Douglas Lilburn

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 793, 1 October 1954, Page 25

Douglas Lilburn

N 1940 a young man came back from abroad and announced his intention of taking up farming. He was Douglas Lilburn, who had just startled his contemporaries by carrying off all prizes in the section of the Centennial Competitions for works by New Zealand composers, Luckily Douglas Lilburn didn’t go on to the farm, but continued to compose, and to teach music to a new generation of students at Victoria University College, where he is at present a lecturer. Now he is probably the best ‘known of New Zealand composers, and his first symphony was broadcast by the BBC in 1951. He has had many other works broadcast by the NZBS, and both his first and second symphonies have been performed by the National Orchestra. He has also written music for New Zealand films and stage productions. | _ Lilburn was born in Wanganui in 1915 and educated at Waitaki Boys’ High School and Canterbury College: In 1937 his tone poem The Forest won first prize in’ a competition sponsored by Percy Grainger. From 1937 to 1940 he studied in England at the Royal College of Music under Vaughan Williams, Gordon Jacob and R. O. Morris. Here his fantasy based on the 15th Century air "Westron Wynde" won him the Cobbett prize in 1939. In the same years he won the Foli Scholarship at the College. The following. year his prize-winning Centennial compositions were broadcast by the NZBS String Orchestra in combination with the 2YA

Concert Orchestra, conducted by one of the judges, Andersen Tyrer. They were the "Drysdale" and "Festival" overtures and the choral work Prodigal Country. For the last-named the combined orchestra was joined by the A Capella Choir, with Lawrence A. North as. soloist; the words were taken from Robin Hyde’s "Journey from New Zealand,’ Allen Curnow’s "New Zealand City," and Walt Whitman’s "Song of Myself." At 2.18 p.m. on Sunday, October 10, 2YZ will broadcast Douglas Lilburn’s Trio for Violin, Viola and ’Cello, in the Music by New Zealand Composers series. The performers are Ruth Pearl (violin), Jean McCartney (viola) and Marie Vanderwart (‘cello).