Landfall in Unknown Seas is a work for narrator and string orchestra written by New Zealand composer Douglas Lilburn and poet Allen Curnow in 1942.
[1] It was the second in Lilburn's early trilogy of works dealing with the theme of New Zealand identity, following the overture Aotearoa and preceding A Song of Islands.
[2] The text of the work is taken from a poem by Curnow, and tells the story of New Zealand's discovery by Abel Tasman.
[1][3] The first performance, with Curnow reading the poem, was premiered by radio on 13 December 1942, the day of Tasman's arrival in New Zealand.
[1][3] In 1993 a recording was made of a performance by the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra with narration by Sir Edmund Hillary.