Hocken Collections Te Uare Taoka o Hākena: Music and audiovisual material

The Hocken’s music and audiovisual collections encompass sheet music, sound recordings, film and television created by New Zealanders, or about New Zealand, and New Zealanders. The Music collections consist of recordings (on a variety of formats from 78rpm discs to digital files), music DVDs, and sheet music.

Collection strengths include:

• Recordings relating to Dunedin composers, songwriters, musicians, and producers
• The Dunedin Sound
• APRA Silver-scroll nominated songs from the 1960s and 1970s
• Early New Zealand music sheets
• World War I era music sheets
• New Zealand popular music
• Live performance recordings

Audiovisual material at Hocken Collections is extensive, with over 1000 titles on VHS videotape, DVD, and Blu-ray. Types of audiovisual material held include:

• Motion picture film
• Television series and programmes
• Documentary

For further information on relevant sources for Music and audiovisual materials, see the Music Guide, the Dunedin Sound guide, and the Film and Television guide.

For information on referencing music and audiovisual material see the relevant section in this Libguide under 'Referencing Hocken sources'.

Search for published and released audiovisual material on Library Search|Ketu using the simple search or advanced search options.

• Search for recordings by artist name, album or song title; film, documentary or television programme title, or director name.
• Refine results to Hocken Collections (under the library filter).
• Refine results to Audio or Videos (under the type filter).

Please be aware that recordings on cassette tape or VHS videotape require 24 hours acclimatisation from point of request to bring them to room temperature before playback.

Music and audiovisual material is not digitised, but can be played on equipment in Hocken’s Music and audiovisual playback area. Playback equipment is available for most formats - 78rpm disc, LP, and 45rpm discs; cassettes, CDs; VHS videotape, and DVD and Blu-ray discs.

Search for sheet music on Library Search|Ketu

• Search for sheet music by composer or lyricist's name, or the composition title.
• Refine results to Hocken Collections (under the library filter).
• Refine results to Scores (under the type filter).
• The Library Search Guide contains helpful tips and assistance for using Library Search|Ketu.

Please talk to desk staff if you cannot locate items relating to your inquiry or email the Curator of Music and Audiovisual sources.

Unpublished music recordings and audiovisual material in the archives collection is located through Hākena using the simple search or advanced search options.

• Search using the name of the organisation or society; the name of the musician, band, actor, or filmmaker, or by subject terms like "films", "cinema", "music-societies", "music", "music - New Zealand", or "musicians".
• Use the advanced search for targeted queries of specific fields.
• Identify search results as belonging to the archives collection by this icon:
• Some material is described as individual items, but usually material is listed as items in collection groups.
• Refine results on Hākena to the archives collection after conducting a search.
• Limit searches to the archives collection using the advanced search options.
• The Hākena Search Help Guide contains helpful tips and assistance for using Hākena.

• Please talk to desk staff if you cannot locate archives relating to your inquiry or email the archives staff.

Hocken holds over 3,500 music sheets, ranging from early (rare) copies of the New Zealand national anthem God Defend New Zealand by Thomas Bracken and John Woods to recent works by John Psathas, Gareth Farr, Gillian Whitehead, and other national and local composers, including the University of Otago Mozart Fellows.

Our collection includes early music sheets, including All Hail! Zealandia by Robert Crosbie (1885), and The Whalers of the Deep Deep Sea by Te Heu Heu and St. George, from 1857. We hold scores by significant figures in New Zealand contemporary music, including Douglas Lilburn, Eve de Castro-Robinson, Jenny McLeod, and Anthony Ritchie, as well as folk and popular songs from throughout New Zealand. Hocken’s music sheets also include war songs from the Boer War, and both the first and second World Wars. We have digitised many of our World War I era music sheets, which can be viewed via OUR Heritage.

Examples of sheet music include:

Tukino, Te Heuheu III, and St. George, Mrs. (1857). Whalers of the Deep Deep Sea. [musical score]. London: Purday.

School Publications branch, Department of Education. (1962). Music for Children 1963. [musical score]. Wellington: Author.

Although music has been recorded overseas since 1860, in New Zealand the first local recordings occurred in 1927. These recordings were of Ana Hato and Deane Waretini, who were recorded at Tunohopu meeting house in Rotorua by a mobile HMV recording unit, performing for the Duke and Duchess of York. The recordings were subsequently released on 78rpm disc for Parlophone Records. However, Ana Hato and Deane Waretini were not the first New Zealand musicians to be recorded. In 1905, Wellington baritone John Prouse recorded 12 songs in London, and in the mid-1920s Ernest McKinlay recorded a selection of songs and waiata in Australia. Fully locally-produced recordings and releases didn't occur until 1949, when the New Zealand label TANZA ("To Assist New Zealand Artists") was established, and released the song Blue Smoke by Ruru Karaitiana, sung by Pixie Williams.

Hocken Collections holds over 20,000 published music and sound recordings. These comprise a broad and deep selection of recordings by New Zealand artists of all genres, styles, and time periods over the 20th and 21st centuries. We hold early recordings on 78rpm disc by Ana Hato and Deane Waretini, Ernest McKinlay, the Rotorua Māori Choir, and recordings on the TANZA label. We also hold the very rare John Prouse recording of Maiden of Morven from 1905, which has been digitised and is available to hear on the Hocken blog. The collections include an almost complete run of recordings on the Flying Nun record label, as well as local Dunedin record labels such as Fishrider and Heavy Space Records. There is also a substantial collection of recordings featuring Taonga Puoro (traditional Māori musical instruments). The music collections support the music programme in the School of Performing Arts.

The music collections also include sound recordings - non-musical recordings that include Te Reo Māori language guides, interviews, radio broadcasts, and audiobooks.

Examples of music and sound recordings:

Rotorua Māori Choir. Warutia; PutiPuti Pai. (1930). [78rpm disc]. Australia: Columbia Records.

Attenborough, Richard (narr). Cinderella and fifteen favourite children's songs. 1959. [10" disc]. Auckland: Children's Record Guild of New Zealand.

Film and television have a rich history in New Zealand, beginning in the early 20th Century. While many film titles have been lost or exist in fragments, Hocken Collections holds early examples of New Zealand film, including copies (on VHS tape) of films by local film pioneer Rudall Hayward, notably Daughter of Dunedin (1928), starring local movie star and Miss New Zealand 1927, Dale Austen. The Hocken collects motion picture films related to New Zealand or New Zealanders from all genres, including documentary, across the 20th and 21st centuries. These films are collected on DVD, Blu-Ray, and VHS.

Television broadcasting was introduced in New Zealand in 1960, though local experiments in the medium date back to 1929. Hocken Collections holds copies of many television productions on VHS and DVD. Genres represented include drama, comedy, documentary, children and young-adult shows, and general-interest programs. Documentation relating to the history and production of television in New Zealand is also held in the ephemera, publications, and archives collections.

There are over 1,100 film, television, and documentary titles held at Hocken Collections.

Copyright for music and audiovisual sources is complex, with often numerous copyright holders. Some in-copyright items cannot be copied, even for research use, without permission of the copyright holder. Use of in-copyright items from the Music and Audiovisual collections must be cleared before any copying can be done. Please note that obtaining clearance is the reader/requestor's responsibility. Please check our terms and conditions of use and reproduction fees, and contact the relevant curators for advice.

In New Zealand, copyright is currently 50 years after the death of the author, creator, or artist, or (in the case of recorded film, television, music, and sound) 50 years from the date of release or public availability.