Hirini Melbourne & Richard Nunns

Te Ku Te Whe reached gold status in 2002. 14 years after its debut in 1993 it continues to be a popular CD.

Te Ku Te Whe takes the listener into an ancient world, structured by mythology, history, and the moods of nature. The sound and images evoke the closeness of Māori music to the land, the sea and the wind.

It has become the definitive recording of taonga puoro (maori musical instruments) since it was released in 1993.

The waiata of Hirini Melbourne, and the sound of the purerehua, the putorino, the koauau, and vast range of pre-european Māori instruments, performed by Hirini and his musical partner Richard Nunns are now burnt into the musical consciousness of people throughout Aotearoa. Behind feature films, in TV commercials and sporadically sampled, the sound of the instruments is now an essential part of our bi-cultural identity. This is a relatively recent state of affairs. For many decades the instruments were confined to museums and the memories of kaumatua and kuia. Thanks to the landmark album ‘Te Ku Te Whe’, these sounds are alive and accessible to us today. Graham Reid, Music From Elsewhere
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