Sings Harry, Bill and Mick | Australia and New Zealand Festival of Literature and Arts

Douglas Lilburn’s 1953 setting of Denis Glover poetry, Sings Harry – one of New Zealand’s most enduring song cycles – is the starting point for this exploration of New Zealand sound, character and landscape by tenor Christopher Bowen and pianist Lindy Tennent-Brown(both NZ).

This year marks the centenary of Douglas Lilburn’s birth and this recital will premiere two new works inspired by Sings Harry and based on Denis Glover’s other man-alone characters: Lyell Cresswell’s Old Mick, a brooding memorial to Glover’s drinking and sailing companion on Banks Peninsula, and Patrick Shepherd’s Arawata Bill, a tale of gold prospecting and perseverance in the mountains of South Westland.

Songs from Douglas Lilburn’s British contemporary Benjamin Britten complete the programme.