Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen/Chapter 5
CHAPTER V
HAWAIIAN MUSIC, AND A DUCAL GUEST
The Hawaiian people have been from time immemorial lovers of poetry and music, and have been apt in improvising historic poems, songs of love, and chants of worship, so that praises of the living or wails over the dead were with them but the natural expression of their feelings. My ancestors were peculiarly gifted in this respect, and yet it is remarkable that there are few if any written compositions of the music of Hawaii excepting those published by me.
In my school-days my facility in reading music at sight was always recognized by my instructors. At the schools I attended, and of which mention has already been made, there was one boy by my side who could read the airs of new tunes which the teachers were anxious to introduce to the pupils. His name, I remember, was Willie Andrews. The untried music was handed to us; and we sang it by note, the rest of the pupils following by ear until the whole assembly were acquainted with the new music. After leaving school, my musical education was continued from time to time as opportunity offered, but I scarcely remember the days when it would not have been possible for me to write either the words or the music for any occasion on which poetry or song was needed. To compose was as natural to meé as to breathe; and this gift of nature, never having been suffered to fall into disuse, remains a source of the greatest consolation to this day. I have never yet numbered my compdsitions, but am sure that they must yun well up to the hundreds. Of these not more than a quarter have been printed, but the most popular have been in such demand that several editions have been exhausted. Hours of which it is not yet in place to speak, which I might have found long and lonely, passed quickly and cheerfully by, occupied and soothed by the expression of my thoughts in music; and even when I was denied the aid of any instrument I could transcribe to paper the tones of my voice.
In the early years of the reign of Kamehameha V. he brought to my notice the fact that the Hawaiian people had no national air. Each nation, he said, but ours had its expression of patriotism and love of country in its own music; but we were using for that purpose on state occasions the time-honored British anthem, "God save the Queen." This he desired me to supplant by one of my own composition, In one week’s time I notified the king that I had completed my task. The Princess Victoria had been the leader cf the choir of the Kawaiahao church; but upon her death, May 29, 1866, I assumed the leadership. It was in this building and by that choir that I first introduced the "Hawaiian National Anthem." The king was present for the purpose of criticising my new composition of both words and music, and was liberal in his commendations to me on my success. He admired not only the beauty of the music, but spoke enthusiastically of the appropriate words, so well adapted to the air and to the purpose for which they were written.
This remained in use as our national anthem for some twenty years or more, when my brother composed the words of the Hawaii Ponoi. He was at the time the reigning king, and gave directions to the master of the band to set these to music. He, being a German, found some composition from his own country which he deemed appropriate; and this has been considered of late years our national air.
In the changes of the past few years, the words written by His Majesty Kalakaua have been found no longer adapted to public occasions; so while the music is still played, such sentiments as "Look to the people" have been substituted for the ancient injunction to "Look to the king."
In the year 1869 the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred of England, arrived in the harbor of Honolulu, being in command of Her Britannic Majesty’s ship-of-war Galatea. As soon as the king learned of the duke's presence he made special preparations for his reception; and for his better accommodation on shore he assigned for his use the residence of the late Kekuanaoa, who died in November of the preceding year. My own mother having died about three months prior to the arrival of the Galatea, I was not taking part in any festivities, being in retirement from society. But this was considered an exceptional occasion, and the king signified his wish to me that I would not fail to do it honor. So at his specific request I gave a grand luau at my Waikiki residence, to which were invited all those connected with the government, indeed, all the first families of the city, whether of native or foreign birth. Major J. H. Wodehouse, so long the ambassador of Great Britain at Honolulu, had just arrived with Mrs. Wodehouse; and they were of the invited guests, the prince specially inviting them to drive out to my house with him. I suppose the feast would be styled a breakfast in other lands, for it was to begin at eleven o’clock in the forenoon, The sailor-prince mounted the driver’s box of the carriage, and taking the reins from that official, showed himself an expert in the management of horses. All the members of the royal family of England are, I understand, excellent horsemen; and in doing this the Duke of Edinburgh was only following customs to which he had been trained in his own land. The Queen Dow. ager Kalama, widow of Kamehameha III., drove out te Waikiki in her own carriage of state, accompanied by her adopted son, Kunuiakea, and my sister, Miriam Likelike; these two being at that time betrothed in marriage, although the latter married Hon. A. S. Cleghorn, and became the mother of the Princess Kaiulani. The drivers of these carriages wore the royal feather shoulder-capes, and the footmen were also clad in like royal fashion. It was considered one of the grandest occasions in the history of those days, and all passed off as becoming the high birth and commanding position of our visitor, The guests were received with every mark of courtesy by my husband and myself, as well as by His Majesty Kamehamcha V., who was one of the first arrivals. When the prince entered he was met by two very pretty Hawaiian ladies, who advanced, and, according to the custom of our country, decorated him with leis, or long, pliable wreaths of flowers suspended from the neck.
As Mrs. Bush, considered one of the most beautiful women in the Hawaiian Islands, advanced and proceeded to tie the flowery garland about the neck of the prince, he seemed perhaps a bit confused at the novel custom; but, submitting with the easy grace of a gentleman, he appeared to be excessively pleased with the flowers and with the expression of friendly welcome conveyed to him by the act. Balls, picnics, and parties followed this day of enjoyment; and the prince gave an entertainment in return at his own house, which was attended by my husband and myself, and by most of the distinguished persons in the city. The day of departure for the Galatea arrived; and the prince called on me to express the pleasure he had taken during his visit, and the regrets he felt at leaving us. On this occasion he presented me with an armlet emblematic of his profession; it was of solid gold, a massively wrought chain made after the pattern of a ship’s cable, with anchor as a pendant. He also gave me copies of two of his own musical compositions; and to this day I keep and cherish these three souvenirs of the son of England’s good queen, and at the same time one of England’s noblest sailors. We have met once since those days, at the Queen’s Jubilee, during my visit to London in 1887. Our past acquaintance was cordially recognized by the prince, who was then my escort on a state occasion, my nearest neighbor on the other hand being the present Emperor of Germany.