Landfall in Unknown Seas

Landfall in Unknown Seas is a work for narrator and string orchestra written by New Zealand composer Douglas Lilburn and poet Allen Curnow in 1942.[1] It was the second in Lilburn's early trilogy of works dealing with the theme of New Zealand identity, following the overture Aotearoa and preceding A Song of Islands.[2]

Landfall in Unknown Seas
by Douglas Lilburn
GenreClassical music
Commissioned byJohn Beaglehole
TextPoem by Allen Curnow
LanguageEnglish
ComposedWellington, 1942
ScoringString orchestra

History and music

The text of the work is taken from a poem by Curnow, and tells the story of New Zealand's discovery by Abel Tasman. It was originally commissioned by John Beaglehole on behalf of the New Zealand government to mark 300 years since Tasman's visit to New Zealand in 1642.[3]

The work has three movements, with each movement followed by a reading of one of the three parts of the poem.[1][3]

The first performance, with Curnow reading the poem, was premiered by radio on 13 December 1942, the day of Tasman's arrival in New Zealand. Since then, the work has been widely performed and recorded, and the poem has become one of the best-known of all New Zealand poems.[1][3] In 1993 a recording was made of a performance by the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra with narration by Sir Edmund Hillary.[3][4]

The well-known New Zealand literary journal Landfall was named after this work.[1]

References
  1. "Landfall in Unknown Seas". Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  2. "Landfall in unknown seas". Te Ara – The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  3. Simpson, Peter (2006). "'Landfall in Unknown Seas'". In Robinson, Roger; Wattie, Nelson (eds.). The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-1917-3519-6. OCLC 865265749. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  4. "The varieties of cultural nationalism : 'Landfall in Unknown Seas', 1942 to 1995". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 16 November 2020.

SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music


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