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Mervyn McLean research papers

 File
Identifier: AMPS-2024/04

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.

Dates

  • 1958 - 1994

Creator

ICIP position statement

Cultural Collections acknowledges and respects the Indigenous Cultural Intellectual Property (ICIP) rights of peoples in the contents of this collection and encourages engagement and collaboration to improve this resource.

To view our full statement on ICIP, please visit: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/library/about-our-collections/cultural-collections/our-kaupapa/indigenous-cultural-intellectual-property.htmlTo contact the archive, please use the email link in ‘Repository details’

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

1.2 metres (4 boxes, 1 outsize folder)

Language of Materials

English

Maori

Rarotongan; Cook Islands Maori

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by the McLean family, July 2023.

Separated Materials

Series 1 relates to recordings in 'Mervyn McLean traditional Māori songs recordings' (AMPS 2022/48).

Series 2 relates to recordings in 'Mervyn McLean traditional music of Aitutaki and Mangaia, Cook Islands recordings' (AMPS 2023/01)

Series 3 relates to recordings in 'Raymond Firth recordings' (AMPS 2022/20)

Title
Inventory of Mervyn McLean's research papers
Status
In Progress
Author
William Hamill
Date
December 2024
Description rules
Dacs
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Archive of Māori and Pacific Sound, University of Auckland Repository

Contact:
Level 3, General Library
5 Alfred Street
Private Bag 92109
Auckland 1010 New Zealand
+64 9 923 5008