The ''Drysdale Overture'' of 1937 is among the earliest works for

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

composer

Douglas Lilburn Douglas Gordon Lilburn (2 November 19156 June 2001) was a New Zealand composer. Early life Lilburn was born in Whanganui and spent his early years on the family sheep farm in the upper Turakina River valley at Drysdale. He attended Waitaki Bo ...

. The piece was written while Lilburn was a student at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

, and was based on something of a challenge from his professor,

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

. Reportedly, Vaughan Williams had begun his teaching by asking Lilburn to write

fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

s and

part-song A part song, part-song or partsong is a form of choral music that consists of a song to a secular or non-Liturgy, liturgical sacred text, written or arranged for several voice type, vocal parts. Part songs are commonly sung by an SATB choir, but ...

s; one day, though, he asked, "Isn't it time you composed something?" Lilburn responded by producing the overture. Lilburn later reported that his score greatly upset Sir George Dyson, to whom he brought it for piano reduction. Dyson found it to be a mess; he did, however, give it a read-through with the College orchestra. The overture is dedicated to Robert Lilburn, the composer's father. It is meant to celebrate the family farm and estate upon which Lilburn was born. In writing it, the composer once wrote that he was "left with that lovely

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

image of Jim and

Huckleberry Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: ''Vaccinium'' and ''Gaylussacia''. The huckleberry is the state fruit of Idaho. Nomenclature The name 'huckleberry' is a Nort ...

drifting on their barge down that great river, looking up at the stars and wondering 'whether they was made, or only just happened'" The ''Drysdale Overture'' has been recorded twice by the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, per the New Zealand Sympho ...

: first under Sir William Southgate and second under Kenneth Young. ''Drysdale Overture'' was first published in 2014 by

Promethean Editions Promethean may refer to: *'' Promethean: The Created'', a role-playing game * Prometheans, a fictional faction in ''Halo'', a computer game See also * Promethean Theatre, Adelaide, a former theatre in Adelaide, South Australia *Promethean World, ...

; this edition was edited by Robert Hoskins and Roderick Biss.

References

{{Authority control Compositions by Douglas Lilburn 1937 compositions Concert overtures