U Trau in Michigan

Greetings!

In a week or so I'm swapping a New Zealand winter for a Michigan summer
to attend the second performance of my first Niuspi piece 'U Trau'.

On July 3 at 7.30pm at the Blue Lake Arts Camp, Kent Krive will direct
a band and choir of tutors and professionals in the following
programme.

Bagley - 'National Emblem March'
Dragon - 'America the Beautiful'
Schuman - 'New England Triptych'
Grainger - 'Lincolnshire Posy'
Marshall - 'U Trau' (two wind bands and SSAATB choir)

If you are anywhere near Blue Lake MI on July 3, I will be there
(courtesy of Mr Fulbright) and I would love to meet you.

The first performance of this piece went down very well indeed in
Leiden, Holland in March 2004. The bands and choir of nearly two
hundred international secondary school children were at first sceptical
and then (for the most part) very enthusiastic about singing a conlang
text. There was even a group of them formulating new Niuspi words and
phrases - some of which were undoubtedly safer in Niuspi than in their
original languages.

The sad thing for me is that Niuspi, which I had considered fairly
stable, has moved on. Niuspi is my first (and last) conlang, so a major
shift like this came as a bit of a shock! 'U Trau' is now in an archaic
form of the language. A few months ago I was in the middle of
translating those readers, the Babel text, and the Last Words when I
suddenly came upon an 'obvious' way to eradicate excess particles while
leaving the Niuspi's isolating and largely monosyllabic nature intact;
at the same time a simple means both to increase ease of pronunciation
and the recognition factor. So now everything is in limbo until I find
enough time to develop these ideas.

Anyway for what it's worth, here's the text of 'U Trau' followed by a
translation:

U Trau

Mi pa hae u trau....
Mi pa trau ke Gaia pa bi u gja ple i zi au kla floa.
Mi pa trau ke Gaia pa bi mo nzio e u tou hua o le zi nziope.
Mi pa trau ke u hua pa bi u fmi, e au pe zi zbi; e ke zi ho e fe pa ge
ksoi gua, smi duo flue o bvi.

Mi pa trau o muo i ke au gue pa pa sto, i ke u pae pa flo smi rio.
Mi pa trau o muo i ke pa ge bi u nui pro ca fae pe, u hlai pro ca mau
pe, u kfoa pro ca trie pe, au ge gi pro lau;
U muo i ke ca pe pa hae u do, i ke u rai pa ge cea, i ke ca hua bio pa
bi u ge zreo bju.

Mi pa trau ke Gaia pa bi u hau e au biole o le zi haupe.
Mi pa trau ke u tou hua pa zvea Gaia: o le klea kua, o le puo ea, o le
no mbea beu, o le mzie.
Mi pa trau ke au griape pa crei u trea, au pcipe pa crei u mae; e ke u
tou hua i ca lo pa po hea u kco o Gaia.

E mi pa vgae, e mi pa vi, e mi pa di:

A nu ski o Gaia nzie kco,
Vai nu kri u niu kco pro hua,
A nu kco pro beu fu tai,
Pro zi sfia cie, zi mrea mae,
Pro lau e jua e spie e pae,
U fu tai ple i zi voe o zi kni,
U fu tai ple i zi trau.

Nu hae u trau.....
_________________

The Dream

I had a dream....
I dreamt that the earth was a garden full of flowers of every colour.
I dreamt that the earth was one nation and all humanity its citizens.
I dreamt that humankind was a family, and all people brothers and
sisters; and that men and women were seen as equal, like the two wings
of a bird.

I dreamt of a world where all wars had ceased, where peace flowed like
a river.
I dreamt of a world where there was food for the hungry, healing for
the sick, comfort for the sad, all given out of love;
A world where everybody had a home, where wealth was shared, where each
human life was a jewel to be treasured.

I dreamt that the Earth was a house and all living things its tenants.
I dreamt that all humanity cared for the earth, its clear water, its
clean air, its incomparable beauty, its mystery.
I dreamt that all farmers cherished the land, all fishermen cherished
the sea; and that all humanity everywhere could hear the song of the
earth.

And I woke, and I saw, and I said:

Let us learn the earth's ancient song,
While we write a new song for humanity,
Let us sing for a beautiful future,
For sapphire skies and emerald seas,
For love and joy and wisdom and peace,
A future full of the voices of children,
A future full of dreams.

We have a dream....
________________

All good wishes,

Chris Marshall
—————————————————————————————
Christopher Marshall - composer
Email: vaiaata@ihug.co.nz
Internet: http://www.vaiaata.com
Phone: +64 9 360-4957, Fax: +64 9 360-4958
Address: 1/131 Williamson Avenue, Grey Lynn, Auckland 1002      
	New Zealand