liliʻuokalani ma loko o ka pōhaku kihi o ke Kula Haʻahaʻa ʻo Liliʻuokalani ma Kaimukī, Oʻahu ma ʻApelila 12, 1912
- Ka mele kūpuna i haku ʻia e Keaulumoku no ʻAikanaka, he kupunakāne o Liliʻuokalani, i ka manawa o kona hānau ʻia ʻana
See also other Archives Month 2020 Exhibitions:
Hawaiian Music Online Photograph Exhibition
[Ref No. M182] Selections from the John Henry Wilson Manuscript Collection
[Ref No. M11] Henri Berger Manuscript Collection
[Ref No. KAHN] Mele from the Paul Markham Kahn Collection
Archives Contact Information
Hawai‘i State Archives Kekāuluohi Building ‘Iolani Palace Grounds 364 S. King Street Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96813 Phone: (808) 586-0329 e-mail: [email protected]
Business Hours:
Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Closed Saturday, Sunday, and State Holidays
