ANTHONY RITCHIE (b.1960): Symphony No. 3, Op. 150, French Overture, Op. 138, Revelations, Op. 82, A Bugle Will Do, Op. 67.
Catalogue Number: 10O090
Label: Atoll
Reference: ACD 741
Format: CD
Price: $18.98
Description: The symphony is a very effective, half-hour work in two contrasting sections; the first, lively, energetic and upbeat, the second lyrical and profoundly melancholy, but also with an agitated underlying pulse which breaks out in a vigorous 'scherzo' mid-movement. The music's catchy, appealing neo-romanticism suggests an antipodean George Lloyd, with more than a little of the bracing propulsiveness and tonally directional certainty of Nielsen. The second movement also suggests Bartók in nocturnal mode (and allusions to the Concerto for Orchestra almost constitute an explicit homage), and the craggy grandeur of Sibelius. The Bugle overture, celebrating New Zealand's most celebrated war hero, alternates brassy, propulsive drive with music nostalgically evocative of the New Zealand landscape. French Overture is structured like a specimen of the Baroque form, but in the harmonic language of Shostakovich and Bartók. The piece evokes the history and bustle of Paris, where it was written. Revelations was inspired by an unusual account of a near-death experience, with musical content. An atmospheric tone poem, its luminous textures gather momentum to end the piece in a blinding blaze of light. New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; Tecwyn Evans.