It was premiered on 6 April 1910 by Cyril Monk and Laurence Godfrey Smith in the YMCA Hall, Sydney.
The "Maori" Sonata is part of a series of Hill's works dealing with Māori material, all originating from his New Zealand years (1892–1896 and 1902–1910).
Other notable works of this group are cantata Hinemoa, opera Tapu, his most popular song Waiata Poi and two String Quartets (No.
All the three movements of the sonata are based on the Māori tunes Hill collected in the previous years.
RNZ Concert recorded a performance of the sonata by Ronald Woodcock (violin) and Colleen Rae-Gerrard (piano).