Mervyn McLean traditional Māori songs recordings
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 recording process itself was a truly collaborative exercise. With much initial assistance from Col. Arapete Awatere, iwi and communities actively participated in the process, in fact items were only recorded if explicitly offered by the performers. Items were often announced, in Māori, by the performers, and first line transcriptions were typically checked by the performers, or transcriptions provided from their own personal waiata books.
Mervyn McLean provides a detailed description of the process and the people involved in the front matter of the original published catalogue.
Dates
- 1935 - 1979
Creator
- McLean, Mervyn (1930-2022) (Person)
To request or comment
To request access to items in this collection, or to provide comment or corrections, please complete the following: Archive of Māori and Pacific Sound request form
Restrictions
Restrictions appearing in the collection were placed by the performers at time of recording. Usually the restriction limits access to members of particular iwi or hapu.
These items may sometimes be referred to for scholarly purposes but may not be copied or published in any form without the explicit release by the appropriate tribal authority.
Biographical / Historical
Mervyn McLean was a prominent ethnomusicologist and founding director of the Archive of Māori and Pacific Music.
Born in Invercargill, McLean attended Otago University in the late 1950s, where he studied for a Master of Arts in History and Literature of Music. It was during this time he heard waiata recordings from the Māori Purposes Fund Board and decided to pursue the topic for his thesis. After successfully completing his Masters, he went on to a PhD which he completed in 1965.
On completion of the PhD, McLean left New Zealand on a three-year post-doctoral fellowship, during which time he travelled to Indiana University to study with Alan P. Merriam, a pioneer in the anthropology of music; conducted field work on Aitutaki and Mangaia in the Cook Islands; and took an appointment for a semester at the Music Department at the University of Hawai’i.
Offered a fellowship by Bruce Biggs at the University of Auckland, McLean returned to New Zealand and commenced the role in 1969. Here he taught courses in the Anthropology, Music, and Māori Studies departments, as well as being the founding director of the Archive, becoming an associate professor in 1975.
McLean retired from the University of Auckland in 1992 and passed at the age of 92 on July 8, 2022.
Extent
5.08 metres (85 open reel tapes)
Language of Materials
Maori
Arrangement
Unlike most audio collections arranged by tape, McLean's collection is arranged by session down to track-level, with each performace assigned a running number. The main series of field work recordings were assigned an 'McL' number; material dubbed, or copied, from third parties were assigned a 'D' number.
This original numbering system has been retained from the published catalogue, and has been used to divide recordings into two seperate series.
The third series of 'Documentation' consists of transcriptions and translations of the announcements and waiata. Transcripts were either obtained at the time of recording, or from latter in-house transcriptions.
Originally applied titles, names and track-specific details, provided by Mervyn McLean or the performers, have been retained at item-level.
Other Finding Aids
Original finding aid published as the ‘Catalogue of Mervyn McLean Collection Recordings of Traditional Maori Songs, 1958-1979’, ISBN: 0959800514.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Mervyn McLean in 1989 and 2016.
Selected bibliography
McLean, M. (1965). Māori chant [Unpublished PhD thesis]. University of Otago.
McLean, M., and Orbell, M. (1990). Traditional songs of the Māori (revised second edition). Auckland University Press.
McLean, M. (2004). Tō tātau waka: In search of Māori music, 1958-1979. Auckland University Press.
- Title
- Inventory of the Mervyn McLean traditional Māori songs recordings
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- William Hamill
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Archive of Māori and Pacific Sound, University of Auckland Repository
Level 3, General Library
5 Alfred Street
Private Bag 92109
Auckland 1010 New Zealand
+64 9 923 5008
amps@auckland.ac.nz