Composed in the Autumn of 1962, Sonatina No.2, together with Symphony No.3, provides the fullest expression of Lilburn's last notated music before he turned to the electroacoustic medium. Spare, elegant and eloquent, both the sonatina and the symphony are rich and distinctive works that maintain a tension that keeps them taut as cords in our collective memory. 

In a radio talk given to celebrate Lilburn's seventy-fifth birthday on 2 November 1990, pianist Margaret Nielsen recalled 'it was my pleasure and privilege to walk into my university study one day to find the manuscript of Sonatina No.2 with a simple inscription sitting on my piano. As always, Douglas was sympathetic to my interpretation but also offered perceptive comments and suggestions which could only enhance my understanding and subsequent performance.' This work, dedicated to Nielsen, testifies the depth of Lilburn's regard for her as an interpreter of his music. She in turn, has commented on Lilburn's perfect grasp of the piano in relation to 'its lyrical strength, range of articulation and colour, and the way in which pedalling-effects can enhance sound.' The work, premiered by Nielsen on 22 July 1962 in the Music Room at the University of Victoria in a concert organised by the Wellington Society for Contemporary Music, is cast in three movements of which the third, linked to the second, is an epilogue that recalls earlier material.