PROMETHEAN EDITIONS
Douglas LilburN Piano Music 2
New Zealand–British Connection: the music of Douglas Lilburn and Ralph Vaughan Williams
VOLUME 5 Works for String Orchestra
MASSEY UNIVERSITY MUSIC EDITION
Douglas LilburN Drysdale Overture
Ralph Vaughan Williams THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE Incidental music for a radio dramatization of Thomas Hardy’s novel Edited by Nathaniel G. Lew
The Lilburn & Vaughan Williams connection New Zealand is inexorably linked to Britain; while a former
In a pleasant coincidence, Promethean Editions’ Lilburn
colony, it is now a fully independent constitutional
series editor, Dr Robert Hoskins, has been involved in the
monarchy. In the middle of the twentieth century New
recent publication of two first publication of works by
Zealand began to search for its own cultural identity:
Vaughan Williams. We are pleased to present both of these
artists, composers, poets and writers all began to react to
special collections of music, Lilburn and Vaughan Williams
the unique New Zealand landscape.
together, hoping that each edition furthers a deeper understanding and scholarship of the music of both
In the late 1930s, young composer DOUGLAS LILBURN (1915–2001) travelled to London to study under RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872–1958) at the Royal College of
composers.
Douglas Lilburn
Music. The first among many young New Zealand
Douglas Lilburn holds a special
composers to study in London, Lilburn began composing
place in the history of New Zealand
works that reflected the narrative of New Zealand’s
music. He occupies a pre-eminent
landscape and in doing so he set the agenda for New
position in New Zealand music,
Zealand composition for the remainder of the century.
with a legacy extending well beyond his compositional output.
Shortly after his death in 2001, Promethean Editions
As a composer, teacher and mentor
established the Douglas Lilburn Complete Piano Edition,
he presided in innumerable ways
developing a companion print edition to Trust Records’
over the artistic growth of New Zealand from 1940
award-winning CD collection of the same name. And now
onwards. From the early works redolent of the influence of
in 2014, we are also pleased to announce the launch of the
Sibelius and Vaughan Williams, to the electro-acoustic
Douglas Lilburn Centenary Edition, a project to publish the
pieces of his later years, his works have been instrumental
remaining four orchestral works by Lilburn which have not
in establishing a genuine vernacular in New Zealand
yet been edited or typeset for print.
classical music.
Image caption: Leo Bensemann, Canterbury Spring, Oil on hardboard. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu; purchased 1961. Reproduced by permission of the estate of the artist.
The New Zealand–British connection
collection of 14 music editions will be complimented with
Lilburn was one of many New Zealand composers who
classroom resources designed for secondary schools.
travelled to England to continue their studies. He studied under the aegis of Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of
The Vaughan Williams editions
Music in London. During his time in London he wrote his
Lilburn series editor Robert Hoskins, in collaboration with
first major orchestral work, Drysdale Overture (1937). In a
Nathaniel Lew, has recently completed the production of
letter to scholar Robert Hoskins, Lilburn reflects on the
two Vaughan Williams first publications, published under
composition of Drysdale:
the Massey University Music Edition (published by
When I arrived at the Royal College of Music in London, in
Promethean Editions). Published for the first time, The
Williams, he put me through routine disciplines of writing
Mayor of Casterbridge (PME13) is
fugues and part-songs, and then one day said: ‘Isn’t it time you
the incidental music created for the
composed something?’ I accepted the challenge and produced
1950 BBC radio dramatization of
my Drysdale Overture, with its nostalgic memories in a
Thomas Hardy’s novel by the same
musical language which rather disconcerted him. Still more
name. Editor Nathaniel Lew
did it upset Sir George Dyson, who brilliantly realised my
prepared this publication from
rough orchestral score on the piano and then wryly said:
Ralph Vaughan Williams’ original
‘Don’t bring me another manuscript like that’. He did,
manuscripts and it is presented
however, give it a reading rehearsal with the RCM first
here in a format that is clear for
orchestra, and I took steps to improve my musical
both scholars and performers. The
handwriting.
