Historical Collections of The Hawaiian Islands - Queen Lili'uokalani and her Music - Part 4 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/hi/hifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: by Darlen6 E. Kelley January 12, 2007 http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Hawai'i Keepers of the Culture Queen Lili'ukalani and her Music Part 4- Regency and Respnsibility The beginning of the Troubled Years. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Part 4. Lili'uokalani had not been engaged in much composition before 1885 as she had other demands on her time and energy. She initiated and took an active part in several benvolent and educational organizations and demostrated particular concern for the education of young girls. During the first part of the decade, she was also involved in buildng a new home in Kapalama, which she named Mu'olaulani. Opened with a gala party in May 1885, the Kapalama house was a source of great joy to her and became the subject of the song " Nohea I Mu'olaulani " ( Lovely at Mu'olaulani ). Also, in 1885 and 1886 many references appear in Lili'uokalani's diaries to someone cryptically alluded to as " my friend." The identity of the individual has never become public knowledge, though at one juncture she " came very near parting with my dearest friend on account of tattlers." Allen suggests that the friend was band director Henry Berger. Perhaps it was, as the band's performances are faithfully noted in her diaries, and she attended as many as she could. The Band's regular participation in the events of the court, included interisland trips, brought the two together often and they shared a love of music. Whatever the nature of their relationship, it is clear that Berger arranged some of her music. notably " Aloha 'Oe," and she admired his professional abilities. Despite any extramarital involvements, Lili'uokalani and her husband evidently extended a cordial regard for one another and, though they were living in separate residences, they continued to appear together. Family relationships were paramount for Lili'uokalani. The death of her sister Likelike in early 1887 cast such a pall over her spirits that it affected her health. Though they had grown up separately, the two women had become close in later years and wrote six songs together. Singing clubs featured prominently in Likelike's funeral service, interment, and memorial ceremonies, but apparently the loss that Lili'uokalani felt did not lend itself to musical expression. Her grief was assuaged somewhat in April by Kalakaua's unexpected invitation for her to accompany his wife, Queen Kapi'olani, to London to represent the Kingdom at celebrations marking the fiftieth year of Queen Victoria's reign. The traveling party, which her husband, John, joined as well, made numerous stops en route, including visits to Boston, where Lili'uokalani met John's family and attended an operetta, and to Washington, where the group dined with President Grover Cleveland. These events lifted her mood conspiciously, and during the crossing to England, her creative energies again began to stir. In later describing the ocean passage, she noted, " It was interesting to see the different moods by which each person sought to pass away the time; to me it was natural to turn to musc, my usual solace in either happy or sad moments, so I composed songs, one of which certainly was written in anticipation of meeting in the person of the good queen all that was greatest and noblest in a woman sovereign." Lili'uokalani was not disappointed. She found much to admire in English pomp and circumstance and was delighted with the reception she received from Queen Victoria. Her excitement over the jubilee is reflected in the five songs that survived from the trip. " The Queen's Jubilee." dated one day before the anniversary was marked at Westminister Abbey, is an unabashed paean to that " Fair Queen who rul'st o'er land and sea/ From Northern seas to Southern shores." at the other end of the emotional spectrum is " Ka Huna Kai " ( The Sea Spray ), also written in London, but expressing a fond longing for Hawai'i. The latter composition is among several songs in her body of work that Lili'uokalani identified as hula ku'i, a genre of music and dance that joined steps from ancient hula with new forms from the hula revival then in progress. In the course of their return trip, the travelers received news that the monarch they had left at home was faring much worse than the one they had visited. Kalakaua had been forced to accept a new constitution practically at gunpont, an episode that earned the document the name Bayonet Constitution. The gravity of the situation was confirmed when the party arrived in Honolulu. The power of the throne had been sharply curtailed, leaving the monarch as little more than a ceremonial figure, and many Hawaiians were aggrieved by the change. For the next decade, the city would be fraught with political battles --- and sometimes shooting battles -- as Hawaiian and haole interests vied for control, and the future queen was undoubtedly an interested participant in those developments. As early as 1887, some people suggested that the time had come for her, as heir apparent, to take the throne. In 1889,a plan for an armed attempt to restore power to the crown was hatched at Mu'olaulani by Robert W. Wilcox, a young Hawaiian patriot whom Lili'uokalani had taken under her wing. Under those circumstances, Lili'uokalani naturally would have been preoccupoed with politics, and the music would again fall silent. In the next seven years, as far as can be determined, she finished only two compositions, along with a few translations or variants of earlier songs. She had not forgotten her musical interests, though, as was made plain in 1889 when she charged Charles B. Wilson, a member of her staff, with the task of obtaining copywrights for her work. Many Hawaiians composers, less careful or less informed, lost control of their songs by sharing them in the oral traditions without filing copywrites. The close of the decade brought the death of aged Mary Dominis and the return of Lili'uokalani to Washington Place from Mu'olaulani, John, too, was in failing health, and she felt moved to spend a good deal of time nursing him. She may also have felt, in those troubled years, a desire to be close to the palace. Much beleaguered