The Melody Web what each genre heard, and what it passed on

heard passed on Click or tap a node to recenter. Use a connecting line, or Influence, for the story.

Heard

Nothing in the corpus yet that this genre heard.

Polynesian chant

tradition · 1st millennium BCE–

Also called mele, hiva, Polynesian vocal tradition

A scholarly umbrella for the chant-and-drum song of the Polynesian triangle (mele, hiva, pese): genealogy, praise, and dance as one craft. West Polynesia is the older Polynesian homeland; East Polynesia is later voyaging. Empty extra Received is historically checked. Linguistic Out-of-Taiwan is not a sounding hop from Formosan song. Micronesian chant and Ifugao hudhud leftover as neighbors on the same language family, not siblings of one musical parent. It is not Yayue, not Dong Son bronze, and not a leftover “Oceania” bin. It gives Hula the named Hawaiian school, Lakalaka the named Tongan form, Haka the named Māori school, and Himene the mission-choir recoding. Samoan siva leftover as an unnamed generic. Māori waiata leftover as another job.

Listen

  1. Mele oli (unchoreographed chant) Hawaiian / Polynesian chant tradition (traditional) YouTube
  2. Laklaka / Tongan dance song Tongan tradition (traditional) YouTube
  3. Samoan pese Samoan tradition (traditional) YouTube

Passed on

Haka practice · 1st millennium–

Haka takes Polynesian chant’s genealogy-and-dance job — named text, massed voice, gesture as the verse — and recodes it as a Māori posture-dance school.

Influence
Himene practice · 1820–

Himene takes Polynesian chant’s communal praise job and recodes it under Christian text as dense local choir polyphony (himene tarava, imene tuki).

Influence
Hula practice · 1st millennium–

Hula takes Polynesian chant’s genealogy-and-dance job — mele, drum or gourd, gesture as the verse — and names it as a Hawaiian school (kahiko).

Influence
Lakalaka form · 18th century–

Lakalaka takes Polynesian chant’s genealogy-and-dance job — praise text, massed voice, gesture as the verse — and names it as Tonga’s standing national form.

Influence

Polynesian chant → Haka

form and structureperformance practicefunction and contextstrength: highscholarly consensus1st millennium–19th centuryoraldancepedagogy

Mechanism

Haka takes Polynesian chant’s genealogy-and-dance job — named text, massed voice, gesture as the verse — and recodes it as a Māori posture-dance school. Strength high. Hula leftover as a Hawaiian sibling recoding, not a parent. Rugby-stage leftover as a public billing of the same practice, not a second genre.

Evidence

Māori haka as East Polynesian chant-dance named locally (Grove).

Debate

Whether haka simply is Polynesian chant. The triangle-wide chant-dance job is the umbrella’s; the named Aotearoa school is the recoding this node tracks.

Mediators

community: Māori iwi

Polynesian chant → Himene

form and structureperformance practicefunction and contextstrength: mediumscholarly consensus1820–1900oralliturgypedagogy

Mechanism

Himene takes Polynesian chant’s communal praise job and recodes it under Christian text as dense local choir polyphony (himene tarava, imene tuki). Strength medium. Metrical psalmody leftover as a European hymn frame not drawn on this edge. Hula leftover as a Hawaiian dance sibling, not a parent.

Evidence

Nineteenth-century East Polynesian mission choirs recoding local chant-and-praise as himene (Grove).

Debate

Whether himene is already European hymnody. The hymn frame is missionary; the named local polyphonic school is the recoding that still hears the communal chant job.

Mediators

community: Tahitian and Cook Islands choirs; institution: LMS / Protestant missions

Polynesian chant → Hula

form and structureperformance practicefunction and contextinstrumentationstrength: highscholarly consensus1st millennium–19th centuryoraldancepedagogy

Mechanism

Hula takes Polynesian chant’s genealogy-and-dance job — mele, drum or gourd, gesture as the verse — and names it as a Hawaiian school (kahiko). Strength high. Himene leftover as a missionary-harmony recoding, not a parent of hula. ʻAuana leftover as a later guitar wing on the hula node.

Evidence

Hawaiian mele-hula as East Polynesian chant-dance named locally (Grove).

Debate

Whether hula simply is Polynesian chant. The triangle-wide chant-dance job is the umbrella’s; the named Hawaiian school is the recoding this node tracks.

Mediators

community: Hawaiian chanters and hālau

Polynesian chant → Lakalaka

form and structureperformance practicefunction and contextstrength: highscholarly consensus18th century–19th centuryoraldancepatronage

Mechanism

Lakalaka takes Polynesian chant’s genealogy-and-dance job — praise text, massed voice, gesture as the verse — and names it as Tonga’s standing national form. Strength high. Hula leftover as a Hawaiian sibling recoding, not a parent.

Evidence

Tongan lakalaka as West Polynesian chant-dance named locally (Grove).

Debate

Whether lakalaka simply is Polynesian chant. The triangle-wide chant-dance job is the umbrella’s; the named Tongan form is the recoding this node tracks.

Mediators

community: Tongan village and court groups