music was serialised into ten weekly episodes, however
MASSEY UNIVERSITY MUSIC EDITION
September 1937, and was accepted as a student by Vaughan
Ralph Vaughan Williams THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE Incidental music for a radio dramatization of Thomas Hardy’s novel Edited by Nathaniel G. Lew
The Massey University Music Edition is published by Promethean Editions Limited
Williams, Sonata for Piano in A minor, (1939), is published in the second volume of our Lilburn Complete Piano Music Edition (PEL02). By no means juvenilia, Hoskins writes of the sonata that it ‘immediately announces the presence of a distinct musical personality and reveals a quality characteristic of the mature composer: his very sharply realised visual sense.’ Other works written during Lilburn’s time in London include a cantata entitled Prodigal Country (1939) and Aotearoa Overture (1940). Another young New Zealand composer, David Farquhar, studied under Benjamin Frankel at the Guildhall School of Music in London. Farquhar, like Lilburn, returned to New Zealand at the completion of his studies and together they had illustrious careers teaching music at Victoria University of Wellington. (Promethean Editions also publishes several of Farquhar’s string quartets).
The Douglas Lilburn 2015 Project In celebration of the centenary of Lilburn’s birth in 1915, we are pleased to announce the publication of the Lilburn Centenary Edition – the publication of four remaining unedited and typeset orchestral works – as well as the continuation of the Lilburn Complete Piano Music Edition. The Centenary Edition is comprised of the first editions of Drysdale Overture (1937), Prodigal Country (1939), A Song of Islands (1946) and Symphony No.1 (1949). Both collections are scheduled to be completed by November 2015, in time for the centenary celebration of Lilburn’s birth. This
www.promethean-editions.com
little documentary evidence remains of the radio publication. As Lew writes, ‘Most useful to our understanding of the music are the “Programme as Broadcast” records. Unfortunately, the BBC assigned a single code to all of Vaughan William’s scores (DBS 1972). And the broadcast records identify excerpts from this recording only by their durations, with no indication of which passages were used where. Most episodes appear to use one or two excerpts, with duration ranging from 25 seconds to over three minutes, but even this is unclear: where there is only a single duration listed, it may represent the combined duration of several excerpts. Scenes Adapted from Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (PME14) contains the complete script and extant musical numbers from the 1907 and 1908 productions of Pilgrim’s Progress in London. The score draws on several primary sources, and existing gaps are filled with additional music selections
MASSEY UNIVERSITY MUSIC EDITION
Another work Lilburn wrote while studying with Vaughan
Scenes Adapted from Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress By Evelyn U. Ouless Music composed and selected by Ralph Vaughan Williams Edited by Nathaniel G. Lew
The Massey University Music Edition is published by
and fabrications in the Appendix. In Promethean Editions Limited
the preface, Nathaniel Lew explains the sources and editorial decisions leading to this publication, all of which makes for both a scholarly and practical work. The incidental music composed for a community theatrical production of part one of Bunyan’s book in Reigate, Surrey, preceded all these works and, despite its modest nature, served as a dramatic model and reservoir of musical ideas for them. It was also the source of the 1910 Tallis Fantasia.
Lilburn Centenary Edition
VOL
Code
pp
ISMN
Pub Date
Works / Description
Price
1
PEL21
43
979-0-67452-204-5
March 2014
Drysdale Overture
$79.00
2
PEL22
TBC
979-0-67452-205-2
Nov 2015
Prodigal Country
TBC
3
PEL23
TBC
979-0-67452-206-9
Nov 2015
Song of Islands
TBC
4
PEL24
TBC
979-0-67452-207-6
Nov 2015
Symphony No.1
TBC
Lilburn Complete Piano Music Edition In 2005 Trust Records launched the
manuscripts and early publications in preparing these
first volume in the award-winning
volumes as both scholarly and practical editions for
recording series showcasing all of
performance. An example of the original composer’s
Lilburn’s piano music, receiving ‘Best
manuscript, shown below, indicates some of the problems
Classical Album’ in the 2005
encountered by the editors.
