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

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written by Lilburn for the matinee concert. Lilburn began work the
following Monday and, in a burst of energy, wrote an orchestral score
over a period of seventeen days (11-28 March). 18
Braithwaite liked the composition and suggested it be entitled
'Aotearoa' Overture.
Incredibly, the programme to the concert included a note stating
"Douglas Lilburn is a discovery of Warwick Braithwaite •••• The work was
especially written for the matinee as a result of a chance meeting
19 ll •
'Aotearoa' Overture opened the Centenary Matinee, held in His
Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket, beginning at 2.30 pm on 15 April 1940.
programme presented was a diverse one;
ranging in content from
traditional Maori songs, a haka and two of Alfred Hill's 'Maori song~, to
solo items by New Zealand performers such as Denis Dowling, a
recitation entitled My Early Life ~n
The
New Zealand by Sir Hugh Walpole and
t h e draw~ng ' 0 f I' ~g h' tn~ng s k etc h es 0 f persona 1" ~t~es b y art~st 'D' av~ d Low. 20
The concert was given in the presence of the Duchess of Kent and
21
the proceeds amounted to £.5,329.
By May of 1940 Lilburn was ready to leave London. A variety of
events precipitated his departure. He had received his call-up papers,
although his weak eyesight made him ineligible to join the armed forces;
Hitler was on the verge of overrunning France; and Lilburn's brother in
the RAF (Ewen) had recently been reported missing in action, presumed
killed. Above all, though,he was beginning to feel the beckoning of his
home country.
18 As dated in the autograph manuscript score to Aotearoa Overture.
19 New Zealand Centenary Matinee, programme to concert, op.cit.
20 The full programme comprised:
1. Aotearoa Overture by Douglas Lilburn.
2. Maori Songs: Kapine Pine (Welcome Song) - traditional
Hinemoa and Tutanekai - music by Wainwright Morgan,
words by Hubert Carta.
E Pat a Waiari (Stick-throwing song) - traditional
Performed by Hubert Carta.
3. Story. The Payment of a Debt by Merton Hodge.
4. Cello Solos by Arnold Trowell.
Read by Merton Hodge.
Performed by Arnold Trowell.
Nocturne
An Old Time Measure
5. Aria. IlRitorna Vincitor" (Aida) by Verdi.
Performed by Hinemoa Rosieur.
6. Story. Royal Tact (An incident in the life of Queen Victoria)
written an~ performed by Hector Bolitho.