Strongly neo-romantic in character and capturing the essential contours of the alpine pass to Westland, Pruden's Haast Highway shows the high viewpoint typical of Pruden's panoramic works. He tilts the landscape in upward gestures and sweeping linear rhythms that translate to the actual topography of the area with its snowy peaks and cascading waterfalls.
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.
