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Goodbye Honolulu.
Honolulu: Bergstrom Music Co., 1915. Folio (13.75” x 10.5”), illustrated sheet music, front wrapper printed in green, white, yellow, and black; inset photograph of a cruise ship and passengers set within borders superimposed on green and yellow palm trees. 5, [1] pp. Illustration credited to “J.K.W.” “2” written in red ink in the upper-right corner of p. 3. CONDITION: Very good, light wear, a few spots of dampstaining, chipping to edges. Scarce sheet music by the first Hawaiian composer to popularize Hawaiian songs with English lyrics, known as hapa haole music. This song is arranged for voice and piano and evidences a typical ragtime rhythm. Intended to be played at moderate pace, the song is dedicated to Elizabeth Myers, “California’s Favorite Comedian.” Singer Keaumoko A. Louis recorded a version of it in 1926. The lyrics of the chorus read in part: “Goodbye Honolulu, you’ve been kind to me, yes, mighty fine to me you have been kind to me, / And when I’m back in my home town, I’ll think of you / And I’m telling you true / So dear old Honolulu, oh, I hate to leave because I love you so that’s why / You bet I’m coming again I’ll write and tell you just when.” The back wrapper features excerpts of four songs also sold by Bergstrom Music Co.: “My Honolulu Tom Boy,” “My Hawaiian Maid,” “My Waikiki Mermaid,” and “My Honolulu Hula Girl.” Born in Honolulu, Albert “Sonny” Richard Cunha (1879–1933) was a composer, bandleader, and entrepreneur. He composed his first song “Waikiki Mermaid” in 1903, which was followed by his 1905 hit “Honolulu Tom Boy.” While studying law at Yale, Cunha wrote Yale’s now-famous school song “Boola Boola,” and after graduating he decided to pursue music instead of law. He toured the mainland U.S. with his own group, combining Hawaiian music with popular ragtime rhythm. He brought this music to Hawaii and made musical history at the Hawaii Theatre where Hawaiians danced to his music. The vivacious rhythm of the hapa haole song brought recognition to Hawaii from around the world, and it proved to be influential in later compositions by Hawaiian musicians. Another of Cunha’s major contributions was his publication and marketing of his music. For a period, he served as director of both the Royal Hawaiian Band Glee Club and the Fatty Arbuckle Musical Troupe at the Hawaiian Opera House. Established sometime around the turn of the century by James W. and John R. Bergstrom, Bergstrom Music Co. also published Famous Hawaiian Songs (1914), which included a substantial number of Cunha’s hapa haole songs, and manufactured instruments, including Hawaiian guitars. Originally from San Francisco, the Bergstrom brothers worked with their father, a well-known maker of church organs, before they came to Hawaii to install the pipe organ in the Bishop Memorial Chapel, Kamehameha School. By 1902, the Bergstrom Music Co. was operating in Honolulu and publishing sheet music by Cunha. According to the 1930 census, James and John were still living in Wailuku, Maui. OCLC records only two copies, at Oakland Public Library and Baylor University. REFERENCES: “Albert R. “Sonny” Cunha” at Hawaii Music Museum online; “The Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum” at Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum online.
Item #8764
Price: $250.00
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