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

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thought of a performance at the New Zealand Centenary Matinee.
Back in New Zealand in the aftermath of the Centennial
Celebrations, there was no professional symphony orchestra in existence
in the country. There ensued a period of five years during which
Lilburn did not write for the symphony orchestra. His first orchestral
work after this period was Song of the Antipodes, written in 1946, the
same year as the National Orchestra - the first full-time professional
symphony orchestra to be formed in New Zealand - was established.
Certainly the existence of this orchestra prompted later orchestral works
from Lilburn: A Birthday Offering of 1956 was commissioned by the
orchestra, and presumably the three symphonies were written with a
performance by this orchestra in mind. In fact, sketches for Symphony
No.1 and Symphony No.2 (completed in 1949 and 1951 respectively),
dating back several years from the completion of each work, suggest
it may have been the formation of this orchestra and its performance of
Song of the Antipodes that prompted Lilburn's initial material for the
two works.
Whilst there was no symphony orchestra in existence in New Zealand
during the period from 1941 to mid-way through 1946, there were a number
of string orchestras working on a regular basis. These included the
National Broadcasting Service String Orchestra, the Auckland String
Players, and the radio studio orchestras (which were essentially string
orchestras augmented by a few other instruments) of IYA, IZB, ~YA, 3YA
and 4YA.
It would seem to be more than coincidence that Lilburn wrote no
fewer than eight works using string orchestra during this period that
New Zealand had no symphony orchestra. The supposition of this is
confirmed by the fact that outside of this period, Lilburn wrote only
two works for string orchestra.
Of the eight string works written during this period in Christchurch,
only the composition of two cannot be linked directly to the
possibility of a performance. These are the two concert overtures of
1942. Suite for Strings of 1941 was completed just prior to Lilburn
taking up the post of conductor of the NBS strings and its composition
was, no doubt, prompted by the hope of being able to secure a performance
of the work by that body. Allegro for strings of 1942 was prompted by
the interest the English violinist and conductor, Thomas Mathews, had
shown in Lilburn's work. Landfall in Unknown Seas was written in
response to a request for incidental music highlighting Curnow's
commemorative poem, and with the promise of a performance by the National
Broadcasting Service String Orchestra. Sinfonia in D of 1943