Auckland Libraries

Salutes to Seven Poets by NZ composer Douglas Lilburn was performed by Yid-Ee Goh, violin, and Lisa Chou, piano, of Ensemble East on 18th April 2019 as part of the Thursday Heritage Concert Autumn Series. The poet Allen Curnow requested this work from Lilburn in 1952 for a poetry reading at Auckland University College. The event took place on the evening of 9 August that year, and involved a substantial amount of poetry (twenty-two poems in total) read by the poets involved. Lilburn's music was premiered by Antonia Braidwood (violin) and Donald Bowick (piano). One movement was supposed to precede each reading, providing the audience with the composer's musical impressions of the work and personality of each poet. In the event, however, the order was reversed, which led to some confusion for the audience and some displeasure for the composer. At the second performance of this work some time later, Lilburn determined that he would write a narration to go along with the music in lieu of the twent