{"id":78555,"date":"2021-05-26T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T15:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allclassical.org\/?p=78555"},"modified":"2026-01-23T12:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T20:59:13","slug":"the-songs-of-liliuokalani-queen-of-hawaii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allclassical.org\/the-songs-of-liliuokalani-queen-of-hawaii\/","title":{"rendered":"The Songs of Lili\u2018uokalani, Queen of Hawai\u2018i"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lili\u2018uokalani (1838-1917) was the Queen Regnant of Hawai\u2018i from 1891-1893, and was the nation\u2019s last monarch. During her reign, she resisted the annexation of Hawai\u2018i by the United States, and after the coup that deposed her, she remained dedicated to the interests of the Hawaiian people. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A trained singer, choir director and organist, Lili\u2018uokalani composed more than 150 <\/span>mele<\/span><\/i>, Hawaiian songs and chants. Her l<\/span>egacy of music remains greatly loved: she is one of the most-performed composers among Hawaiian musicians. The Queen\u2019s songs transcend genre and are constantly reinterpreted, whether it be in popular or folk styles, as accompaniment to Hawaiian dance, in hymnlike choral arrangements, or as songs with piano.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“To compose was as natural as to breath…” <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"Lili'uokalani\"
Lili’uokalani in 1865<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Queen was born Lydia Kamaka\u2018eha on September 2, 1838. She would assume the name Lili\u2018uokalani when she was named heir-apparent to the Hawaiian throne. When she was a schoolgirl, her instructors discovered her remarkable talent for sight-singing. This skill, which depends on the ability to read and hear music accurately in one\u2019s mind, served her well throughout her life: when she became a political prisoner with no access to a piano, the Queen was still able to compose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her autobiographical and political book, Hawaii\u2019s Story, Lili\u2018uokalani reflected, \u201cTo 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; and even when I was denied the aid of an instrument I could transcribe to paper the tones of my voice.\u201d (Hawaii\u2019s Story, 31).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Composing a National Anthem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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