Douglas Lilburn - Symphony No. 1 (1/3)

Douglas Gordon Lilburn ONZ FRCM (2 November 1915 - 6 June 2001) was a New Zealand composer.

Symphony No. 1 (1949)

1. Allegro non troppo

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Hopkins

He was born in Whanganui. He attended Waitaki Boys' High School from 1930 to 1933, before moving to Christchurch to study at Canterbury University College (then part of the University of New Zealand) (1934--36). In 1937 he began studying at the Royal College of Music, London. He was tutored in composition by Ralph Vaughan Williams and remained at the College until 1939. The two men remained close: in later years Lilburn would send Vaughan Williams gifts of New Zealand honey, knowing that the older man was fond of it.

Lilburn returned to New Zealand in 1940 and served as guest conductor in Wellington for three months with the NBS String Orchestra. He shifted to Christchurch in 1941 and worked as a freelance composer and teacher until 1947. Between 1946 and 1949 and again in 1951, Lilburn was Composer-in-Residence at the Cambridge Summer Music Schools.

During these years he was heavily involved in New Zealand arts activity, and became friends with other artists such as Allen Curnow, Denis Glover, Rita Angus, and Alistair Campbell.

In 1947, Lilburn shifted to Wellington to take up a position at Victoria University as part-time tutor in music. He was appointed full-time Lecturer in 1949 and Senior Lecturer in 1955. In 1963 he was made Associate Professor of Music and was appointed Professor with a personal chair in Music in 1970. In 1966 Lilburn founded the Electronic Music Studio at the university and was its Director until 1979, a year before his retirement.

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[royaloakful]

@onyxcat77 Port Hills, Canterbury

[xXxKellisxXx]

@onyxcat77 You might be thinking of his Drysdale Overture? 'Drysdale' being the name of the farm/sheep station that he grew up on in the isolated hill country leading to the mountain plateau at the centre of the North Island

[douglasmatley]

This is my first introduction to Mr. Lilburn's symphonies, my friend Sam told me about him and i like this very much. D. Alexandr D'Maddalena

[onyxcat77]

I know he wrote it about a bunch of hills in NZ somewhere...do you know which ones?

[gabrieru1983]

i really love this symphony......it´s my favourite of Lilburn´s Three.............outstanding!­!!