HWST 478: Mele Au Hou

In 2002, the library acquired the Hawaiian music collection of Dirk Vogel, who had been collecting Hawaiian music since the 1920s. The collection contains 6,000 78s, 2,650 LPs, 900 45s and thousands of other items. Also in 2002, the library received a bequest of 2,533 Hawaiian music recordings from the estate of James Grant Cathro of Glasgow, Scotland, who died in 1999. Mr. Cathro collected the recordings, with special interest in steel guitar music, over the course of many years. This collection contains 2,056 phonodiscs (33-1/3, 45 and 78 RPM speeds); 236 cassettes and various other recordings. The Vogel and Cathro collections serve as the foundation of the Hawaiian Music Collection, which today has approximately 20,000 total phonodiscs and 2000 recordings in other formats such as cassette tape and reel-to-reel tape. The University of Hawai'i at Manoa Library is in the process of digitizing the older formats in the collection to preserve the recordings before they are lost, the results of which are displayed on this website. The information about the songs and artists is gleaned mainly from the record labels. The Hawaiian Music Collection is not responsible for any mis-attributions or inaccuracies. Songs are available to listen for UHM patrons.

Forthcoming mele archive...a comprehensice and all-inclusive record and research portal for mele Hawaiʻi, Hawaiian music, designed by Hawaiian speakers, musicians, and scholars.

The Pacific String Museum seeks to uplift this Great Pacific legacy of excellence, innovation, and global influence through the celebration of the instruments and people whose music weaves generations together through the enduring strength of song and string.

Founded in 2000, the non-profit Hula Preservation Society is committed to preserving and sharing the life stories, knowledge, insights, and historical materials of our esteemed elders via digital technologies, and making that treasury available to the Hawaiian people, hula practitioners, and students and teachers across the globe. Digital 'Umeke is the culmination of HPS’s efforts since the year 2000 to document and share the lives of revered hula elders and community members. Curated materials from the HPS Archive provide a unique and well-rounded view of the lives of these elders and their pivotal roles in the preservation and perpetuation of ʻike Hawaiʻi. Born in the 1910s-1930s, these kūpuna (elders) are connected by their love of Hula (Hawaiian dance), an art form and way of life. They collectively embody and seamlessly interweave cultural traditions, history, poetry, art, literature, philosophy, religion, socio-economic impacts, music, composition, language and more.

Utilizing mele to preserve, transmit, and create cultural knowledge can have profound effects on contemporary Hawaiʻi. With mele, values like aloha ʻāina are disseminated at a large scale with ease and popularity. With mele, education moves from a separation of knowledge and knower to an internalization of knowledge, both new and old. With mele, the unification of a people starts with a cathartic and shared emotional experience, not with structural organization. In the more recent reawakening of the lāhui Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian nation), the practice of mele, if utilized effectively within the soundscape of Hawaiʻi, will have lasting influences on education and the promotion of cultural knowledge integral to self-determination.

Mele is Hawaiʻi’s first, non-profit streaming service for Hawaiʻi-based Creators (filmmakers, music producers, event broadcasters, content creators, and more). Access is subscription based at a set cost.

Collection of Hawaiian song lyrics with some having the accompanying source recording.

Researched and Compiled by Amy K. Stillman.