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

345
In summary, Lilburn's woodwind section acts as assistant to his
string section. Where the strings do not announce a theme, it is
usually the woodwind that is allotted the task. Where the woodwind are
used in accompanying roles, they are usually to be found reinforcing
the inner harmony through sustaining notes, injecting little counterfigures
to move against the string melodies, or lying in reserve to
provide a response to a string phrase.
Frequently, they are used in a blend with the string instruments
to provide varying timbres. Much doubling of lines between the two
sections is in evidence, especially in the melodic lines of tutti
phrases. In the early overtures, it is the high settings for the upper
woodwind that help produce the characterising bright sound of Lilburn's
orchestration.
Lilburn's horns are, in the main, used for sustC!:~ning inner
harmonies or for assisting in the articulation of pedals or inverted
pedals. Only in the later works can one find any consistent use of
horns for articulating melodic lines. Even then, it is lines of
secondary importance only. The horn lines are generally rhythmically
uninteresting. Where rhythmic interest does occur 1n the horn lines
it is usually through doubling an important figure in a string or
woodwind melody.
Brass
The brass instruments in Lilburn's music are in the main reserved
for use in three capacities. One of these capacities is to add weight
at climax points. Another is to highlight melodic lines during tutti
passages, and the third is to assist in providing material for
transition .. passages between statements or developments of main themes.
Despite the general limiting of use to .these functions, Lilburn's
writing for brass, particularly in Symphony No.1 and Symphony No.2,
provides some of the most satisfying passages in his music •..
One need look no further than the first movement of Symphony
No.1 for examples of this. The importance of brass to the success of
this movement is disproportionate to the frequency with which it is
employed. When the brass appears, and it is invariably in one of the
three capacities mentioned above, it is used for mqximum impact.
From bar 71 to bar 78 in Symphony No.1 movement I, the brass
(with the horns) is given a powerful interlude passage. This passage
signals the end of the transition from the first subject, and peralds
the beginning of the second subject.