The Piano In Colonial New Zealand

The piano has an important role in the social history of colonial New Zealand, from the arrival of the first instrument in 1827, to the birth of radio in the 1920s. It featured in private homes, as well as in religious, educational and public institutions, and as entertainment in music halls, pubs and the silent cinema.

Pianos regularly feature in first-hand accounts of the settlement experience and in literature set in the colonial period, and the cultural significance of the piano in early New Zealand was popularised by Jane Campion’s award-winning 1993 film The Piano. Despite this, there has never been a comprehensive, scholarly study of the social and literary history of this instrument in New Zealand.

Dr Kirstine Moffat from the University of Waikato has been awarded a Fast-Start Marsden grant, to address this gap. The Fast-Start programme is an initiative to give emerging researchers an opportunity to explore an innovative idea, developing their capabilities and helping them establish their research career.

Dr Moffat’s study will draw on literature, the visual arts, manuscripts, journals, letters, school and church records, and newspapers to examine the role of the piano in the home and in religious, educational and public institutions. The research will also examine the relationship between the piano, gender and class; the reaction of Māori to the piano; the piano as entertainment in music halls, pubs and the silent cinema; and the piano as a career instrument for performers, teachers and manufacturers.

The goal of the study is to write a ‘cultural biography’ of this important aspect of colonial New Zealand.

Total Funding:    $140,000 Fast-Start
Researchers:    Dr Kirstine Moffat, Department of Humanities, University of Waikato, Hamilton.