Hirini Sydney Melbourne

Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu

1950 - 2003

He was born in Ruatoki and has been described as ‘a seminal figure in the renaissance of Māori traditional musical forms and the recovery of ancient instruments’. He was Associate Professor in the School of Māori and Pacific Development at Waikato University and was one of the judges for the 1991 AIM Children’s Book Awards. Dr Jeffrey Paparoa Holman writes: ‘A fruitful 10-year collaboration with [Hirini and] the musicologist Richard Nunns had them touring the country: marae, kohanga, universities and libraries, re-awakening the ears of all to ancient sounds of a music once made to herald births, and mourn the dead’. In October 1992 he and Richard Nunns presented a workshop called Voices from the Past at the New Zealand Flute Convention held in Christchurch. He received a number of honours including an honorary doctorate from Waikato University in 2002, he was a recipient of the Te Waka Toi Exemplary Award in 2002, and he was appointed Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit

Biographical sources

  • "Top Jazz Flautist for Convention." Christchurch Star 21 Oct, 1992: 4.
  • Holman, Jeffrey Paparoa. "Mentor to Māori Musicians." The Press 25 Jan. 2003: D.12.

    Children's literature

  • E hika e. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Te Ropu Whakamahipukapukakura, 1978.
  • Purerehua (Kahukura). Ko Nga pikitita na Cliff Whiting. [Illus. Cliff Whiting]. He Purapura Ser. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Ropu Mahipukapukakura, 1981.
  • In this Māori language text for children written in the He Purupura series the author writes of the life cycle of the red admiral butterfly. A Nga kupu/word list follows the text.
  • Te Tereina. Ko ngā pikitia nā Dick Frizzell. [Illus. Dick Frizzell]. He Purapura Ser. Whanganui-a-tara [Wellington], N.Z.: Te Rōpu Mahipukapukakura, Te Tari Mātauranga, 1981.
  • Māori language text for children in the He Purapura series which focuses on the journey of a train.
  • Te Tamaiti i Rere. Ko nga pikitia na Christine Ross. [Illus. Christine Ross]. He Purupura Ser. Whanganui-a-tara [Wellington]: Te Rōpu Mahipukapukakura, Te Tari Mātauranga, 1981.
  • Māori language text for children in the He Purapura series in which the wonderful world of a dream is recorded.
  • Ko Ngata Rāua Ko Anuhe. Ko ngā pikitia nā Deidre Gardiner. [Illus. Deidre Gardiner]. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Rōpu Mahipukapukakura, 1981.
  • This Māori language text for children in the He Purapura series tells the tale of the friendship between a snail and a caterpillar.
  • Te Aitanga-a-Pepeke/The Progeny of Pepeke. Wellington, N.Z.: New Zealand Department of Education, [1985?].
  • Te Purerehua Parihau Karakara. Na Jennifer Lautusi nga whakaahua. [Illus. Jennifer Lautusi]. Te Whanganui-a-Tara [Wellington]: Te Pou Taki Kōrero, 1995. Wellington, N.Z. Learning Media, 1995.
  • This Māori language text on a small boy’s discovery of various insects in the garden is accompanied by "Notes for Adults". This is part of a picture pack entitled Creatures in Our Homes and Gardens which also contains the English language version, The Brilliant Butterfly.
  • Brilliant Butterfly. Pictures by Jennifer Lautusi. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 1995.
  • See notes for Te Purerehua Parihau Karakara.

    • Music

  • Children of Tane: New Zealand Birds of the Forest. Written and narrated by Robert Taylor; Songs Composed and Performed by Sydney Melbourne with Kuini Te Wano. Audiocassette. Radio New Zealand; Viking c.1979.
  • Ruatoki Children Sing Songs. Hirini Melbourne. Prod. David Somerset. Audiocassette and booklet. Replay Radio, [1984?].
  • Te Aitanga a Tane: Trees, Birds and Insects. Audiocassette and Booklet. Radio New Zealand, Replay Radio, [1986?].
  • This is composed of Melbourne’s Trees Birds and Insects cassette, plus an interview about Melbourne’s process of composing songs.
  • Toiapiapi: He Huinga O Nga Kura Puoro A Te Māori. Audiocassette and booklet. Hamilton, N.Z.: Te Whare Whakahirahira, 1991. Re-released by Titi Tuhiwai, 1993.
  • Sound recording with a booklet of lyrics in Māori and English.

