Larry Pruden (1925-1982) is one of a handful of New Zealand composers who studied under Benjamin Frankel at London's Guildhall School of Music. Pruden's significant contribution to the establishment of a genuine New Zealand vernacular lives on in the works for which he is best known. Collected in this volume are Pruden's String Trio (1953-55), three occasional pieces and two juvenile works. The String Trio has been described as "one of the finest works of the Lilburn post-war era", and has long held a secure place in the repertoire of New Zealand chamber music.
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.
