The beginnings and development of a New Zealand music: The life ...

'mecca' for composers, musicians and artists alike. Gordon Burt proffers
a poetic-prose description:
composer.
"The door is always open •••• The house is
clean, yet filled with books, several icons
of New Zealand painting. There is wine, a
bowl of cubed brown bread, and cheese or
olives, wild greenery against uncurtained
windows, and a view - across Bolton Street
knoll to the skyline and harbour - which,
from just down the road, once took Rita
Angus's eye. Quiet talk, fuelled by the
rising warmth of the wine, and so' to all
that is music and beyond, where stern
thoughtfulness wings lone in great Otago
spaces'-' .22
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By 1963, Lilburn was firmly established as the country's premier
He. had written three symphonies, seven works. for full orchestra,
at least seven works using the string orchestra, and a whole host of
chamber music and solo vocal music.
He had established a distinctive
style that was widely accepted as speaking of New Zealand's environment,
and he had successfully absorbed and assimilated all the latest overseas
developments in composition techniques. His works were beginning to
23
receive regular public performances, and a few had been recorded and
published.
His past achievements had secured his future position. Approaching
the age of fifty, he could well afford to rest on his laurels and spend
the remainder of his working life concentrating on teaching at the
University, where, from 1963, he held the position of Associate Professor.
22 Gordon Burt, Douglas at home. Douglas Lilburn op.cit. p.IS.
23 Broadcast performances' of Lilburn's works were still, however,
infrequent. This fact became the basis for part of the Editorial to
the March issue of Landfall in 1963 (Notes. vol.17 no.l pp.3-4):
"Music is even less accessible than literature. Almost no scores of
New Zealand music have been published and very few records.
it is time that the Arts Advisory Council undertook to sponsor
publication of scores and perhaps records too of the more important
works. Neglect of New Zealand music has been such that until recently
visitors rarely learned of its existence; even now it cannot be heard
often and we have little chance of getting to know it.
How many times in all has the NZBS/NZBC broadcast Douglas Lilburn's
First and Second Symphonies? His Third which was played (and broadcast
from 2YC only) in July last year, has been broadcast precisely
once since then.
This is ludicrous. Any considerable new work needs to be
broadcast about once a month for six months after its first perform ....
ance or on first being made available. How otherwise are we to get
to know our music? Is it not important that we should do so? In
this matter the NZBC is serving listeners poorly."