Laelae(La'e La'e)
Lyrics and Chords
La'e La'e
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1. Aunty Pearl’s Songbook
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2. Kamehemeha Song Contest Program
Audio and Video
- 1. Kamehameha Sing Contest
Directed by Josias “Pilinamaka” Fronda, the Class of 2020 make their song contest debut with their co-ed song “Lae Lae”
- 2. Territorial Radio
Laelae – Bina Mossman Glee Club
La’e La’e
- 3. Aunty Pearl
Laelae – Bina Mossman Glee Club
La’e La’e
Composer
Bina Kailipaina Nieper Mossman (January 7, 1893 – May 20, 1990) was a ukulele player, vocalist, composer, and Republican Party office holder. She is best known for having been tutored in music and pronunciation of Hawaiian words by Queen Liliuokalani.
- Composer - Bina Mossman is usually given credit for composing the words and music for Laelae. However, the lyrics and music were written by her mother, Susan Titcomb Nieper, a gifted composer. They were gifted to Bina by her mother when she and her husband were courting. The song predicts happiness for the couple who will be together forever; and so it was.
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Bina did not receive much by way of formal musical training as a child, however,
her mother, Susan Titcomb Nieper, was a gifted composer, and Bina was exposed to the sounds of Hawaiian oli and mele from birth. - Bina did not receive much by way of formal musical training as a child, her mother, Susan Titcomb Nieper, was a gifted composer, and Bina was exposed to the sounds of Hawaiian oli and mele from birth
- In 1914, she organized Bina Mossman’s Girls Glee Club which for 30 years sang for the elite of Honolulu at various functions around town.
- Many of their early rehearsals were held at Washington Place, then home of Lili‘uokalani, and the Queen herself would correct their pronunciation
- During her 35 years as an active member of the Republican Party, Bina pushed for progressive legislation and advocated strongly for the rights of women and children.
- Mossman, a competent musician who conducted her own glee club from 1914 to 1944 and then went on tondirect the Kaahumanu Choral Group from 1952 to 1968, has written other compositions of note: “He Ono,” “Kapua U’i,” “Ku’u Lei,” “Stevedore Hula,” and “Niu Haohao.”
- “ Her songs, she says, are in the traditional mode--simple, gay, and the lyrics always Hawaiian.”
