Pure

Pure is the international debut album of New Zealand soprano Hayley Westenra. It has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and remains one of the best selling classical albums to date. Pure is a eclectic mix of traditional Maori folk songs (Pokarekare Ana, Hine E Hine), and covers of Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights, to a cover of the famous Amazing Grace. There are several versions of this CD with different songs, I worked off the US version.

Track Listing (US version)

1. Pokarekare Ana (Come Back to Me)
2. Never Say Goodbye
3. Who Painted the Moon Black?
4. River of Dreams
5. Beat of Your Heart
6. Amazing Grace
7. Benedictus
8. Hine E Hine (Maiden, O Maiden)
9. Across the Universe of Time
10. Dark Waltz
11. In Trutina (From Carmina Burana)
12. Heaven
13. Wuthering Heights

I discovered this album while browsing on iTunes and fell in love with Hayley Westenra’s incredible vocals. She is perhaps one of the most talented sopranos I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. I especially fell in love with Pokarekare Ana, because it reminded me of the Hawaiian music I grew up listening to and the Maori chorus that is featured in the song reminded me of my childhood and listening to Polynesian choruses. This was extremely special to me because although I love where I live now, I am Hawaiian and I cling to my heritage and my love for my ancestral home, and this song reminds me of it.

The song Pokarekare Ana also inspired the idea for the short stories in this collection. Pokarekare Ana is a Maori love song popularized in New Zealand by Maori soldiers during World War II. These men eventually made up the 28th Maori Battalion who became legendary for their bravery and skill in battle. They fought in campaigns in Greece, Crete, Libya, and Syria, pursuing Rommel’s Africa Korps out of North Africa as well as fighting in the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy. Rommel described the Maori Battalion as the greatest fighting force he’d ever seen, and one of their comrades said of them, “I’d rather fight the Germans than take on the Maoris.” Although they were not required to serve, over 17,000 Maoris volunteered and served during World War II, of these, 3,500 in the Maori Battalion.

This series of stories take place throughout World War II and all over Europe, as well as New Zealand. Although all of the main characters are fictitious, many of the peripheral characters are historical as well as the battles that our main character Joseph finds himself in. Through this collection I hope to capture the experiences of the Maori soldiers that rings with the universal experiences of all soldiers.

For more information on the Maori Battalion see, http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Maor.html

For more information reguarding the Maori people see, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maori