READER CHOICE

Chris Dawes Auckland, New Zealand

As we have all been celebrating the 150th anniversary of Vaughan Williams, can I add a mention for one of his pupils who hailed from here in New Zealand? Douglas Lilburn (1915-2001) won plenty of prestigious prizes during his lifetime but you don’t hear his music very often played today. If you listen to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s wonderful 2006 recording of works including Aotearoa and Forest, you’ll hear an atmospheric soundworld that is clearly influenced by VW but also, I’d say, by Sibelius and even Bax too.