Details

Latitude

-4.19675

Longitude

152.1875

Start Date

1993-08-24

End Date

1993-08-24

Tape#1: History of Music in Matupit and Clearing of Rabaul Airport Side A: Penias Taralulu, Kikila Matupit on 24th August 1993 Penias was born in 1918 and grew up knowing Ephraim Tami being a pioneer of music after being taught by Waterhouse at Methodist Mission. He was never part of Tami's choir as he was attending Malaguna Technical School training to be a carpenter. Ephraim Tami started the Matupit Island Mixed Choir (male/female) around 1926 just before the SDA Mission arrived in Matupit and New Britain in 1929. His assistant choir master/conductor was Romulus ToMatition who was also in the main choir. The choir would perform for tourists visiting Rabaul and also festivals for Empire Day and Kings Birthday. The choir sang mainly Kuanua songs and some English songs like "My beautiful Island, my homeland". The Matupit Island Choir later split with two separate choir masters of two sections of Matupit around 1936. Ephraim Tami led the Rarup, Matupit Choir and Romulus ToMatition led the Kikila, Matupit Choir. Penias joined the Kikila Choir in 1939 under Romulus ToMatition and they won some choral festivals during that time so they were competitive with Ephraim Tami's Rarup Choir. Side B: Dokta Taule, Malay Town, Rabaul, 25th August 1993 Dokta explained music of Ephraim Tami in his composing of songs mainly Kuanua and translations from English where he taught songs to the choir. An example of a composed Kuanua song is "Kada bona bung na nilagar" or its our a good day for happiness or be made happy. His conducting techniques of 3, 4, 6 parts were effective in producing the voices and even actions of the choir. Ephraim's outstanding music ability even was compared from the singing to the brass band music. Ephraim has a relative in ToDepit who led traditional music through "Vutung malagene" His ability was through traditional sources of power in "kodakodop" or "buai na pepe". ToDepit also taught and conducted Catholic church song in Tolai or Kuanua tune as a traditional church song. Dokta also explained how the Japanese tricked the Matupit people in particular the young strong men to clear and construct with manual labour the "Rakunai" or Rabaul airport. The Japanese also taken people from nearby villages namely Talvat, Baai, Nodup and Matalau on the manual work of building the airport with no equipment or machinery put just picks, shovels, wheelbarrows and manual tools. (Steven Gagau, May 2019)

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