Kealii Reichel - Maunaleo
[media=https://youtu.be/JZcLqm6_c0E]
Hula Sister
March 30, 2017
·
“MAUNALEO”---A hula with a beautiful story behind it…. The song “Maunaleo”, translated literally as “Voice of the Mountain”, comes from the poetic heart of one of Hawai`i’s fine contemporary musicians, Keali’i Reichel. This song, or "mele" in Hawaiian language, was inspired by the mountain, but it is really about Keali`i’s mother.
Kumu Keali`i gazed out the window of his Maui home one morning and saw the mountain Maunaleo, situated as one of the two ridges that make up `Iao Valley in West Maui. The mountain, with small hills surrounding it, reminded him of his mother, Lei, surrounded by her children; this is the mana`o (thought) behind the song. Like the mountain, Mama Lei guarded, comforted, nourished and loved her children.
Today, an elementary school, Pu`u Kukui Elementary, stands on the soil of Maunaleo’s foot, and its historian, Dawn Marie Lahela Augustin, shares her knowledge of the mountain thus: “The lower slopes of Maunaleo were once a native Hawaiian Mesic forest. This was the most diverse of all Hawaiian vegetation zones. Here you would have found the giant koa, ‘ōhi`a lehua, `Iliahi… `ōha, hāhā, as well as endemic shrubs such as pāpala, a`ali`i, hau kuahiwi and other notable endemic and usually now-rare plants including several flowered hibiscus relatives such as the koki`o…” which she said are now found in the landscape of the school’s campus.
This mele is presented in all its layers of meaning---love for a mother, love for the land, and love for the poetic beauty of the Hawaiian language---by the students of Kumu Hula Carla Culbertson hula school in Palm Springs, California. The voice (leo) which you hear belongs to Dean Lining, a Palm Springs-area musician. The words in English and Hawaiian follow….
MAUNALEO (Words by Keali’i Reichel and Puakea Nogelmeier; music by Keali’i Reichel)
ENGLISH
Beloved indeed is Maunaleo
Sparkling in the light, wind-blown rain
A finely woven cloak for the highlands
A cherished one, respected for power and strength
Esteemed, treasured, touched by heaven
Capped by the silver of the rolling mists
An adornment for that gentle heart
Embraced by the surrounding ridges
One to hold close, to hold near, to love
One dear to the heart, precious, exalted
This is my garland of affection
For Maunaleo in its beauty
Glorified by the Mālie breeze
A cherished one, respected for power and strength
Esteemed, treasured, touched by heaven
Fpr Maunaleo is the serenity of deep love
Beloved are you, beloved indeed
HAWAIIAN
He aloha nō `o Maunaleo
I lohia e ke kilihuna
Kohu `ahu`ao no ka uka
He kamalani kamaehu kau i ka hano ē
He kamalei, kamahiwa pā i ka lani ē
Po`ohina i ka `ohu kolo
Kahiko no ka poli`olu
Apo `ia e nā kualono
He hi`ina, hi`alo, aloha ē
Hi`ipoli, hi`ilei, hi`ilani ē
Eia ku`u lei aloha
No Maunaleo i ka nani
`Ohu`ohu i ka Mālie
He kamalani kamaehu kau i ka hano ē
He kamalei, kamahiwa pā i ka lani ē
No Maunaleo ke aloha kū i ka la`i ē
Aloha ē, aloha ē
Hula Sister
March 30, 2017
·
“MAUNALEO”---A hula with a beautiful story behind it…. The song “Maunaleo”, translated literally as “Voice of the Mountain”, comes from the poetic heart of one of Hawai`i’s fine contemporary musicians, Keali’i Reichel. This song, or "mele" in Hawaiian language, was inspired by the mountain, but it is really about Keali`i’s mother.
Kumu Keali`i gazed out the window of his Maui home one morning and saw the mountain Maunaleo, situated as one of the two ridges that make up `Iao Valley in West Maui. The mountain, with small hills surrounding it, reminded him of his mother, Lei, surrounded by her children; this is the mana`o (thought) behind the song. Like the mountain, Mama Lei guarded, comforted, nourished and loved her children.
Today, an elementary school, Pu`u Kukui Elementary, stands on the soil of Maunaleo’s foot, and its historian, Dawn Marie Lahela Augustin, shares her knowledge of the mountain thus: “The lower slopes of Maunaleo were once a native Hawaiian Mesic forest. This was the most diverse of all Hawaiian vegetation zones. Here you would have found the giant koa, ‘ōhi`a lehua, `Iliahi… `ōha, hāhā, as well as endemic shrubs such as pāpala, a`ali`i, hau kuahiwi and other notable endemic and usually now-rare plants including several flowered hibiscus relatives such as the koki`o…” which she said are now found in the landscape of the school’s campus.
This mele is presented in all its layers of meaning---love for a mother, love for the land, and love for the poetic beauty of the Hawaiian language---by the students of Kumu Hula Carla Culbertson hula school in Palm Springs, California. The voice (leo) which you hear belongs to Dean Lining, a Palm Springs-area musician. The words in English and Hawaiian follow….
MAUNALEO (Words by Keali’i Reichel and Puakea Nogelmeier; music by Keali’i Reichel)
ENGLISH
Beloved indeed is Maunaleo
Sparkling in the light, wind-blown rain
A finely woven cloak for the highlands
A cherished one, respected for power and strength
Esteemed, treasured, touched by heaven
Capped by the silver of the rolling mists
An adornment for that gentle heart
Embraced by the surrounding ridges
One to hold close, to hold near, to love
One dear to the heart, precious, exalted
This is my garland of affection
For Maunaleo in its beauty
Glorified by the Mālie breeze
A cherished one, respected for power and strength
Esteemed, treasured, touched by heaven
Fpr Maunaleo is the serenity of deep love
Beloved are you, beloved indeed
HAWAIIAN
He aloha nō `o Maunaleo
I lohia e ke kilihuna
Kohu `ahu`ao no ka uka
He kamalani kamaehu kau i ka hano ē
He kamalei, kamahiwa pā i ka lani ē
Po`ohina i ka `ohu kolo
Kahiko no ka poli`olu
Apo `ia e nā kualono
He hi`ina, hi`alo, aloha ē
Hi`ipoli, hi`ilei, hi`ilani ē
Eia ku`u lei aloha
No Maunaleo i ka nani
`Ohu`ohu i ka Mālie
He kamalani kamaehu kau i ka hano ē
He kamalei, kamahiwa pā i ka lani ē
No Maunaleo ke aloha kū i ka la`i ē
Aloha ē, aloha ē
