160 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN" ETHNOLOGY [bcll. 38 



illuminate old German text. It consists of the repetition of a vowel 

 sound — generally i {=ee) or e (=ff, as in fate), or a rapid interchange 

 of these two. To the ear of the author the pitch varies through an 

 interval somewhat less than a half-step. Exactly what is the inter- 

 val he can not say. The musicians to whom appeal for aid in de- 

 termining this point has been made have either dismissed it for the 

 most part as a matter of little or no consequence or have claimed the 

 seeming variation in pitch was due simply to a changeful stress of 

 voice or of accent. But the author can not admit that the report of 

 his senses is here mistaken, 



A further embarrassment comes from the fact that this tone- 

 embroidery found in the i'i is not a fixed quantity. It varies seem- 

 ingly with the mood of the singer, so that not unfrequently, when one 

 asks for the repetition of a phrase, it will, quite likel}^, be given with 

 a somewhat different wording, calling for a readjustment of the 

 rhythm on the part of the musician who is recording the score. But 

 it must be acknowledged that the singer sticks to his rhythm, which, 

 so far as observed, is in common time. 



In justice to the Hawaiian singer who |)erforms the accommodating 

 task just mentioned it must be said that, under the circumstances in 

 which he is placed, it is no wonder that at times he departs from 

 the prearranged formula of song. His is the difficult task of pitch- 

 ing his voice and maintaining the same rhythm and tempo unaided 

 by instrumental accompaniment or the stimulating movements of 

 the dance. Let any stage-singer make the attempt to* perform an 

 aria, or even a simple recitative, off the stage, and without the sup- 

 port — real or imaginary — afforded by the wonted orchestral accom- 

 paniment as well as the customary stage-surroundings, and he will 

 be apt to find himself embarrassed. The very fact of being com- 

 pelled to repeat is of itself alone enough to disconcert almost anyone. 

 The men and women who to-day attempt the forlorn task of repro- 

 ducing for us a hula mele or an oli under what are to them entirely 

 unsympathetic and novel surroundings are, as a rule, past the prime 

 of life, and not unfrequently acknowledge themselves to be failing 

 in memory. 



After making all of these allowances we must, it would seem, make 

 still another allowance, wdiich regards the intrinsic nature and pur- 

 pose of Hawaiian song. It was not intended, nor was it possible 

 under the circumstances of the case, that a Hawaiian song should be 

 sung to an unvarying temj)o or to the same key; and even in the 

 words or sounds that make up its fringework a certain range of indi- 

 vidual choice was allowed or even expected of the singer. This privi- 

 lege of exercising individuality might even extend to the solid frame- 

 work of the mele or oli and not merely to the filigree, the i'i, that 

 enwreathed it. 



