Historical Development of the Harp in New Zealand

This master's thesis is about the history of the harp and the harpists of New Zealand. Thanks to the journals of the Harp Society of New Zealand, information will be found out about who the Harp Society of New Zealand are, what is the purpose of their organisation and what are their past, current and future projects. Through the information found in the journals and the interviews conducted with New Zealand harpists and the family members of past harpists, there will be chapters that discuss the international harpists that toured New Zealand and the national harpists of the past and the present in New Zealand. There are also chapters that talk about the other important people who have contributed to the harp world in New Zealand. A comparison is also made between the life of a harpist from the past to a present-day harpist and that includes past and current teaching methods on the harp in New Zealand. To conclude this thesis, the final chapter will compare two solo harp pieces by two New Zealand composers. This comparison will show how these composers use the harp to create a unique voice to express New Zealand music