Photo: Aotearoa Songbook
It's been a busy year for Hana Mereraiha.
She joined forces with Don McGlashan to write the official song for the World Choir Games, helped write the screenplay for Moana 2, the first Hollywood movie to be launched simultaneously in Te Reo and English, all while she's been helping to collate the country's first online waiata songbook.
The Aotearoa Songbook Volume 1 includes 22 of the country's best loved waiata, each of which comes with a video, music, lyric sheet, details of the composers and the history of the piece.
Speaking to RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump, Mereraiha says it was important to credit those who created the songs, but also ensure the website got the lyrics right.
Hana Mereraiha Photo: Rawhitiroa Photography
She told Crump in some cases, such as the well-known waiata Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi by Canon Wiremu Te Tau Huata, the lyrics commonly sung were not what was originally written.
Mereraiha says the songbook is for all the peoples of Aotearoa, and she hopes it continues the trend that's seeing increasing numbers of Pakeha as well as Māori celebrating their national identity with waiata, including the World T20 Cricket Cup women's team celebrating their victory by singing Te Iwi E.
Crump notes that "Te Iwi E" didn't make the cut for the Aotearoa Songbook Volume 1. That's one of the reasons, says Mereraiha, for getting cracking on Volume 2.
