Podcast stars saga of house

A new podcast series about a modernist black and white house in Wellington has been released.

SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music says The Magpie House tells the story of the house at 22 Ascot St in the suburb of Thorndon where composer Douglas Lilburn lived for more than

40 years. He was the father of classical music composition in Aotearoa and today the house is a composers’ residency.

In the four-part series, music journalist and former producer and broadcaster for Radio NZ Kirsten Johnstone weaves together stories of seven decades in the Magpie House creating a Forrest-Gumpesque saga of war and music, coldwar espionage and persecution, the search for identity and a place to call home. Episode one, Landfall in Unknown Seas, focuses on the house’s Czech-Austrian architect and other refugees, who fled the Nazis but faced persecution in their adopted homeland during and after World War II. Episode two, The Vegetable Club, tells the story of a literal vegetable co-op at which the house’s first owner, senior diplomat Richard Collins, and his friends were targeted by the police Special Branch during the height of cold-war paranoia. Episodes three and four explore the later life of Lilburn, his pioneering work in electronic music, his relationships with friends and the community and his lasting legacy, as well as the present and future of the little house.

Episode one was released on November 22, with the next episodes due on November 29, December 6 and December 13. Listen to episode one at news.sounz.org.nz