By the Blue Hawaiian Waters: tone-picture Back to list of works index
The
work was published in 1927, and probably first performed in Harrogate that
year. Some of the music had earlier been
used as incidental music in the play Ye Gods (1916).
Composer’s
synopsis
After
a short dreamy introduction a vigorous movement
illustrates the well-known Hawaiian "Hula Dance"; this is succeeded
by a mysterioso passage representing the arrival of the native (or
"Kanaka") lover; he plays his native love-call (given to Clarinet)
which is then taken up by the Violins etc.
This leads into the "Song of the Hula girl"; it gradually dies
away and is succeeded by the "Dance of the Betrothal Ceremony" which
brings the piece to a lively conclusion.
By the Blue Hawaiian
Waters – orchestral
|
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Country |
Date |
Gramophone Review |
Locations |
|
Albert
W. Ketelbey’s Concert Orchestra, Ketèlbey |
Columbia, not issued |
WAX
4583-3, 4584-2 |
12” 78, 2 sides |
UK |
rec.Jan 29 |
||
|
Len
Fillis (Hawaiian guitar), Albert W. Ketelbey’s Concert Orchestra, Ketèlbey |
WAX
4937-1, 4938-1 |
12” 78, 2 sides |
UK |
[Nov
29] rec.May 29 |
Nov
29 p.252 |
(TM
CAS) |
|
|
Re-issue |
- Columbia Cinema Service YBX 11 |
WAXD 23 |
12” 33 |
UK |
[Feb 31] |
||
|
Re-issue |
-
Naxos 8.110174 |
CD |
UK |
2001 |
NX,
PD, TM |
||
|
Re-issue |
- Revivendo. RVPC 004 |
|
CD |
Brazil |
|
|
|
|
Grosses
Salon-Orchester, Dransmann |
Electrola EG 1803 |
BNR 652-II, 653-I, 60-858, 60-859 |
10” 78, 2 sides |
Germany |
[Nov
29] |
MMU; used in film Weisse
Schatten (1928) |
WC |
|
Re-issue (Salon Orchestra) |
-
HMV B 4078 |
BNR
652-2, 653-1 |
10” 78, 2 sides |
UK |
[Aug
32] |
Aug
32 p.107 |
|
|
Grosses Symphonie-Orchester, chorus, organ, Weissmann |
Odeon
168697 |
Be 9440 |
10” 78 |
Germany |
[Mar
31] |
|
(TM
CD) |
|
Re-issue |
-
Odeon A 161176 |
Be 9440 |
10” 78 |
Austria |
|
|
|
|
Re-issue (Mitglieder
der Staatskapelle, Berlin) |
- Odeon O 11453 |
Be 9440-2 |
10” 78 |
Germany |
|
MMU |
WC |
|
Grosses Symphonie-Orchester, chorus, organ, Weissmann |
Odeon
O 6787 |
xxQU 285 |
12” 78 |
Germany |
? |
|
WC |
|
Re-issue |
- Odéon
170151 |
|
12” 78 |
France |
|
|
WC |
|
Re-issue (Grand Symphony Orchestra) |
-
Parlophone E 11167 |
xxQU
285-1 |
12”
78 |
UK |
[Nov
31] |
Nov
31 p.230 |
BL |
|
Re-issue
“Orquesta Sinfónica de
Berlin, Weissmann” |
-
Odeón 173222 |
xxQU 285 |
12” 78 |
Spain |
[1931] |
|
WC |
|
Grand
Symphony Orchestra, chorus, organ |
Parlophone
R 1877 |
? |
10” 78 |
UK |
[Aug
34] |
Aug
34 p.99 |
|
|
Louis
Voss Grand Orchestra |
Bosworth
BC 1114 |
CP
774 |
10” 78 |
UK |
[1941?] |
WC,
(TM CD) |
|
|
New
Symphony Orchestra of London, Robinson |
Decca
LW 5120 |
10” LP |
UK |
[Aug
54] |
PD |
||
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca 452987-2 DWO |
CD |
UK |
1997 |
Nov 97 p.48, Oct 12 p.109 |
BL,
PD, TM |
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Decca/Universal 473720-2 |
CD |
UK |
2003 |
June
03 p.50 |
(TM CD) |
|
|
Heinrich Riethmüller (Polychord-Konzertorgel), seine Instrumentalsoloiten
[Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks], chorus, [cond. Schmidt-Boelke] |
Opera 3116 |
|
10” LP |
Germany |
1956 |
|
Pfälzische Landesbibliothek |
|
Stuttgart
Philharmonic Orchestra, Mareczek |
Philips G 05585 |
|
10”
LP |
France |
[1967] |
|
WC |
|
Re-issue |
- Philips 836397 VZ |
|
10”
LP |
France |
[1967] |
|
WC |
|
Re-issue |
-
Philips G 03488 L |
|
LP |
France |
|
|
WC |
|
Re-issue |
-
Philips 837494 GY |
|
LP |
France |
(in
French cat.1967) |
WC |
