U Trau in Michigan

Greetings!

In a week or so I’m swapping a New Zealand winter for a Michig= an summer to attend the second performance of my first Niuspi piece ‘U Tra= u’.

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 i= n Leiden, Holland in March 2004. The bands and choir of nearly two hundre= d 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 stab= le, 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 re= aders, the Babel text, and the Last Words when I suddenly came upon an ‘ob= vious’ way to eradicate excess particles while leaving the Niuspi’s isolat= ing and largely monosyllabic nature intact; at the same time a simple mean= s both to increase ease of pronunciation and the recognition factor. So no= w 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 tra= nslation:

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 nzio= pe. 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 k= e 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 k= e 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 wa= s 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 the= re 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 sh= ared, where each human life was a jewel to be treasured.

I dreamt that th= e Earth was a house and all living things its tenants. I dreamt that all hu= manity cared for the earth, its clear water, its clean air, its incomparab= le beauty, its mystery. I dreamt that all farmers cherished the land, all f= ishermen cherished the sea; and that all humanity everywhere could hear th= e 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 j= oy and wisdom and peace, A future full of the voices of children, A future = full of dreams.

We have a dream…. ______

All good wishes,

Ch= ris Marshall =97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97= =97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97=97 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=A0= =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 New Zealand

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