The Songs of Queen Lili'uokalani

"To compose was as natural to me as to breathe; and this gift of nature, never having been suffered to fall into disuse, remains a source of the greatest consolation to this day.[...] Hours of which it is not yet in place to speak, which I might have found long and lonely, passed quickly and cheerfully by, occupied and soothed by the expression of my thoughts in music."Queen Lili'uokalani, the last and only queen of the Hawaiian Kingdom, was an incredibly gifted musician and composer. A student from a young age, Lili'uokalani's legacy as a songwriter is felt even today with her most well-known composition, "Aloha ¿Oe" becoming the National Anthem of Hawai'i and a cultural call for Hawaiian sovereignty. Featuring over a dozen unique compositions either written or translated by Queen Lili'uokalani, The Songs of Queen Lili'uokalani is a compliation of Her Majesty Queen Lili'uokalani's handwritten musical compositions including the aforementioned, "Aloha ¿Oe," "The Queen's Prayer," and "Ka ¿Oiwi Nani," among many others-pulled straight from the Hawai'i State Archives.