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Mercury Wing SRW 18090 |
|
LP |
US |
[1968] |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- Philips STLP 900531 |
|
LP |
Brazil |
[1969] |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Fontana SFL 14141 |
|
LP |
UK |
[1970] |
Jan
70 p.1188 |
BL,
PD, TM, (TM CD) |
|
Re-issue |
-
Philips 730236 |
|
CAS |
Spain |
[1971] |
|
WC |
|
Re-issue |
-
Philips 7431 049 |
|
CAS |
Spain |
[1977] |
|
WC |
|
Re-issue |
- Philips 839800 GY/GSY |
|
LP |
Sweden |
|
|
WC |
|
Re-issue |
- Contour
6870 576 |
|
LP |
UK |
|
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- Philips 432607 AE |
|
10”
LP |
France |
|
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- Philips
6504 042 |
|
LP |
Spain |
|
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- Philips
6537 018 |
|
LP |
France |
|
|
|
|
Re-issue |
- Philips G 03488L |
|
LP |
France |
|
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Philips 7318 016 |
|
CAS |
France |
|
|
WC |
|
Re-issue |
-
Philips 9117 CAA |
|
CAS |
France |
|
|
WC |
|
Die Prager Streicher, Hrábek |
Sonocord
28404-2 |
|
LP |
Germany |
1981 |
||
|
Re-issue |
-
Elite Special 31175 |
|
LP |
Switzerland |
1981 |
|
|
|
Re-issue |
-
Elite Special SOLP 550 |
|
LP |
Switzerland |
1981 |
|
|
|
Berliner Symphoniker, Collegium Musicum Vocale
Berlin, Buschkötter |
Lindström O 28139 |
Be
14256-1 |
10”
78 |
Germany |
? |
|
WC |
|
Walter Fenske mit seinem grossen
Orchester. |
Telefunken M 6205 |
20427, 20428 |
10” 78, 2 sides. |
Germany |
? |
|
|
|
Grosses Parlophon-Streich-Orchester, chorus,
Dobrindt |
Parlophon B 47122 |
133156 |
10” 78 |
Germany |
? |
|
WC |
|
Re-issue |
- Parlophon B 48043 |
10” 78 |
Germany |
? |
MMU |
|
|
|
Re-issue, Orchestre Symphonique Parlophone |
- Parlophone B 17109 |
133156 |
10”
78 |
France |
? |
|
|
|
Re-issue,
Gloria Symphonie-Orchester, chorus |
- Lindström GO 27385 |
133156 |
10”
78 |
Germany |
? |
|
WC |
|
Mitglieder der Reichsoper Berlin,
Bund. |
Imperial 019058. |
KC 0214, 0215 |
12” 78, 2 sides. |
Germany |
? |
|
|
Several of the early
recordings listed above are probably the same takes issued with different
artist details. No part for chorus is mentioned in the publisher Bosworth’s
catalogues, contemporary adverts or archives.
Ketèlbey’s own recording is the most complete, with just 3 minor
cuts totalling 28 bars. He adds a
Hawaiian guitar to the orchestra, and uses an alto saxophone for the Native
Love-Call. This is one of the earliest
recordings of a standard orchestra to include a saxophone.
The film Weisse Schatten
was the German version of the American silent film White Shadows in the
South Seas, released in 1928. I
have been unable to find out whether the Dransmann recording was made
specifically to accompany this film. He
has a small orchestra, and makes 6 cuts, totalling 33 bars. Hear them at. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtDwdHeOKJI
Having assembled a number of
additional musicians for the session which also recorded In a Chinese Temple-Garden, Weissmann got
his money’s worth by employing the extras in both pieces. Moreover, the same sessions seem to have been
used for both the 10 and 12 inch recordings (Be 9440-2
and XXQU 285). So
By the Blue Hawaiian Waters ended up
with a wide range of tonal colour, including saxophone, Hawaiian guitar, gong,
xylophone and a wordless male chorus. During the introduction there are two
brass massive crescendos like the sound of great waves breaking. The 12” version has 7 cuts, total 89 bars.
