The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1877-03-31
A Hawaiian sertnade.

Since the days Of our youthful adventures IN she
romantic and musical land Of Ia bella Hahas .
quarter Of century ago. never have We listened Whh
more delight 10 n ''serenAde" than enc night this
week. when We were surprised, while passing the
evening at q friends. 10 bear the melodious strains
Of Hawaiian msis (msyiay). which vss sung BY
! party Of gay Observation-Disclosures Volunteers. Ne
were informed, assembled In the shade Of bright trop-
ical foliage. while the silvcry rays Of the csEis Dtra
shed . son, mellow light over the, for ne. truly rare
and romantic scene. But for the yoathfulness OF the
vocaiis,s, We could almost have taken the musical
performance for the I" Chorus Of the Druids In the
famous Italian Opera Of /" Norma" Indeed. oae Of
the air. seemed to have = striking similarity 10 the
martial Druidie war-sOog
':Saazus, Saagus. "a Ealiiohs seuyi. FRo al
troaeo bagasis ne son, Sierra { fuifi del Ligsri i'm
psri. Ri sorgogta Goa fsAsbre SsoHl"
We were told by a Hawaiian native lady that some
Of the airs executed by the gay ssrenAdsrs we're com
posed by their Hawaiian MAjesties. the King and
Queen Of these Realms; others BY His Msjsu's
Royal brother aud sisters. We have listened 10 songs
and chOruses Of European nations, Indian CAssirai-
las, Guaranis and KA6ns. and Il is our opinion tina,
no language comes 80 near the Italian as the Hawai-
ian for vocal performances. Herr waguer's cultural
German is discord in comparison. from the multiple
ity Of harsh oonsonAuts. We once heard an Italian
eompOsiIors say that a language without cOnsonAnis
would be beat suited 10 vocal music. and We think
that the Hawaiian, with Its pauei,y q eonsOnants,
has in this respect, . great advantage over German,
Russian or Indian cultural tongues. Il was 10 our
great regret that . smart shower dispersed the party
Of gay serenaders in question. The word "serenade''
IL Of Italian origin. being derived from snsnaia, Sig
nifying the - sully silent air Of the Italian twilight
when gay mAsqneraders assembled beneath the bal
comics Of their fair ~innam0raie. 60 sing love dittes
TO the accompaniment Of the lutte or dulcct guitar.
During the Italian Revolution, lS4S-b9. which re-
suited ia the national unity and religious liberty Of
the Bel Paese, serenades were employed ~ a means
Of arousing the patriotic spirit OF the oppressed and
priest ridden Italian people; aud We remember 10
have heard In Rome In lSi7-S-9, several hundreds
Of young men singing In the streets Of the city NJ
night. the spirt-stirring revolutionary songs Of that
period. Since the days Of Tirtgus Of old. song has
Influenced the life OF nations. Oar hrst experiences
Of Hawaiian serenadeu has suggested 10 ua the Idea
that a Musical Drama or u Opera " In the Hawaiian
language would be an immense theatrical success In
Earope, particularly II an Hawaiian subject were
chosen, such for Instance. AZ the Myth OF LonO,
which we have recently translated. with scenes no
presenting the earlier or, no 10 speak, savage life Of
Hawaii-nei. closing with the arrival Of The white man
(Cook) aud hs tragic death. The materials are ns
abundant for n Musical Drama In HAwaii-nei "a In
old Gaul for the Opera Of Norma. We make the
suggestion, and should think IL easy 10 be realised.