"Ua Noho Au A Kupa" (Edward Nainoa)"I have stayed and become accustomed to your face And familar with your voice The memory of someone attracts me there Where the sweet water makes love flourish" A favorite love song. |
"Old Plantation" (Lyric by Mary Jane Montano Music by David Nape)"Sofly-scented are the flowers In 1865 Victoria Robinson married Curtis Ward, who was a personal friend of Kamehameha IV. Old Plantation was their elegant home at the corner of King and Ward Streets in Honolulu, present site of the Neal Blaisdell Center. The home, built in 1880, was part of the vast 100-acre Ward Estate with streams, fish ponds, a water wheel and private school. The Wards and their seven daughters were intimate friends of Hawaiian royalty and loyal supporters of the monarchy. |
"Kuu Ipo I Ka He’e Pu’e One"(Princess Likelike)"My sweetheart in the rippling hills of sand With the sea rustling the pebbles There, the memory is impassioned In the forest where we delighted " 
Perhaps the most famous of Likelike's compositions, many believe it was written for a heartbroken girl who could not marry the love of her life. In the middle of January, 1887, a large school of aweoweo, a small, red fish was seen off the coast of the island of Hawai`i, where Likelike had once been governor. The massing of the bright red fish close to shore was considered an omen of death for members of the Kaläkaua dynasty. On February 2, 1887, Princess Likelike died at age 36. Princess Likelike |
"Kaimana Hila "(Charles E. King)"We all went out last night To see the grandeur of Diamond Head Diamond Head, so majestic" This song relates the adventures of a group of friends on a Hawaiian holiday. They start at the Ala Wai, the west end of Waikiki. They go to Kapiolani Park, dedicated in 1877, by King Kalakaua, and renowned for the beautiful oval horse race track. They bet and watch the races, then meander thru Makee Ailana, an island in the park. They marvel at the big hotels and stop for refreshments at the Seaside Inn, a favorite of kama’aina (local residents) and malihini (visitors) in the early 1900's. This hotel, situated on 10 acres of Waikiki beachfront property, was demolished in 1920 to make way for the new Royal Hawaiian Hotel. They end their holiday with a leisurely stroll thru Ainahau, the lush estate of Princess Miriam Likelike.
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"Ku’u Lei Awapuhi" (Traditional)In Hawaiian songs, the "mist" is associated with romance. A romantic lyricist, Emily Taylor penned the words to this beautiful traditional melody. The lyric compares one’s lover to a fragrant ginger lei, damp and moist in the gentle misty rain (ua noe). |
"Mahinalani"(Kapono Beamer)Featuring the "Ohe Hano Ihu", the Hawaiian nose flute. Old Hawaiians had a system of "stewardship", a system whereby the King would give a chosen family the care and nurturing of a parcel of land called the "ahupua’a". This land was for the family to live on for their lives, and they were expected to take care of and nurture the land ("aina") which was sacred to the Hawaiian. The land would extend from the top of the mountains all the way down to the ocean edge. Kapono imagines the "Mahinalani" (Heavenly moonlight) as it shines in the ahupua’a making us more aware of our sacred oath to care for and protect our precious Hawaiian lands ("malama i ka ‘aina"). |
"Pana Aloha, Hawaiian Heartbeat "... Instrumental Album of the Year winner of the 2002 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, captures the essence of the Hawaiian heart... A heart filled with love... Love for the land, love for special places, and most of all love for special people. Kapono Beamer captures the essence of the beating of loving hearts. These are songs that echo deep in the Hawaiian soul; always close at hand, pulsating in the back of the mind, and nestled in a loving heart. These songs are complete expressions of their Hawaiian composer's innermost images and feelings of aloha.
Kapono says, "I was inspired to create a collection of some of the most beloved Hawaiian melodies, the kind of songs it seems I always knew. Being surrounded by Hawaiian music ever since I can remember, I guess these melodies were planted in my heart at a very young age. Some of my earliest recollections are of my mother dancing the hula to the gentle sounds of an ukulele strumming. I remember the smiling faces of my grandfather, and uncles playing their guitars and singing, and the beauty of my grandmother and aunties as they danced the graceful hula. These songs have lived inside of me since those "small kid" days and I welcome the opportunity to present them, along with one added original song, in a simple setting of new musical arrangements featuring acoustic guitars. I hope that when the listener hears these classic Hawaiian melodies, it will stir deep feelings of kindness, warmth, love, and affection. I hope that your heart too can beat to the rhythm of the ‘Hawaiian Heartbeat’, ‘Pana Aloha’."
Victoria Robinson Ward