By PAT BASKETT
The koauau and its Stone Age comrades are forever mute, wrote Sir Peter Buck in The Coming of the Maori in 1949.
If he had lived another 50 years or so he would have heard not only that haunting three-holed flute but also the putatara, or conch, and the purerehua - the bull-roarer - performed by Tainui musicians alongside the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
The combination stunned an audience in Sydney last week and promises to fill the Auckland Town Hall on Wednesday night, the first date in a six-centre national tour.
The highlight of the multi-cultural programme is New Zealand composer Gareth Farr's Te Wairua o te Whenua - the Spirit of the Land - which was commissioned by the joint NZSO-Tainui company First to the Future. It involves the participation of eight Tainui men and 13 women who perform kapa haka, waiata and karanga.
The programme includes three songs by American-based soprano Marie-Adele McArthur, who has strong affiliations with Tainui, Fanfare by New Zealander John Psathas, and works by Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky.
Farr's piece is the result of close collaboration with Tainui, whose representative Sarah Jane Tiakiwai describes it as a visual as well as musical experience.
"Te Wairua talks about our relationship with the land and with each other - Tainui and Pakeha. It's about how we went through a grieving process after the land wars and our resurgence and the reforging of our identity."
The work's several sections are highly symbolic, especially one in which the Maori singers are out of rhythm with the orchestra.
Tiakiwai says the relationship is a long-term one and there are plans to take the programme to London and New York.
"A lot depends on this New Zealand tour. We hope people will come along with open minds and that those for whom orchestral concerts are a new experience will find it a revelation."
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