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

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Chorale-like themes
A third thematic type used on a few occasions as material for
principal themes is the chorale-like melody. This is invariably a slowpulsed
melody that contains a modicum of ideas and is treated frequently
to a homophonic accompaniment. Often it is constructed as a series of
block phrases. Perhaps the best example of this thematic type can be
found in the second movement of Diversions (see Ex.12).
Ex.12: Diversions movement II, violin I alternating with viola bars 1-6.
- - b';
lIr.
~ .:====~ f
I
r - :
In this movement, the twelve-bar opening section, as well as its corresponding
twelve-bar closi~g section, is constructed entirely in the manner
of a chorale. Each phrase is a short, essentially homophonic (with the
exception of the bass-line which for most of the time moves, incidentally,
in a contrary-motion contour) version of the opening two-bar idea. With
one exception, all these two-bar versions are constructed with an archshaped
contour, with the highest pitch of the line occurring in midphrase.
Without exception, movement in these versions of the choralelike
theme is scalie.
The most prominent example of Lilburn's use of a chorale-like
theme occurs in Song of the Antipodes (see Ex.13).