SKU: PO.PEP05S

ISBN 9781877218057.

Preface to the Collected EditionOver the span of his composing career, Larry Carrol Pruden (1925-82) completed some 60 works, including music for piano, chamber ensemble, orchestra, stage and film. The scope of the ten-volume Collected Edition incorporates every work that the composer is known to have considered complete, and a very few incomplete works which the editors felt warranted inclusion. The works in the latter category are either virtually complete or have been deemed worthy of inclusion due to the significance that the composer is known to have attached to them.Throughout Pruden's 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), his vivid response to urban society and rural life in New Zealand is revealed. 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.The scores in the Collected Edition are based on Pruden's underlying autograph or holograph manuscripts, which have been consulted extensively throughout the editorial process. Comparison has been made to all extant forms of each title, published and unpublished. In some cases, several variants exist, and the goal has been to determine as far as possible the composer's final intention and to convey this comprehensively in the published score. Emendations have been made to account for the composer's revisions and for certain errors and inconsistencies, and each volume includes a short commentary and editorial notes on the source materials.In consultation with the Estate of Larry Pruden, Promethean Editions appointed an Editorial Panel and an Advisory Panel to oversee publication of the Collected Edition. The role of the Editorial Panel has been to undertake the research into the composer's archival and manuscript materials and to make the necessary editorial decisions and ensure the accuracy of the musical and textual content of the Edition. The Advisory Panel has been responsible for monitoring the overall approach to the project and for ensuring the maintenance of a wider perspective.