Music of Tonga

Polynesian music
Easter Island
Fiji
French Polynesia: Marquesas and Tahiti
Hawaii
New Zealand: Cook Islands - Maori - Niue - Tokelau
Samoa
Tonga
Tuvalu
Wallis and Futuna

We know relatively little about the 'music of Tonga' as it existed before Tonga was discovered by European explorers. Early visitors, such as Captain Cook and the invaluable William Mariner, note only the singing and drumming during traditional dance performances. We can assume the existence of the lali or slit-gong, and the nose flute, as these survived to later times. Traditional songs, passed down over the generations, are still sung at chiefly ceremonies. Some ancient dances are still performed, such as ula, 'otuhaka and me'etu'upaki.

The first successful missionaries, English Methodists, arrived in 1822. By 1830, most of the population were nominally Christian. Western church music and Western classical and popular music would then start to mingle with the pure Tongan music, resulting in the often hybrid music of contemporary Tonga.

Church music

Methodists were known for their extensive use of hymns in their emotional services. True to their tradition, the early missionaries introduced hymn-singing to their congregations. These early hymns -- still sung today in some of the Methodist sects, such as the Free Church of Tonga and the Church of Tonga -- have Tongan tunes and simple, short Tongan lyrics.

In the late 1800s, missionaries introduced hymns popular in England and Australia at the time, keeping the Western tunes and translating the lyrics into Tongan. These hymns are still sung in the largest Methodist church, the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga.

Other Christian denominations have introduced their own musical traditions. The Roman Catholic church in Tonga, while a minority church, has been notable for its accepting attitude towards traditional Tongan culture. Their church music, however, follows Western Catholic models.

In the smaller churches and the minority Methodist sects hymn singing is unaccompanied, hiva usa. A strong singer will sing the first notes alone (a practice called hua or opening) and the rest of the congregation will then join. Church choirs are popular, practice is frequent, and most congregations sing all hymns in harmony.

Free Wesleyan Churches feature not only choirs, but brass bands. It is possible that this tradition comes from northern England, a strongly Methodist area, where participating in brass bands is a popular amusement. Visitors may regret that the blaring bands drown out the delicate harmonies of the hymns, but Tongans glory in the size and splendor of their bands as they do the size and splendor of their churches. Smaller churches have no bands, but aspire to them.

All the Methodist churches have occasional choir exhibitions (po hiva), held in the larger churches, to which all the neighboring congregations are invited. Choirs practice assiduously to show off their prowess before their rivals. Handel's Hallelujah Chorus is frequently sung at these festivals, being esteemed as the epitome of choir display.

Hymn-singing is greatly practiced at the wakes before funerals. Relatives sit with the body, while mourners come to make their last greetings to the departed and to bring gifts to the bereaved. The church choir (from the family's own congregation) sits in the background, singing hymns through the day and night.

Profane music

Traditional music is preserved (though how faithfully we can only guess) in the set pieces performed at royal and noble weddings and funerals, and in the song sung during the traditional ceremony of apology, the lou-ifi. Radio Tonga begins each day's broadcast with a recording from Honourable Ve'ehala, a nobleman and celebrated virtuoso of the nose flute. This music is NOT popular music; it is a cherished heirloom, preserved by specialists and taught as needed for special occasions.

The koniseti or concert is a display of dance and song, usually done as a fundraiser for some worthy cause, such as a sports team or a local congregation. The musicians consist usually of singers, guitar players, and possibly a church brass band. The music is melodic and minor key; it serves as background to the dancers. Sometimes villagers will rehearse a koniseti for months and then tour neighboring villages or even islands. The size of the receipts is commensurate with the quality of the show, and there is great incentive to excel. At other times the koniseti may be performed only once, for a special occasion.

Music is often heard in Tongan towns and villages, but it is usually music from Radio Tonga. Radio Tonga is a state-run radio station; it starts broadcasting early in the morning and ends late at night. It can be heard even in the smallest villages on the remotest islands, blasting from the omnipresent tepis or combination radio/tape cassette players (usually battery powered). One weary Western visitor was heard to complain, in 1980, "You can't get away from Radio Tonga".

Radio Tonga plays music from local Tongan musical groups, Fijian and Samoan bands, Hawaiian music, etc. It also broadcasts church services and choir competitions, so it disseminates church music as well as popular music. The Tongan groups usually feature strong vocals, solo or choral, haunting minor key harmonies, and guitar backup. To the unsophisticated Western ear, it savors of American country music.

Western pop is also popular among a younger audience, though disapproved by elders and churches. It can bought as CD or tape, seen on DVD or videotape, picked up on short-wave radio, viewed in movie theatres, or even watched on the one TV station, broadcasting from the capital city of Nuku'alofa. However, government censors significantly limit what can be imported, or played.

Local custom also plays a part. It is forbidden to mention sexual topics in front of men and women who have a brother-sister relationship. This applies not only to brothers and sisters by Western reckoning, but also to cousins. Hence sexual references are taboo in most public situations where both men and women are present.

Contemporary Tongan pop music has reached outside Tonga, but only to the Tongan diaspora in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. No Tongan artists have achieved a cross-over hit.

References

• Linkels, Ad. "The Real Music of Paradise". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 218-229. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0