Work
Karanga Ākau
for SATB choir and piano
Buy or Borrow
Borrow/Hire:
To borrow items or hire parts please email SOUNZ directly at info@sounz.org.nz.
About
Discount available for bulk orders. Please contact info@sounz.org.nz.
'Pania and the Reef' is a well-known and oft-told māori legend about a beautiful maiden of the sea, Pania, who becomes married to a handsome chief, Karitoki. Despite her love for Karitoki, Pania would still hear the call of the ocean and she would feel obliged to return there in the morning. Their son, Moremore, was born hairless and Karitoki became concerned that his wife was becoming homesick and that he would soon lose her to the ocean. On the advice of a tohunga, Karitoki attempted to place cooked food on Pania to bind her to the land forever. However, Pania woke up before Karitoki had done this and fled with her son to the ocean. Moremore was said to have turned into a taniwha and Pania became the reef off the coast of Napier. This piece is a setting of an original poem, which imagines the call of the reef to Pania which compels her to return to the ocean. As well as being a call to Pania, this piece is a call to listeners to remember their families and their home, even when they themselves have moved on.
Winner of the 2018 NZCF/SOUNZ Choral Composition Competition
Text note
Original Māori and English texts by Fergus Byett; edited with help from Atareta Simmonds. Text is based on a traditional māori legend.