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Richard Moyle survey of traditional music of Niue recordings

 Collection
Identifier: AMPS 2022/104

Scope and Contents

Material collected as part of a pilot study for the project, "A Territorial Survey of Oceanic Music", funded jointly by UNESCO, The Institute for Polynesian Studies (Hawai'i) and the University of Auckland. Recordings were made by Richard Moyle of the University of Auckland and Fifita Talagi, the Cultural Projects Coordinator of Niue, from September-October 1984 in Niue, followed by recordings made by Richard Moyle and Dorothy Puheketama in Auckland, New Zealand for the final month of the project.

The texts of most of the material recorded in Niue were transcribed by Fifita, and the balance, together with the translation of the entire collection, were made by Dorothy. Not all texts of the recorded songs have been transcribed. Due to a lack of time, the songs recorded in Auckland towards the end of November 1984 were not transcribed or translated. These transcripts are present in the Collection File. Please contact the repository for more information.

Included in the collection are copies of material obtained by Richard for research purposes. This includes recordings made by David Fanshawe, Tahafa Talagi and Ikinepule Etuata, Hima Douglas, and Radio Sunshine.

Dates

  • 1984

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 New Zealand ethnomusicologist, educator and author specialised in the music and oral histories of the Pacific and First Nations Australia.

Moyle 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, Moyle 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

1.3 metres (Includes 52 open-reel tapes, 15 audiocassettes, 1 video)

Language of Materials

Niuean

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Richard Moyle in 2016.

Related Materials

Richard Moyle field research papers, MSS-Archives-2021/08. Special Collections, University of Auckland.

Selected bibliography

1. The Niuean Nose Flute
Richard Moyle. 'The Niuean Nose Flute' in Anthropos, Bd. 83, H. 4./6. (1988), pp. 541-546
Title
Inventory of Richard Moyle's survey of traditional music of Niue 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