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

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Ex.36: Symphony No.1 movement I, violin I/timpani, bars 49-50.
Summary
With few exceptions then, rhythm is one of the most conventional
elements of Lilburn's music from his first compositional period. With
the exception of his use of ostinati (mainly in small-p~oportioned works
such as Diversions) most of his rhythmic interest is centred on, or
derived from, the melody.
Where a bass-line, or an inner harmony line, contains moments
of rhythmic interest, it is usually through either imitation of the
melodic line or movement in rhythmic unison.
Because of the preponderance of pedal points in Lilburn's music,
many of the bass lines remain static.
Most of his music proceeds on the principle of one tempo per
movement, and where changes to the chosen tempo occur in a work, they
are usually the result of minor adjustments. The majority of Lilburn's
time signatures show a conventional grouping of four crotchets to the
bar, either as ~, or C, or as two minims in a 4 time signature.
Asymmetric time signatures are not used. Almost invariably, the time
signature chosen for a movement remains unchanged throughout.
Incidences of syncopation are common in Lilburn's music,
particularly in his lighter-natured works. Often in these, discret~
touches of humour are added as Lilburn adroitly deviates from the
expected treatment of one of the elements-, be it rhythm, melody, harmony,
form, texture or timbre. Lilburn's syncopation, however, rarely disturbs
the pulse for longer than a beat or two. Syncopation is used decoratively
rather than intensively.
Some evidence of shifting accents and regroupings of notes are in
evidence. Interestingly, these usually occur where Lilburn sequentially
repeats a particular motif to signpost the end of a section of materiaL
A few rhythmic figures, through consistent and frequent use,
characterise his writing. The most important of these is the strong-weak