National Council

The work and the New Zealand composer discussed herein are not well-known to North American listeners. This is unfortunate, as a number of Lilburn’s works are quite endearing, and a few are quantifiably exceptional. There is a marvellous recording of Lilburn’s Second Symphony on a Naxos CD, 8.555862, Douglas Lilburn: The Three Symphonies performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under the baton of James Judd. The writer of notes for this CD is Robert Hoskins, and in it he talks of “galloping-horse rhythms,” “musterer’s whistles,” and a “panorama of steep and rocky slopes.” While these notes are great fun to read, it concerns me greatly that some listeners might be unintentionally mislead into thinking that Lilburn’s work is somehow a kind of “New Zealand Fingal’s Cave Overture” when in fact this work is far more important than that. I strongly doubt that Lilburn had any programmatic intentions in the creation of this work. There is much discussion in New Zealand about Lilburn’s (and this work’s) importance, but I have yet to see much detail as to exactly, using musical terminology, why and in what way it is so important. It is absolutely imperative that quantifiable steps be taken in this direction, so that what I believe is a significant contribution to the symphonic literature can be understood within the context of the history of the genre. Symphony No. 2 was published by Price Milburn Music in New Zealand in 1979. The company has subsequently fallen foul of the economic times, and gone out of business. The acquisition of the study score is virtually impossible, so I am fortunate indeed to possess a copy. I intend to move along the following path in the discussion of this work: a short background on Douglas Lilburn; a brief discussion of his stylistic approach; a short overview of the Symphony No. 2; and a brief analysis of the 1st and 2nd movement.