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Kōrero: Composers

Douglas Lilburn: Landfall in unknown seas

Audio file

Douglas Lilburn was painted by one of his Christchurch friends, Leo Bensemann, about 1942. That year Lilburn composed Landfall in unknown seas for a narrator and orchestra. The text was taken from a poem by Allen Curnow, and tells of Abel Tasman's discovery of New Zealand. This excerpt from the work is played by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: G-264

by Leo Bensemann

Sound file from Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision. Any re-use of this audio is a breach of copyright. Reference: 14282.
Sound courtesy of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Lilburn Trust, John Ritchie (conductor)

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

William Dart, Composers – Establishing a new tradition, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/music/44638/douglas-lilburn-landfall-in-unknown-seas (accessed 25 June 2026).

He kōrero nā William Dart, i tāngia i te 20 March 2014.