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Peter Medeiros wrote:

This medley of tunes is based upon an old song called Maunawili. It is a mele pana or a place name song. The area called Maunawili is located between Kailua and the Pali, bordered by the Pali highway and Mount Olomana.

The original melody (section B) was shared with many other songs including "Hali`alaulani" better known as "Hi`ilawe ". It is a very old song, goes back to about Kalakaua's time -- the 1880's.

Other sections A,C & D are also from this era and are variations in slack key on the marches and quadrilles that were often played for the public by various community or military bands or even the Royal Hawaiian Band. These sections are typical period pieces and have a definite marching tempo as well as a ragtime or slight jazz type of feel, especially in section D, where counterpoint is used. All of the sections are interchangeble and should be improvised upon.

This is folk music and you just have to come close, it doesn't have to be exactly as written.

Peter Medeiros

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