    • Non-fiction

  • "Te Ra Whakatuwhere O Te Puna Kaukau Hou O Te Kareti O Te Aute." Te Ao Hou 63 (1968): 56-57.
  • Written in the Tuhoe dialect.
  • "Myself." Te Ao Hou 64 (1968): 53, 55.
  • Melbourne writes a short autobiographical piece describing his character, shyness and gradual integration with Pakeha society.
  • "Te Aute College." Te Ao Hou 65 (1968/69): 55.
  • A brief history of the College and some of its famous old boys.
  • "The Portrayal of the Māori in New Zealand Children’s Fiction." A Track to Unknown Water: Proceedings of the Second Pacific Rim Conference on Children’s Literature. Ed. Stella Lees. Carlton, Victoria, Austral.: Melbourne State College, 1980. 80-90.
  • In this examination of the portrayal of Māori in New Zealand children’s fiction Melbourne looks at material published after 1960 by Māori and Pakeha writers and questions how the attitudes towards Māori will ‘contribute to the ideas and beliefs of children during these proven impressionable years of their lives? What picture of the Māori world is presented to children through fiction? And how authentic is the culture portrayed?’ He critiques various children’s books and devotes a separate section to fiction ‘commissioned and edited by the School Publications Branch of the Department of Education’. This is the text of Melbourne’s speech at the Second Pacific Rim Conference on Children’s Literature.
  • People, Land and Forests of Te Urewera/Te Urewera Nga Iwi Te Whenua Te Ngahere. Evelyn Stokes, J. Wharehuia Milroy, and Hirini Melbourne. Hamilton, N.Z.: U of Waikato, 1986.
  • "Whare Whakairo: Māori ‘Literary’ Traditions." Dirty Silence: Aspects of Language and Literature in New Zealand: Essays Arising From the University of Waikato Winter Lecture Series of 1990. Ed. Graham McGregor and Mark Williams. Assoc. ed. Ray Harlow. Auckland, N.Z.: Oxford UP, 1991. 129-141.
  • Melbourne writes a comprehensive analysis on the implications of Māori writers writing in English and argues that ‘[i]f Māori are to assert their cultural identity as a people, they must do so in their own ancestral language.’ He discusses the relationship between oral and written forms of literature and uses the imagery of the whare whakairo as a model for those writers wanting to write in Māori in terms of it being a link between the past and the present, and many other images symbolic for the writer.
  • "The Implementation of Confiscation in the Bay of Plenty district." The Volunteers 17.1 (Oct. 1991): 30-65.

  • Other

  • Te Kuia Me Te Pungawerewere. By Patricia Grace. Trans. into Māori by Syd Melbourne and Keri Kaa. Auckland, N.Z.: Penguin; Wellington, N.Z.: Kidsarus 2, 1981.
  • The Cat In The Hat: [Te Poti Mau Potae]. Dr. Seuss. Auckland, N.Z.: Collins, 1983.

