McLean, Mervyn (1930-2022)

Scope and Contents Recording sessions at Nikaupara, Aitutaki were led by Tepaki Mokotupu, who introduced most of the items, and narrated legends with which the songs are associated. Verbatim translations of most of the legends were supplied after each recording session by Simona Naku in consultation with Tepaki. The accounts in English of Te Putanga o Te Toa (item 1/8) and the Story of Raeina and the battle of Vaovaoka (item 1/145), as related by Tepaki, were supplied in typescript by Tepaki but must have been...

Scope and Contents From the Series: Recording sessions at Nikaupara, Aitutaki were led by Tepaki Mokotupu, who introduced most of the items, and narrated legends with which the songs are associated. Verbatim translations of most of the legends were supplied after each recording session by Simona Naku in consultation with Tepaki. The accounts in English of Te Putanga o Te Toa (item 1/8) and the Story of Raeina and the battle of Vaovaoka (item 1/145), as related by Tepaki, were supplied in typescript by Tepaki but must have been...

Content Description

The collection comprises of material from Mervyn McLean's home office and includes notes, musical annotation, transcriptions, and correspondence relating to recording activities in Aotearoa New Zealand and the Cook Islands. Analysis of the musical traditions of Tikopia for Raymond Firth's book 'Tikopia music' also features.

Scope and Contents The collection contains recordings of traditional Māori songs, mostly recorded by Mervyn McLean as part of his research as a student at the University of Otago. First, for his Masters in 1958 and later for his PhD from 1962-64. Further recordings were made throughout the 1970s as part of his continued professional research, and work as Director of the Archive. Recordings were made throughout Aoteatroa, New Zealand, but are predominantly from Te Ika-a-Maui | North Island.The...

Scope and Contents Having researched Māori traditional musical forms extensively in Aotearoa New Zealand, Mervyn McLean secured funding from the American National Science Foundation to conduct a survey in the Cook Islands looking for similarities or insights considering the two nations’ linguistic similarities. This collection consists of the recordings made during the survey in the Cook Islands, predominantly at Aitutaki and Mangaia, from September to November 1967. More than 40 different song...