Virtuoso Strings Quintet Photo: Chamber Music New Zealand
The members of the group are from Tawa College & Viard College: Jillian Tupuse and Madison Setefano (violins), Daniel Sneyd-Utting and Rochelle Pese Akerise (violas), and Veititi Alapati (cello).
'Cry of the Stolen People' was written specifically for this ensemble. It tells the story of a tragic part of Pasifika history which remains largely unknown.
In the 1860s, slave ships from South America removed some three and a half thousand Pacific Islanders to be used as slaves. In the case of the Tokelau atolls, they stole 253 people, which was half of all the people living there at the time.
Adding to this misfortune, the atolls had recently contracted dysentry from Samoa. Of the people who were taken, fewer than half were still alive by the time they reached Peru. And those who survived were, unsurprisingly, "disinclined to work".
Descendants of these slaves are still to be found in South America, and some have even visited New Zealand in search of long-lost family connections.
'Cry of the Stolen People' is an Art Installation by Moses Viliamu, Jack Kirifi, and the recently deceased Zac Mateo.
The Installation, consisting of images projected on to sail-like screens was launched in Porirua in 2019 as part of Tokelauan Language Week and it travelled to Hawaii in 2020. Moses, Jack and Zac gifted the title of their installation to Virtuoso Strings for this composition, so that the story may become more widely known.
The music uses two Tokelau tunes. Near the start you’ll hear 'Osana le Tupu e' ('Praise to the King of Kings'). It is gradually overwhelmed, but still appears in fragmented form throughout the quintet. At the end, the viola finishes with the plaintive lament: 'Te Kavega', meaning 'The Stolen Ones'.
Recorded 7 August 2021 at The Piano, Christchurch by RNZ Concert
Producer/Sound engineer: Darryl Stack