The 10” version has 6 cuts, total 162 bars. Both finish by playing a sustained
chord at the end. Odeon Be 9440-2 (3’03”) is at https://archive.org/details/78_an-den-blauen-wassern-von-hawaii-gr-odeon-symphonie-orchester-albert-w
Odeon XXQU 285 (4’19”) is at http://bdh.bne.es/bnesearch/detalle/2780578
Robinson also uses a Hawaiian
guitar, and cuts a massive 134 bars, including the entire middle section of the
Dance of the Betrothal Ceremony. For
some strange reason the final chord is changed from minor to major.
Hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWN_itx-vDg
Voss makes 5 cuts, including
an enormous chunk of 151 bars which reduces the Dance of the Betrothal Ceremony
to a mere token 4 phrases.
Mareczek makes 3 minor cuts
of 16 bars each, and adds a harp to the original published orchestration.
The Prague Strings play a new
arrangement, much truncated and simplified.
They have lots of violins (badly balanced), guitars, trumpets, and
drums. They end with a wave effect, probably inspired by the Weissmann interpretation. Hear
them at https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=qMkzII2ZWuI&list=PL3bk2ayqJZxQjdOJ2JFbP1qT-CQXt5toO
By the Blue Hawaiian
Waters – military band
|
Artists |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Country |
Date |
Gramophone Review |
Locations |
|
Band
of HM Grenadier Guards, George Miller |
Columbia
9411 |
WAX
3320-2 |
12” 78 |
UK |
[June
28] |
July
28 p.67 |
BL,
TM, (TMmp3) |
|
Re-issue |
-
Columbia 50124-D |
WAX
3320 |
12” 78 |
|
|
|
WC |
|
Re-issue |
-
BBMA BMMAGG 1603 |
|
CD |
UK |
2016 |
|
|
|
Band
of HM Royal Horse Guards, Dunn |
Sterno
606 |
S 1089 |
10” 78 |
UK |
[Feb
31] |
||
|
Re-issue |
-
Regal MR 2651 |
S 1089 |
10” 78 |
UK |
Mar
38 p.433 |
TM, (TMmp3) |
|
|
Band
of HM Grenadier Guards |
Decca
27421 |
WL
76661 A2 |
78 |
|
|
|
WC |
The
arrangement for military band is by Ketèlbey himself,
and is considerably shorter than the orchestral version.
George
Miller on Columbia 9411 makes just one cut of 36 bars, including the complete
Kanaka Lover theme. Hear this version at
www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/by%20the%20blue%20hawaiian%20waters%20-%20Grenadiers.mp3
Dunn makes 5 cuts, totalling 56 bars. The brass tends to dominate the texture. Listen at www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/by%20the%20blue%20hawaiian%20waters%20Horse%20Guards.mp3
By the Blue Hawaiian
Waters - organ
|
Artists |
Instrument |
Label |
Matrix |
Format |
Country |
Date |
Gramophone Review |
Locations |
|
Reginald
Foort |
New Gallery Cinema, London |
HMV
C 1459 |
CR
1562-1 |
12” 78 |
UK |
[Apr
28] |
Apr
28 p.466 |
BL |
|
Reginald
Foort |
Regal
Cinema, Marble Arch |
Columbia
DX 315 |
WAX
6238-1 |
12” 78 |
UK |
[Jan
32] |
Jan
32 p.341 |
BL |
|
Re-issue |
-
World Records SH 338 |
|
LP |
UK |
1979 |
|
BL,
WC, TM, (TM CAS) |
|
|
Re-issue |
|
- World Record Club R-08306 |
|
LP |
Australia |
1980 |
|
|
|
Gerhard
Gregor |
Grosse Welte Funkorgel, Hamburg |
Norddeutscher Rundfunk E
700255 |
|
CD |
Germany |
2001 |
(rec. 1969) |
Pfälzische Landesbibliothek |
|
Re-issue |
|
- Norddeutscher
Rundfunk 8573850292 |
|
CD |
Germany |
2003 |
|
|
Foort’s version at the Regal Cinema makes 3 cuts, including
78 bars from Dance of the Betrothal Ceremony.
The accompaniment to the dreamy introduction is altered to a bolero
rhythm. A few extra chords are added to help links and to finish the
piece. Hear it at www.albertketelbey.org.uk/mp3/by%20the%20blue%20hawaiian%20waters%20-%20Foort.mp3
By the Blue Hawaiian
Waters - piano
|
Artists |
Label |
Format |
Country |
Date |
Locations |
|
Markus Staab |
private recording |
web |
Germany |
2009 |
|
The Staab performance can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXfKLShz8AM
Webpage updated 15 Jan 2023