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

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He was awarded the Foli Scholarship (worth £ 40) and the Ernest Farrar
Prize (worth £6).
As well as this, Lilburn was meeting with success in his daily
studies at the College, particularly in composition.
On the Royal
College's internal grading system (I - V, V being the highest) Lilburn
consistently achieved IV in his composition studies. 7
Indeed, 1939 proved to be a successful year for other New Zealand
students at the Royal College:
the best singing student at the College;
Denis Dowling won the Tagore Medal for
Cecilia Keating (a violinist
from the West Coast) was leader of the College's first orchestra; Alex
Lindsay was a prominent violinist; and Colin Horsley was a premier
pianist. S Other expatriate New Zealanders in London at that time, with
whom Lilburn had contact, included Robyn Hyde, D'Arcy Cresswell and James
Courage.
1940 was to be the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of
British sovereignty of New Zealand. Even before Lilburn had left New
Zealand for study in London, planning for the celebration of this
centenary had begun. During Lilburn's first two years at the Royal
College of Music, many of the proposals as to the content of the
celebrations were being finalised.
To prepare and oversee the music content of the New Zealand
Centennial Celebrations, a National Centennial Music Committee had been
appointed, comprising Professor Shelley (Director of the National Broadcasting
Service and Chairman of the Committee),Professor Hollinrake,
Frederick Page, Dr Hight, and Dr Galway.9 In the absence of any
national organisation representing music, the National Broadcasting
Service had been asked to work in conjunction with the Department of
Internal Affairs in the supervision of this Music Committee.
The Music Committee held its first meeting in Wellington on
21 April 1939,10 when the following proposals for the main features of
the music programme in the celebrations were recommended to, and
7 From a copy of Douglas Lilburn's timetable, op.cit.
S
Douglas Lilburn in Fragments of a stolen conversation,op.cit. p.19.
9 Centennial music festivals - great success throughout the Dominion.
New Zealand Centennial News no.14, 15 August 1940:28.
10 ibid.