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

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of letters by Douglas Lilburn to Peter Crowe over the period 1961-S. 30
These provide a valuable insight into Lilburn's burgeoning interest in
electronic music, and in part help document the early progress Lilburn
made in establishing a tradition of electronic composition in New
Zealand.
Of the other, non-editorial, contributions to Douglas Lilburn,
all are of interest in that they shed light On various aspects of
Lilburn's life and career. However, like the Jack Body interview, most
of these are remembered reactions, and, also, most were written specifically
to pay tribute to Lilburn. Thus, whilst of a limited documentary
value, they are primarily reminiscences - coloured by time and the
needs of the occasion for which they were written.
Beyond this 6~t4chki6~, beyond the work of John P. Scott, and
beyond the general literature on New Zealand composition there is a wide
range of literature available on specific aspects of Lilburn's life and
work, all of which varies markedly in quali'ty and factual accuracy.
Of the writings that are primarily biographical, most give only
the barest essentials of Lilburn's life and career. His birth-date is
usually given, along with brief details of his tertiary-level education
and a noting of the fact that he won prizes in the New Zealand Centennial
Celebrations Competitions of 1940. Depending on when the biographical
article was written, the facts will be noted that he spent time in
Christchurch in the 1940s working as a freelance musician, before being
appointed to the lecturing staff at Victoria University where he was
subsequently awarded a personal chair in music. He is invariably
referred to as the leading New Zealand composer, and his work in the
1940s is usually acknowledged as speaking with a characteristic New
Zealand voice. His interest in the electronic medium is usually
remarked upon (in articles written after about 1965), and his interest
in music of the serialists is often mentioned.
Such material that usually restricts itself to these bare bones
of biography includes record notes, programme notes, and publicity
notes for forthcoming performances. Where these vary in their content
is in a possible brief description of the circumstances surrounding
the composition of the particular· work or works under consideration.
30 Getting into electronic music: letters of Lilburn to Peter Crowe,
1961-65. ibid. pp.60-9.