Lili’uokalani (1838-1917) was the only queen regnant and the last sovereign monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, over which she reigned from 1891-1893. She was a composer, pianist, organist, choir director at Kawaiaha’o Church, and played a variety of plucked instruments. As a young child she studied music at the Chiefs’ Children’s School, and she identified herself in her autobiography as the first Hawaiian to master writing in Western musical notation.
Most of Lili’uokalani’s compositions are songs, and she endeavored to fuse elements of both Hawaiian and Western European music in her compositions. Several of her compositions include He mele lāhui Hawai‘i, which was used as the Hawaiian national anthem until 1876 and Nani nā pua Ko‘olau, which was one of the first Hawaiian songs published on the American mainland in 1869. Her songs, including the famous love song Aloha ‘oe, were popular in the USA.
Source
“Lili‘uokalani, Queen of Hawaii.” Grove Music Online. 2001.
Works Featured on Expanding the Music Theory Canon
Aloha ‘Oe
Excerpt
Pages: Predominant, Period