Now Is the Hour
Encyclopedia
"Now Is the Hour" is a popular
song, though often described as a traditional Māori song. It is usually credited to Clement Scott, Maewa Kaihau & Dorothy Stewart.
Maori words:
English words:
It first became known in 1913 when it was published by W.H.Paling and Co as a piano-variations piece in Australia, called Swiss Cradle Song and credited to an Australian, Clement Scott. The piece consisted of eight variations to the main 16-bar theme. Palings sold 130,000 copies of Swiss Cradle Song.
Māori words were added around 1915 and the tune was slightly changed. It became known as Po Atarau and was used a farewell to Māori soldiers going to the First World War. This has led some people to believe it was a traditional Māori folk-song. One claim attributes the first words to two Māori groups of sheep shearers, the Grace and Awatere families, of Tuparoa.
In 1920 Maewa Kaihau wrote an opening verse in English as "This is the hour.." for her daughter who had become attached to a member of a visiting royal party, who was shortly to leave. She also modified the Po Atarau tune and added another Māori translation. When it became popular, Maewa Kaihau claimed the words and tune as her own work, but then Palings asserted their copyright for the tune. Nevertheless Maewa Kaihau's words were copyrighted in 1928. However Dick Grace has since claimed the words as the work of his family. In 1935 Kaihau modified the Po Atarau version again to become the Haere Ra Waltz Song, which was performed as the last waltz at dances and farewells.
The song was first recorded by Ana Hato in 1927 with minor variations in the lyrics. English singer, Gracie Fields
, learnt Haere Ra on a visit to New Zealand in 1945 in Rotorua
. While travelling in her car, her driver taught her a version of it and it became a world-wide hit in 1948. Fields' manager, Dorothy Stewart, is credited with amending to the opening line to Now is the Hour, and with adding another verse. Other recordings of the song were made by Bing Crosby
, Frank Sinatra
, Eddy Howard
, Kate Smith
, and Gale Storm
. [Hayley Westenra the soprano from New Zealand]
The identity of Clement Scott has also been subject to debate. In 1948, a widow claimed that her husband, Albert Saunders, an employee of Palings, used the pseudonym, 'Clement Scott', and had written the Swiss Cradle Song in 1906. She said he had sold the tune to Palings. The manager, however, of Palings was still living and denied this, saying that Clement Scott was still alive. The matter is one of some confusion and contention; see the article on English drama critic Clement Scott
.
The tune, commonly named MAORI in hymnals, is also used with the lyrics "Search Me, O God" by J. Edwin Orr
.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
song, though often described as a traditional Māori song. It is usually credited to Clement Scott, Maewa Kaihau & Dorothy Stewart.
Maori words:
- Po atarau
- E moea iho nei.......
English words:
- Now is the hour,
- when we must say goodbye......
It first became known in 1913 when it was published by W.H.Paling and Co as a piano-variations piece in Australia, called Swiss Cradle Song and credited to an Australian, Clement Scott. The piece consisted of eight variations to the main 16-bar theme. Palings sold 130,000 copies of Swiss Cradle Song.
Māori words were added around 1915 and the tune was slightly changed. It became known as Po Atarau and was used a farewell to Māori soldiers going to the First World War. This has led some people to believe it was a traditional Māori folk-song. One claim attributes the first words to two Māori groups of sheep shearers, the Grace and Awatere families, of Tuparoa.
In 1920 Maewa Kaihau wrote an opening verse in English as "This is the hour.." for her daughter who had become attached to a member of a visiting royal party, who was shortly to leave. She also modified the Po Atarau tune and added another Māori translation. When it became popular, Maewa Kaihau claimed the words and tune as her own work, but then Palings asserted their copyright for the tune. Nevertheless Maewa Kaihau's words were copyrighted in 1928. However Dick Grace has since claimed the words as the work of his family. In 1935 Kaihau modified the Po Atarau version again to become the Haere Ra Waltz Song, which was performed as the last waltz at dances and farewells.
The song was first recorded by Ana Hato in 1927 with minor variations in the lyrics. English singer, Gracie Fields
Gracie Fields
Dame Gracie Fields, DBE , was an English-born, later Italian-based actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall.-Early life:...
, learnt Haere Ra on a visit to New Zealand in 1945 in Rotorua
Rotorua
Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...
. While travelling in her car, her driver taught her a version of it and it became a world-wide hit in 1948. Fields' manager, Dorothy Stewart, is credited with amending to the opening line to Now is the Hour, and with adding another verse. Other recordings of the song were made by Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Eddy Howard
Eddy Howard
Eddy Howard was an American vocalist and bandleader who was popular during the 1940s and 1950s.-Biography:...
, Kate Smith
Kate Smith
Kathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith was an American Popular singer, best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Smith had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s.Smith was born in Greenville, Virginia...
, and Gale Storm
Gale Storm
Gale Storm was an American actress and singer who starred in two popular television programs of the 1950s, My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show.-Early life:...
. [Hayley Westenra the soprano from New Zealand]
The identity of Clement Scott has also been subject to debate. In 1948, a widow claimed that her husband, Albert Saunders, an employee of Palings, used the pseudonym, 'Clement Scott', and had written the Swiss Cradle Song in 1906. She said he had sold the tune to Palings. The manager, however, of Palings was still living and denied this, saying that Clement Scott was still alive. The matter is one of some confusion and contention; see the article on English drama critic Clement Scott
Clement Scott
Clement Scott was an influential English theatre critic for the Daily Telegraph, and a playwright and travel writer, in the final decades of the 19th century...
.
The tune, commonly named MAORI in hymnals, is also used with the lyrics "Search Me, O God" by J. Edwin Orr
J. Edwin Orr
James Edwin Orr was a Baptist minister, lecturer and author.At the time of his death, J. Edwin Orr was professor emeritus of the history of awakenings at Fuller Theological Seminary's School of World Missions. He had been born in the North of Ireland of American-British parentage. He had a Ph....
.