Leilehua Lanzilotti

hānau ka ua — flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone, percussion, piano, violin, cello, (or any subset thereof) and electronics (2021)
hānau ka ua — Quadraphonic electroacoustic/installation version (2021)

Commissioned by and written for the [Switch~ Ensemble]. The development and performance of hānau ka ua is supported in part by a project grant from the MAP Fund. Quadraphonic electroacoustic/installation version created for and premiered at Sound Park @ Ars Electronica Festival, Linz, Austria, duration 28’

hānau ka ua is Hawaiian for “born is the rain.” The title of the work is taken from a collection of Hawaiian rain names published by Kamehameha Publishing. In ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, we have hundreds of words for rain—the time of day, color, intensity, and sound of a rain gave it a distinct quality that inspired this vocabulary. The existence of such a depth of language for natural forces such as wind and rain reflect the importance and understanding of nature in Native Hawaiian culture. For children growing up in this culture, learning these names also meant respecting their environment in order to observe the subtlety of difference in rain types. In fact, modern science confirms that Hawai‘i has one of the most diverse rainfall patterns in the world. (Giambelluca TW, et. al. 2011. The Rainfall Atlas of Hawai‘i)

“. . . Thus the second aspect of language as culture is as an image-forming agent in the mind of a child. . . . our capacity to confront the world creatively is dependent on how those images correspond or not to that reality, how they distort or clarify the reality of our struggles.” — Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Decolonizing the Mind

However, in 1983—the year I was born—there were fewer than fifty speakers of Native Hawaiian under the age of eighteen (Indigenous Language Revitalization in the Americas, ed. Serafín M. Coronel-Molina 2016). Through a dramatic language immersion movement over the past few decades, Hawaiian is once again a vibrant living language. Writing this piece has been part of my own process of challenging inherited notions of the hierarchy of language. Through radical indigenous modernity—taking the instruments, sounds, and language of my Kanaka Maoli heritage as a starting point—the work explores Hawaiian language and perception through sound.

As with language revitalization, composing does not happen in a void. I would like to thank my kaikaina nani, Nāwāhineokala‘i Lanzilotti, for her help with mo‘olelo, mele, and field recording research for this piece. Mahalo nui loa to Kumu hula Coline Aiu for leading me in the right direction to discovering more of Lili‘uokalani’s songs, including the one quoted in the alto flute, “Malakapua” from The Queen’s Songbook. Thanks to Nina C. Young for developing the electronics for both the live and installation versions of this work. Thanks also to choreographer Wendell Gray II for his prompt/piece, “how do you carry home with you?” Finally, thanks to the MAP Fund for supporting the development and performance of hānau ka ua through a project grant.

Past Performances

Sunday, January 28, 2024 — Wild Up, performs Sky Gate, ahupuaʻa, hānau ka ua, koʻu inoa, and beyond the accident of time, followed by a set featuring the music of inti figgis-vizueta, Darkness Sounding, Floating + TreePeople, Los Angeles, CA More Info

Friday, March 25, 2022 — [Switch~ Ensemble], instrumental & live electronics American premiere at The Invisible Dog Arts Center, Brooklyn, NY

Saturday, October 30, 2021 — [Switch~ Ensemble], instrumental & live electronics world premiere at SinusTon Festival, Magdeburg, Germany

Saturday, September 11, 2021 — (electroacoustic/installation version world premiere) Sound Park @ Ars Electronica Festival, Linz, Austria