Kalakaua named Lili'uokalani regent in November 1890 and sailed for San Francisco on a mission variously described as political or health-related. He died there early in the new year, and on January 20, 1891, the throne passed to fifty-three year old Lili'uokalani. From the start, the new monarch chief at the figurehead role to which the Bayonet Constitution regulated her. In March, her hanai brother-in-law, Charles R. Bishop wrote her," You will live longer and happier and be more popular by not trying to do too much." This was sage advice, but the Queen would follow her own counsel and contend throughout her reign with the forces of American business, which were tightening their grip on power in the Islands. The burdens of office left Lili'uokalani little time for personal life, though few significant events occurred in that sphere apart from the death of her husband, in August 1891. When she paused for music, it was invariably as a member of an audience. She attended as many musical events as she could, however -- recitals, operas, and concerts -- and continued as a staunch supporter of the Royal Hawaiia Band. Her devotion and contribution to the musical life of the community was publically recognozed in 1892, when " a group of Honolulu music lovers " presented her with a handsome grand piano built in New York by Fisher and made largely of Hawaiian Koa. A few friends were invited to 'Iolani Palace in April to try out the piano and sing, and its arrival was formally celebrated a month later with a brilliant musicale attended by 150 guests. The program included several numbers by the Royal Hawaiian Band, one of which was a composition by the Queen; choral selections by two church choirs, a vocal trio with a chorus of boys; and duo piano pieces and songs, some with violin obbligato. Though immersed in the political jockeying that would cultimate with her overthrow in January 1893, the Queen remained faithful to her musical interests. Her diary for 1892 mentions several balls, including one in July where " the minuet was danced for the first time." and in that turbulent year Lili'uokalani apparently prepared some music for publication for on August 17 she noted, " sent my music by mail all corrected. " After being toppled from power in the coup of January 17, 1893, Lili'uokalani waged earnest campaign for the return of the Kingdom, and without the usual day-to-day duties of governing, she undoubtedly had more time for music. Instead of embarking on new songs, she continued her work of putting her past compositions in order. " They were a hundred in all -- still there must have bee more," she noted in her diary entry of March 13, 1893. "Left Waikiki at five P.M" the entry continues; " spent the evening on the back veranda listening to Portuguese band of the P.G. [ Provis.ional Government ]" Two days later. another diary entry indicates that she had withdrawn songs from consideration by a local publisher: " Told Mr. Robertson to bring my music away from the Hawaiian News Co." This probably was the group of compositions she had mailed " all corrected " a little more than half a year before. A diary entry the following month notes an order for 250 copies of " Aloha 'Oe" and " He Mele Lahui Hawai'i, " which had been published previously by another firm. Though the Queen may have been composing during that period, her next dated work appeared in 1895, the year when she was confined for eight months to a three room apartment in 'Iolani Palace for her alleged knowledge of counterrevolution attempted by Robert Wilcox and others of her supporters. Recalling the incarceration some years later she wrote: " Though I was still not allowed to have newspapers or general literature to read, writing paper and lead pencils were not denied; and I was thereby able to write music, after drawing for myself the lines of the staff. At first I had no instrument, and had to transcribe the notes by voice alone; but I found, notwithstanding disavantges, 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. This statement is probably the source of the erroneous idea that " Aloha 'Oe " was composed while lilu'okalani was imprisioned. However, did not hurt the popularity of the composition, as it became very popular during this time period. The Queen settled into a daily routine that began with devotions, flower arranging, and a morning inspection by the officer of the day. Afterward, she might crochet, sew and quilt, read, amuse herself with her canaries, practice her autoharp and guitar, or compose. This interval of forced leisure resulted in seven songs, of which four were finished in rapid succession in March. " He Inoa Wehi No Kalaniana'ole " ( A Name Adornment For Kalaniana'ole ), honoring her young nephew Jonal Kuhio Kalaniana'ole; " Ku'u Pua I Paoakalani " ( My Flower at Paoakalani ); " Kili'oulani " ( Fine Rain of the Heavenly Pinnacle ); and " Ke Aloha O Ka Haku " ( published as " Lili'uokalani's Prayer" with the Hawaiian title and English translation " The Lord's Mercy " below ) now commonly called " The Queen's Prayer." The fact that she next turned to religious subject matter in her music is entirely consistant with her background and her predicament. She had not been a regular church goer for many years. in part because she deplored the political opinions from the pulpit. Yet she was religious both by nature and by training, and as she had demonstrated in her national anthem and in the funeral chant for Bernice Pauahi, she was confortable composing in ecclesiastical language. Three more religious songs are dated June 1895: " Leha 'Ku Koa Mau Maka" ( Lift Up Your Eyes ), based on Psalm 121; " E Ku'u Ho'ola " ( My Saviour ); and " Himeni Ho'ole'a A Davida " ( David's Hymn of Praise ), from Psalm 126. On Septemebr 6, 1895, Lili'uokalani was released from imprisonment and placed on parole, enabling her to return home to Washington Place, where the trees, shrubs, and flowers " had never to me looked so charming. How I ejoyed their welcome ! Surely they could not have been so beautiful when I saw them daily in previous years ! The Republic of Hawai'i moved Lili'uokalani one step closer to freedom on February 6, 1896, when it released her from parole. She still was not permitted to leave O'ahu but at least could travel to her properties elsewhere on the island. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Continued in Part 5.