Project

Recordings of previously unheard 100 year-old Hawaiian Kingdom court music.

Queen Liliʻuokalani was the last Queen of the Hawaiian kingdom. She succeeded to the throne as the Queen of Hawai‘i following the death of the former king and her elder brother, David Kalākaua on January 29, 1891. However, Queen Liliʻuokalani and the kingdom of Hawai‘i were overthrown by the provisional government which was assisted by the U.S. military on January 17, 1893. As a result, she abdicated her throne and Hawaiʻi was annexed to the United States. Queen Liliʻuokalani composed a total of 165 pieces in her 79 years of life.  We arranged and recorded Queen Liliʻuokalani’s music as contemporary, easy listening music and done sensitively in order to hand down to future generations. By sharing Queen Liliʻuokalani’s music, we hope you will become more familiar with the history and legends of Hawai‘i.

Albums created to celebrate songs that were composed by Queen Liliʻuokalani, the last queen of the Hawaiian Kingdom, keeping 100 year-old court music alive

Queen Liliʻuokalani composed many beloved songs in her time. This project aims to pay homage to her 100 year-old songs, so as to perpetuate her musical talents as assets in the education field for our future generations. Some of her original songs are not available as analog recordings, only as musical scores. Our aim is to digitally conserve Queen Liliʻuokalani’s songs (by creating CDs), with Hiliu’s unique and welcoming arrangements to make the originals more contemporary and accessible for listeners of all ages. The songs in this album will consist of songs composed by or dedicated to Queen Liliʻuokalani. We hope this album will make listeners feel closer to Queen Liliʻuokalani, our respected last sovereign monarch, while taking them on a magical journey and understanding of Hawaiian history. Queen Liliʻuokalani ascended to the throne on January 29, 1891 after the death of her brother, King David Kalākaua. As pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the monarchy system and the Hawaiian kingdom on January 17, 1893, she was forced to live her later life as a private citizen, while Hawaii became the part of the United States. She passed away at the age of 79, leaving 165 songs for her people. In this project, we will select familiar tunes from her compositions utilising hints of contemporary arrangements to these already beautiful pieces of art.