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

and met its director, Mr Walter.
129
In the first two weeks of July, Lilburn
attended the Cheltenham Festival where he heard " ••• a good cross-section
of British contemporary music". 33
From Cheltenham, Lilburn went across to Darmstadt, where he spent
the rest of July. He reported that his stay in Darmstadt was an
"exhilarating change of musical climate", noting that:
" •••• Standards of performance there are dazzling,
both of soloists and German radio orchestras; the
musical textures have a new surface, glittering with
percussion; composers lecture as egocentrically as
primadonnas; audiences are violently partisan; too
many of the works had an odd stereotyped quality, as
though made to 1963's fashion requirement; few of them
bore any relation to the Germany I saw about me -
possibly their strain of Romanticism is still strong;
all of them owe more to a group of American composers
writing in the '20's than is admitted: and impressive
-and stimulating as" it all was I found more" musical
substance in the work of some German composers not of
this school, and in the music coming from Poland" .34
At the end of July he returned to England, and stayed for ten days
with Peter Crowe in Wiltshire. Crowe had constructed a rudimentary recording
studio in an old barn, and it was here Lilburn was able to make a
practical start on absorbing all the knowledge he had gained from his
trip thus far.
From 18 August he was in Scotland for the Edinburgh festival. He
managed to hear much Indian classical music, and met Ravi Shankar for
the first time.
Back in London, he visited the private electronic studio belonging
to Daphne Oram, formerly of the BBC Radiophonic.
Following this, he
hired a tape recorder for ten days to gain experience in tape editing.
He was invited back to Toronto by Dr Myron Schaeffer, and after
convincing Schaeffer of his sincerity of interest in electronic music,
Schaeffer's invitation was extended to cover an indefinite period.
Lilburn remained in Toronto until Christmas of 1963, studying under
Schaeffer and practising in the studio in-the evenings and weekends.
On returning to New Zealand, Lilburn recommended to the Vice­
Chancellor of Victoria that an electronic music studio for teaching and
research be established at the University:
33 ibid. p.4.
"Vice-Chancellor Williams ••• received my recommendation
••. coolly, offered no immediate help but said I was
welcome to seek support if I could find it."35
34 ibid.
35 Douglas Lilburn, Introductory notes in accompanying booklet to
KIWI SLD-44/46, p.7.