Work
Nga Hau o Kaiaua (The Winds of Kaiaua)
for flute and taonga puoro (one player)
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About
The performer tells the legend of Kaiaua, God of Winds, and the origins of the strong warm wind over the Canterbury Plains known as the nor-wester. The legend relates how a chief living on the plains is unhappy at the constant breezes coming from the direction of the Southern Alps. He instructs a tohunga to conduct a sacred ceremony to make the mountains taller, thus obstructing the wind's progress; the subsequent stillness of air, however, causes the plains to be too damp for the people living on them, who request the winds to return. The winds then respond with ever more strength to force their passage over the Alps. The piece begins and concludes with homages to the four directions.
Commissioned note
Contents note
Prologue
1. Kaiaua's winds
2. Chief's dislike
3. Tohunga's chant
4. Mountains bigger
5. The plains are too damp
6. Prayer for the winds return
7. Winds respond
8. Winds over the Alps
Epilogue