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

341
one-half of the piece. The viola, violin II and violin I lines all
move in rhythmic unison for forty-nine of these bars.
In short, movement I of Landfall in Unknown Seas is a typical
piece of conservative string writing that shows an ensemble treatment of
the string orchestra, in which the violin I line dominates as the
promulgator of melodic material. The violin II and viola lines provide
the inner harmony, either in rhythmic unison with the melody or in a
separate line. The cello provides the bass-line, and use of the double
bass is limited strictly to a doubling of the cello line.
Woodwinds and Horns
As mentioned above,- the brightness of Lilburn's orchestral sound
in the early overtures is in the main due to the high setting of each
woodwind instrument, particularly the clarinet.
Next to the strings, the woodwind are the most important sectional
component of the orchestra. They are employed more often than the brass,
and they are used more frequently for stating thematic material,
especially melodies of the lyric-pastoral thematic type.
Because of the high frequency of employment of strings throughout
his works, Lilburn's woodwinds are usually blended in with his string
sound, whether it be where sustained woodwind chords support a string
melody, or where a woodwind melody is accompanied by strings.
Nevertheless, Lilburn usually manages to score a short, but
distinctive, passage for woodwind without strings at least once in each
work. One of the best examples of this occurs in the Song of the
Antipodes, where lively scalic figures in the woodwind alternate. with
versions of the chorale-like melody in the strings (bars 225-55).
The development sections of works seem to be the most usual place
for woodwind to dominate the texture. Aotearoa Overture, Symphony No.1
movement I and Symphony No.2 movement I all show the woodwind leading the
motivic and phrasal explorations of the themes.
When used as an accompanying body, the woodwind .section most often
moves in two separate lines. The flutes, oboes and clarinets move
together, whilst the bassoon usually aligns itself with the cello or
double bass.
The horns, as mentioned above, are often treated as a quite
separate section, u~aligned with either the woodwind or the brass. Of
all his instruments, Lilburn arguably uses his horns the least
imaginatively. Although they appear frequently, in comparison with any
single woodwind instrument or the brass section, their appearances
usually take the form of long sustained notes. They are rarely given