By:

• Douglas Lilburn

Duration:

08' 00"

Instrumentation:

2222;4320; timp, perc; strs.

Contents:

one movement

Samples

Score (507k)

Page 1© Waiteata Music Press

Availability

• This work has a score, 10 recordings and a resource

Programme Note

Lilburn was a student when he wrote Overture: Aotearoa. It was premiered in 1940, as part of the New Zealand Centennial Matinee at His Majesty’s Theatre in London. Although it did not receive its New Zealand premiere until 1959 it has since received numerous performances and several recordings. Described as a work of “unabashed optimism”, Lilburn noted that it had a, “freshness and exhilaration”.

Difficulty:

Advanced

Influences

• Landscape - NZ

Performance History

	15 Apr 1940	Written for the New Zealand Centennial Matinee in London and first performed at His Majesty’s Theatre, Haymarket, by the Sadlers Wells Orchestra conducted by Warwick Braithwaite
	28 Mar 2008	Performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pietari Inkinen at the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington, 28 March 2008
		New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
	04 Apr 2008	Performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pietari Inkinen at the Auckland Town Hall, 4 April 2008
		New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
	09 Apr 2008	Performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pietari Inkinen at the Dunedin Town Hall, 9 April 2008
		New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
	10 Apr 2008	Performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pietari Inkinen at the Christchurch Town Hall, 10 April 2008
		New Zealand Symphony Orchestra