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

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Several points about this extract are worth commenting on. Firstly,
the shifting of accents is obvious. They begin at the anacrusis to
bar 92, with an accent placed on the fourth crotchet beat of the bar.
In bars 93 and 94, the second crotchet beat is accented as well. Bars
95-7 show a return to one accent per bar - on the fourth beat. Phrases
now extend across the bar-line and the natural accents carry from fourth
beat to fourth beat. Suddenly, at bar 98, the accenting is transferred
back to the first beat, and the new theme is introduced.
Secondly, there are, in fact, two motifs sequentially repeated,
as indicated on the extract.
Thirdly, the pitches employed (horizontally and vertically) in
the first full bars of this extract are the familiar ones that
characterise much of the harmonic progression of the first main theme
of Aotearoa Overture. The ~ j 0 j figure is one of Lilburn's
harmonic quirks.
It can also be seen used in
conjunction with the sequential repetition of a motif in the first
movement of Landfall in Unknown Seas:
Ex.3): Landfall in Unknown Seas movement I, violin I and II bars 50-4.
This extract also shows a building up of tension to end the first
section of the movement. Surprisingly though, at the cadence of the
phrase, Lilburn suddenly slackens the tension with a rapid drop in
dynamics level. Syncopation is a prominent part of this extract, with
the continuous placement of a minim on the second beat of the bar.
Examples of sequential repetition of a motif can be found freely
occurring in Symphony No.2. The first movement of this work contains
two clear examples. The first of these is used to relax the tension at
the end of the transition section, immediately prior to the announcement
of the second subject: