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Lili'uokalani, the composerby Marjorie J. Scott
(This article first appeared in the Winter '94 HSGA Quarterly) In January 1993, Hawaiians commemorated the 100 year anniversary of the overthrow of the monarchy, in the deposing of their queen, Lili'uokalani. In September, 1995, at their first inaugural ceremony, Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame and Museum acknowledged Na Lani Eha, "The Royal Four", consisting of brothers and sisters David Kalakaua, Lili'iuokalani, Miriam Likelike, and William Pitt Lele'iohoku for their patronage of Hawai'i's music as we know it today; they provided the strong beginnings and vitality for music composed and performed by native Hawaiians to grow and prosper into the significant and enduring culture it is today. Lydia Kamaka'eha Paki (later, Lili'uokalani) was born in 1838, and very early showed signs of her extraordinary gifts of poetry and music. Picture, if you will, a four-year-old girl, seated between her older brother, David Kalakaua and her younger sister, Miriam Kekauluohi Likelike in a classroom of the elite missionary-sponsored Chief's Children's School. Here, she was already receiving formal musical training, and "very likely began composing" according to Hawaiian music historian, Dr. George S. Kanahele. Lili'u (as her friends called her) was a serious and talented student. At age ten, private tutors took over the education of the royal princess. In her autobiography, Lili'u writes of her ability to sight read early on. To introduce a new song to the class, her teacher would give her the untried music and she would sing it by note, until the class learned it by ear. Kanahele says, "she must have had perfect pitch, too, for in later life as a composer, she wrote out her music in cipher form when music paper was not available." "To compose was as natural to me as to breath", she wrote. The earliest composition known to be hers may be "Nani Na Pua" (Flowers of Ko'olau), bearing the signature "L.K. Paki", her maiden name and the signature she used prior to her marriage to John Dominus in 1862. "He Mele Lahui Hawai'i", her "Hawaiian National Anthem" was not composed until 1866. Lili'iuokalani had several musical distinctions: she could write music and was, reportedly, the only native Hawaiian composer who could. Also, she may have been the most prolific composer of the century, as she states that while she never numbered her compositions "they must run will up to the hundreds." She was given to writing complex harmonies, unlike other royal composers, and she brought a western music influence to her songs, evident in their melodic line and lyrical quality. Fortunately for us, Lili'u made every effort to have her songs published so that they would be available to all. Her "Aloha 'Oe" was, in fact. the first Hawaiian "hit song" outside of the Islands, thanks to Captain Henry Berger, leader of the Royal Hawaiian Band, who arranged it for the band and included it in every concert in Hawai'i and in the mainland U.S. In both public and private life, as Queen Lili'uokalani, she filled her world with musical activity. Many concerts were given at Iolani Palace, where, in addition to featuring visiting foreign musicians, she could often be found playing piano, singing, directing song groups. She was, in fact, an accomplished instrumentalist on the zither (her favorite instrument) and guitar. One wonders if she would not have learned steel guitar also, had it been available and popular prior to the 1890's. In addition to"Aloha 'Oe" some of Lili'u's songs, still played and popular today are "Queen's Jubilee", written on the steamship which carried her and Queen Kapiolani to England as Queen Victoria's guests for the British monarch's celebration of her long and influential reign, "Ho'oheno Song", "Puna Paia 'A'ala", "Ka Wai Mapuna", "Puia Ka Nahale", "Ka 'Oiwi Nani" and "A Prayer". The performance of songs by Lili'u', the composer, still inspires memories of Lili'uokalani, the Queen, who was regarded with great affection by the Hawaiian people for her gentleness and graciousness, and for her concern for the welfare of her people. 
HSGA * HAWAIIAN
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