London Humanist Choir
Pokarekare Ana by London Humanist Choir 2020
Celebrated as an unofficial national anthem of New Zealand, Pokarekare Ana is a love song in Māori, thought to have been written during World War I. It rose to popularity amongst soldiers near Auckland, expressing longing for their lovers as they prepared to leave for Europe.
This version was created by members of the London Humanist Choir separately in spring 2020, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic having made traditional rehearsals impossible. Each singer recorded their part whilst watching a video of the conductor and listening to piano accompaniment through earphones. The resulting audio was synchronised and mixed, and the videos brought together using iMovie, allowing us to sing 'together' once again in an uplifting message of love and hope.
The musical arrangement we used was created and made freely available by Craig McLeish after the tragic terrorist attack that occurred in Christchurch in March 2019. In 2020, Pokarekare Ana was selected as an official song for the 'Sing For Water' outdoor choral concert due to go ahead in London on September 13th 2020, in support of charity WaterAid.
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Musical Director: Laurel Neighbour (http://www.laurelneighbour.com)
Assistant Musical Director, audio & video editor: Alexander Jaye (http://www.alexanderjaye.com)
Arrangement: Craig McLeish (https://www.choircommunity.net)
Singers: London Humanist Choir (https://london.humanistchoir.org) - the official choir of Humanists UK (https://humanism.org.uk/)
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Pōkarekare ana (Stormy are the waters)
ngā wai o Waiapu (of restless Waiapu)
Whiti atu koe hine, (but if you cross over them)
marino ana e. (they will become calm)
E hine e, (Maiden of mine)
hoki mai ra. (return again)
Ka mate ahau (My heart is yearning)
I te aroha e. (I miss you so)
My words and tokens
speak of my heart,
my love forever
remains your own
Maiden of Mine
return again,
my heart is yearning,
I miss you so.
E hine e, (Maiden of mine)
hoki mai ra. (return again)
Ka mate ahau (My heart is yearning)
I te aroha e. (I miss you so)
Ka mate ahau (My heart is yearning)
I te aroha e. (I miss you so)
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If you like what you hear, and the work that we do in promoting Humanism through music, we would be grateful if you would consider supporting us by way of a small donation. You can donate to us here: https://london.humanistchoir.org/donate/