Recording Industry of New Zealand Music Awards and in the same year, Gramophone magazine acclaimed that ‘[These] performances and recordings are unobtrusively excellent.’ This edition consists of eight companion volumes to accompany the recorded series and draws on the expertise of Dr. Robert Hoskins of Massey University and Rod Biss, formerly of Schott London, Faber Music and Price Milburn Music, who was instrumental in first publishing Lilburn’s piano music in the 1970s.
Lilburn manuscript of the beginning of Two Pieces (1951), from Occasional Pieces for Piano (1951) found in Lilburn Complete Piano Music, Vol.1 (PEL01)
Having worked with Lilburn directly on these early
The first three volumes (PEL01, PEL02 & PEL03) in this
publications, Biss has now revisited original source
series are now available.
materials in the preparation of this series. Together, the editors have carefully considered and clarified Lilburn’s
www.promethean-editions.com
VOL
Code
pp
ISMN
Pub Date
Works / Description
Price
1
PEL01
43
979-0-67452-124-6
Mar 2011
Sonata (1949); & Occasional Pieces for Piano (1943-73)
$57.00
2
PEL02
30
979-0-67452-125-8
Apr 2012
Six Short Pieces (1962-63); Sonata (1939); & Moths and Candles (1950)
$49.00
3
PEL03
51
979-0-67452-126-0
Mar 2014
Nine Short Pieces (1965-66); Three Sea Changes (1946-81); Seven Short Pieces (1965-66); & Sonata (1956)
$63.00
4
PEL04
TBC
979-0-67452-127-7
Nov 2014*
Works drawn from the second volume of the recorded series (MMT2054)
TBC†
5
PEL05
TBC
979-0-67452-128-4
Nov 2014*
Works drawn from the third volume of the recorded series (MMT2067)
TBC†
6
PEL06
TBC
979-0-67452-129-1
Mar 2015*
Works drawn from the third volume of the recorded series (MMT2067)
TBC†
7
PEL07
TBC
979-0-67452-130-7
Mar 2015*
Works drawn from the fourth volume of the recorded series (MMT2068)
TBC†
8
PEL08
TBC
979-0-67452-131-4
Nov 2015*
Works drawn from the fourth volume of the recorded series (MMT2068)
TBC†
B
PEL09
TBC
TBC
Nov 2015*
An anthology drawing together the most popular works
TBC†
E
PEL10
TBC
TBC
Nov 2015*
An anthology drawing together works for junior pianists (Grade V-VII)
TBC†
* Projected Publication Date † Pricing to be confirmed however total subscription will not exceed NZ$700 (+GST if applicable)
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SUBSCRIPTION AND ORDER DETAILS [ ] Subscribe to Complete Piano Edition
[ ] Subscribe to Centenary Edition
[ ] Lilburn Complete Piano Edition Vol.1 (PEL01) [ ] Lilburn Complete Piano Edition Vol.2 (PEL02) [ ] Lilburn Complete Piano Edition Vol.3 (PEL03)
[ ] Lilburn Drysdale Overture (PEL21)
[ ] Vaughan Williams Scenes from Bunyan’s Pilgrim Progress (PME15) [ ] Vaughan Williams The Mayor of Casterbridge (PME13)
Promethean Editions Limited • PO Box 10-143, Wellington, New Zealand • P +64 4 473 5033 • F +64 4 473 5066 • info@promethean-editions.com Publication and Promotion of New Music Gareth Farr, Christos Hatzis, Vincent Ho, John Psathas Publishers of New Editions of Bartok, Lilburn, Pruden, Vaughan Williams
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