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Richard Moyle Lau Islands recordings

 Collection
Identifier: AMPS 2022/102

Scope and Contents

The collection comprises audio field recordings and radio dubbings of music and oral histories from the Lau Islands in Fiji, part of a preliminary analysis of Lau music, in particular of the song types found on Lakeba and Vanua Balavu. The field work for this study was carried out at Lakeba from June 14 to July 1, 1977, in Tubou, Levuka, Waciwaci, Yadrana, Vakanō, and Nasaqalau villages, and at Vanua Balavu from July 2-11 in Avea, Mavana, Mualevu, Muamua, Malaka, Sawana and Uruone villages. An objective of the research was to determine the extent of Tongan influence on Lau music. The original recordings were deposited in the Archive of Maori and Pacific Sound, with a duplicate set at the Fiji Museum, Suva.

Some in-house transcriptions, for some items, are present in the Collection File. Please contact the repository for more information.

Dates

  • 1977

Creator

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

Biographical / Historical

Professor Richard M. Moyle is a retired New Zealand Ethnomusicologist, educator and author specialised in the music and oral histories of the Pacific and First Nations Australia.

Richard began recording in Samoa and American Samoa between 1966 and 1969 during field work for his Masters and Doctoral degrees at the University of Auckland. He later expanded his research to the Kingdom of Tonga, Lau Islands in Fiji, Niue, Northern Cook Islands, Takuu Atoll in Papua New Guinea, and Central Australia.

After completing the University of Auckland’s first PhD in ethnomusicology in 1971, Richard has held teaching positions at Indiana University, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Griffith University Queensland. For eight years he was Research Fellow at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) in Canberra, publishing a trilogy of books on the music of Central Australia with wife Linden Moyle. Returning to Auckland in 1985 to take up an appointment in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Auckland, he went on to become Director of the Archive of Maori and Pacific Music in 1993, followed by Director of Pacific Studies in 2007, until his retirement in 2010.

Extent

0.42 metres (Includes 26 open reel tapes)

Language of Materials

Fijian

Tonga (Tonga Islands)

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Richard Moyle in 1978.

Related Materials

Richard Moyle field research papers. 1966-1985. MSS & Archives 2021/08. Special Collections, University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services.

Richard M. Moyle (1978). ‘Lau-Tonga 1977.’ Bulletin 17, The Royal Society of New Zealand: Wellington.

Title
Inventory of Richard Moyle's Lau Islands recordings
Status
In Progress
Author
Huni Mancini
Date
September 2022
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

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