  • Poetry

  • "He Whakaaro Huri Roto." Rongo 1.1 (Summer 1973/74): 4. Rpt. in Into the World of Light: An Anthology of Māori Writing. Ed. Witi Ihimaera and D. S. Long. Auckland, N.Z.: Heinemann, 1982. 211-212.
  • "Tangata Porotaka." Koru: The New Zealand Māori Artists and Writers Annual Magazine 2 (1978): 6.
  • "Purerehua." Koru: The New Zealand Māori Artists and Writers Annual Magazine 2 (1978): 6.
  • "He Waiata nga te Pihareina." Koru: The New Zealand Māori Artists and Writers Annual Magazine 2 (1978): 6.
  • "Te Putorino a Raukatauri/ The Flute of Raukatauri - the Bag Moth." The Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry/ Ngā Kupu T˚tohu o Aotearoa. Ed. Miriama Evans, Harvey McQueen and Ian Wedde. Auckland, N.Z.: Penguin, 1989. 341.
  • A short description of the mournful notes of the ‘flute of Raukatauri’.
  • "Putake/Foundations." The Penguin Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry/ Ngā Kupu T˚tohu o Aotearoa. Ed. Miriama Evans, Harvey McQueen and Ian Wedde. Auckland, N.Z.: Penguin, 1989. 341-342.
  • The cyclical course of nature and the evolution of mankind from the seed of Rangiatea.
  • "Tîhore." Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing for Children. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Volume 4: Te Ara o Te Hau: The Path of the Wind. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1994. 31.
  • "Weta Weriweri." Junior Journal 13 (1995): 21.
  • An English translation is printed on the back inside cover of journal.
  • "Whiti Te Marama." Na Phillip Paea te pikitia. [Illus. Phillip Paea]. Te Tautoko 26. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 1995. 16.
  • "Ko Te Hau Ora." Na Wol Jobson te pikitia. [Illus. Wol Jobson]. ]. Te Tautoko 26. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 1995. 26.
  • "Pungāwerewere." Na Frances Riddell te pikitia. [Illus. Frances Riddell]. Te Tautoko 27. Wellington, N.Z.: Learning Media, 1996. 32. Rpt. in Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing for Children. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 4: Te Ara o Te Hau: The Path of the Wind. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1994. 134.
  • "Te Rere a Tirairaka." Nā Gus Hunter te pikitia [Illus. Gus Hunter]. Te Tautoko 30. Wellington/Te Whanganui ā Tara, N.Z.: Te Pou Taki Kōrero Whaiti, 1996. 20.
  • "Pōteretere Ana Au." Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 5: Te Tōrino: The Spiral. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1996. 139-140.
  • "Rongomai." Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 5: Te Tārino: The Spiral. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1996. 141.
  • "E Rere, e te Manu." Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 5: Te Tōrino: The Spiral. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1996. 141.

  • Reviews

  • Rev. of Mihaia, by Judith Binney, Gillian Chaplin and Craig Wallace. Te Kaea: The Māori Magazine 2 (Mar./Apr. 1980): 26-27.
  • Rev. of Rua and the Māori Millennium, by Peter Webster. Te Kaea: The Māori Magazine 2 (Mar./Apr. 1980): 26-27.
  • Rev. of The New Zealand Wars and the Victorian Interpretation of Racial Conflict, by James Belich. Landfall 41 (1987): 355-358.
  • "Land of Broken Promises?" Rev. of Te Maiharoa and the Promised Land, by Buddy Mikaere. Landfall 43 (1989): 117-119.

    Other

  • Nathan, Te Anga. "Catching the Mood." Onfilm 5.3 (Apr/May 1988): 6-7.
  • Melbourne describes his work as musical director of the feature film Mauri.
  • Holman, Jeffrey Paparoa. "Mentor to Māori Musicians." The Press 25 Jan. 2003: D12.

  • Reviews

    Music Recording Review
  • O’Regan, Tipene. Rev. of Children of Tane: New Zealand Birds of the Forest. Te Kaea 1 (1979): 22-23.
  • Te Tamaiti i Rere
  • Jenkinson, Michael. Te Karanga: Canterbury Māori Studies Association 1.4 (Feb 1986): 32.
  • "He Purapura Series. Te Tereina, Te Tamaiti i Rere, He Kuri, Ruku." Tu Tangata 28 (Feb./Mar. 1986): 30.
  • Te Tereina
  • Jenkinson, Michael. Te Karanga: Canterbury Māori Studies Association 1.4 (Feb 1986): 32.
  • Toiapiapi.
  • Pokaia, Ruawhitu. "Rediscovery of traditional and modern Māori music." Sunday Times 19 Sept 1993: 24.