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Library Subject Guides

Pacific: Music

Key Pacific Music Databases

 

The Archive of Māori and Pacific Sound  at the University of Auckland includes Samoan popular songs collected by Brother Herman Seringer 1940-45

See the Music subject guide for other databases and sources.

Cultural Issues and Music

For an insight into some issues around the use of Pacific material, here are some introductory readings:

Moulin, J. F. (1996). "What's Mine Is Yours? Cultural Borrowing in a Pacific Context." The Contemporary Pacific 8(1): 128-153.

Armstrong, R. (2018). "Time to face the music: Musical colonization and appropriation in Disney's Moana." Social Sciences 7(7). )

Diettrich, B., et al. (2011). Music in Pacific Island cultures: experiencing music, expressing culture. New York, Oxford University Press.

Schroeder, J. E. & Borgerson, J. L. (2012). Packaging paradise: Organizing representations of Hawaii. In A. Prasad et al. Against the grain: Advances in postcolonial organization studies. (pp. 32-490).  Samfundslitteratur

Music online

Songbook from Coconet TV.

In the Vault. A playlist of New Zealand and Pacific music from the Turnbull Library's collections.

Traditional Pacific Music Animations from SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music

Pacific Music in Aotearoa New Zealand

To get an idea of the books and recordings of Pasifika music and musicians in Aotearoa, follow this catalogue link

For an overview of music from Polynesia, have a look at the book Weavers of song: Polynesian music and dance.

For journal articles, use Index New Zealand (link in the left column).

Pacific Music Awards.

Music in Pacific Countries- Books, Recordings and Printed Music

The Macmillan Brown Library has a strong collection of books on Pacific music. For works from individual countries search under each country (click on the links below). This is how you will find most of the Pacific material we hold.
Also look at music Oceania and music Pacific for works that cover several Pacific countries.

Cook Islands

Easter Island

Fiji

French Polynesia

Guam

Hawai'i

Kiribati

Micronesia

Nauru

New Caledonia

Niue

Palau

Papua New Guinea

Samoa

Solomon Islands

Timor Leste

Tokelau

Tonga

Tuvalu

Vanuatu

Wallis & Futuna

If you only wish to see scores, you can limit your search to printed music however this will exclude books that have printed music within them but are not scores in themselves.

For articles about Pacific music, search RILM and for articles about Pasifika music in New Zealand search Index New Zealand (links on the left side of this page).

Contact me for more information

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Caroline Syddall
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Macmillan Brown Library.

My hours of work are Monday-Friday 8.30-4.30
03 3693883 or x93883