Pruden retains a special place in the history of music in New Zealand. Alongside Douglas Lilburn, he was among the first generation of composers in the country to establish a genuine vernacular. This volume includes two arrangements of God Save the Queen and an arrangement of Imperial Salute of Iran. Of particular interest is a clever reinterpretation of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, titled Overture 1218. This volume also includes as an appendix Pruden's unfinished overture, Captain Cook. The Collected Edition has been edited from extant source material and brings these essential works of Pruden into an elegant and definitive format. This volume is rich with historical and editorial notes about the works, which brings the music of this important New Zealand composer into the context of his career.
With Douglas Lilburn, John Ritchie and others, Larry Pruden belongs to the earliest generation of New Zealand composers to discover a genuine vernacular, and in his music is reflected the trail-blazing spirit of the pioneers, their passion for creativity and their rebelliousness of spirit. Throughout his output, whether the music is modest in scale and purely functional (civic fanfares and radio advertising jingles, for example) or more extended and overtly ‘serious’ in tone (such as the larger works for orchestra and strings), Pruden’s vivid response to urban society and rural life in New Zealand is revealed.
