Call of the Huia: 100 early New Zealand Art Songs
Three New Zealand Bird Songs – Words by C. R. Allen (1885 – 1962)
- Tui
- Morepork
- Moki
Doris A. Prentice (1895 -1986) was born in Dunedin into a musical family. Her grandfather was an oboist and conductor who abandoned his family for a student. His grandfather was Bernhard Schott who founded the famous German music publishers B Schott’s Söhne, still in existence. She was a talented pianist. She married John Prentice on Boxing Day 1919 and the family moved to Lower Hutt.
These quirky songs were published in 1929 by Paxton Press in London. Charles Allen was a famous Dunedin writer who produced socially aware novels and poetry. He was considered an important writer during his lifetime, being mentioned in Robin Hyde’s 1938 critique of New Zealand literature, alongside Jessie Mackay and Eileen Duggan. He was blind, which is what gives these poems about birds a particular piquancy.
Recorded 12 February 2021, St Andrew's on The Terrace, Wellington by RNZ Concert
Producer: David McCaw for RNZ Concert
Engineer: Darryl Stack for RNZ Concert
Video: Chris Watson for SOUNZ
The Call of the Huia research project by music historian Michael Vinten is funded by the Lilburn Trust with support from the Alexander Turnbull Library, the Hocken Library, SOUNZ Centre for NZ Music, RNZ Concert and others. The scores with CDs for Call of the Huia can be purchased in hard copy or as digital download from SOUNZ.
