News Archive
DEC 2018
ALBATROSS IN FLIGHT NZSO FILM POSTEDDEC 2018
MY FATHER TODAY FOR BARITONE RECORDINGNOV 2018
UK GALLIPOLI TO SOMME PODCASTNOV 2018
VIOLA CONCERTO NUMBER 1SEP 2018
HE IS STARLIGHT ON CDSEP 2018
TOITU'S SONGAUG 2018
PICTURE STONE PERFORMANCESAUG 2018
VIOLA CONCERTO No.2AUG 2018
OBOE CONCERTO TRAVELS TO GERMANYJULY 2018
WHALESONG IN SCOTLAND-
JUNE 2018
GALLIPOLI TO THE SOMME, LONDON JUNE 2018
GALLIPOLI TO THE SOMME, OXFORDMAY 2018
PROFESSOR RITCHIEMAR 2018
THE EAGLE HAS LANDEDFEB 2018
ARTIST IN RESIDENCEJAN 2018
NZSO RECORDING ALBATROSS IN FLIGHTNOV 2017
CHILDHOOD PREMIERE BY NZTRIONOV 2017
CHAPTER ON MINIMALISM IN NZ MUSICNOV 2017
TWO ORCHESTRAL WORKS ONLINENOV 2017
TE MOANA ON YOUTUBENOV 2017
GALLIPOLI TO THE SOMME ONLINENOV 2017
REMEMBER PARIHAKA ON YOUTUBENOV 2017
TAKO_TSUBO AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBENOV 2017
WINNER, BEST CLASSICAL ALBUMNOV 2017
NEW BRASS PIECE ON CDNOV 2017
SURVIVOR RECORDING BELGIUMOCT 2017
WORLD WAR I COMMEMORATIVE WORK WARMLY RECEIVEDOCT 2017
ANTHONY'S FOUR SYMPHONIES AVAILABLE ONLINESEPT 2017
SARAH WATKINS PLAYS PIANO CONCERTO NO. 3SEPT 2017
SOUNZ RECORDINGS OF PIECES FOR AMATEUR ORCHESTRAAUG 2017
WHAKATIPUA PERFORMED AND BROADCAST BY TAKACS QUARTETJULY 2017
AUTUMN MOODSMAY 2017
PIANO PIECE ON NEW ATOLL CDMAY 2017
TWELVE PREMIERES IN ONE DAYMAY 2017
CARTOON: FANTASY FOR OBOE AND ORCHESTRA PREMIEREAPRIL 2017
ANTHONY AS PATRONDEC 2016
EXPRESSIONS RELEASED ON BANDCAMPDEC 2016
WIND QUINTET ON CDNOV 2016
ANTHONY ON RESEARCH LEAVENOV 2016
Gallipoli to the Somme broadcast November 17thDEC 2016
TUTIRA MAI AS FEATURED ON SEVEN SHARP DEC.8- Childrens' voices in 2 parts with piano
- Childrens' voices in 2 parts with piano and flute
- S.A. with piano
- S.A. with piano and flute
- S.A.T.B. with piano
- S.A.T.B. with piano and flute
- Voice and orchestra
SEP 2016
Whispers of GallipoliJULY 2016
This Other Eden - opera launched on filmAPRIL 2016
A Bugle Will DoMAR 2016
Fjarren releasedFEB 2016
LullabiesJAN 2016
Composer in ResidenceJAN 2016
Stations Recording of the YearNOV 2015
Whakatipua for recordingOCT 2015
Spring String Trio (2013)SEP 2015
Father & SonJUN 2015
A Bugle Will Do in IrelandAPR 2015
Euphonium ConcertoAPR 2015
Lullabies for choir and organAPR 2015
Portrait of FH at Festival of ColourFEB 2015
Symphony No. 4 reviewJAN 2015
'A Bugle Will Do' recording of the month on Music Web InternationalJAN 2015
Edin ArticleNOV 2014
Anthony's Salaam on YouTubeOCT 2014
This Other Eden reviewSEP 2014
Eggner Trio and Amihai Grosz perform 'Oppositions'SEP 2014
Touched: A new piano workSEP 2014
A new opera: premiere in Arts Festival Dunedin 2014AUG 2014
New Violin Concerto a SuccessJUN 2014
BBC Symphony Orchestra recordingJUN 2014
A Belgium premiereJUN 2014
A new opera: premiere in Arts Festival Dunedin 2014MAR 2014
Symphony No.4 premiereAPR 2013
Review of Symphonies No.1 and 2 on CDAPR 2013
Some radio highlightsOCT 2012
A Bugle Will Do makes the NZ Music Awards Finals
NEWS FROM 2018
Albatross in Flight for orchestra has been recorded by the NZ Symphony Orchestra and released on film by SOUNZ (The Centre for New Zealand Music). This lively short piece captures the movements of this most graceful of Kiwi flyers.
Anthony’s Song and My Father Today for baritone and piano feature on New Art Song of the Pacific Rim, a CD recording by Australians Kevin Hanrahan, tenor, Diana Blom, piano.
The University of Oxford has posted a podcast with extracts of the concert featuring Gallipoli to the Somme
November 1 Viola Concerto No.1 was performed by Robert Ashworth and The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in the
Auckland Town Hall.
He is Starlight for brass band has been recorded onto CD called Aotearoa by The NZ Army Band, under conductor Graham Hickman. It is available from cdbaby or itunes.
More than 500 children premiered Toitu's Song, written to celebrate 50 years of The Saturday Morning Music Classes in Dunedin. With words by Jenny Powell, the song featured choir and almost any instrument you care to name! It was conducted by Aart Brusse in The Dunedin Town Hall. Anthony has also produced a version of the song for childrens' choir and piano which is now available here.
July 19-August 9 > Picture Stone: Trio for clarinet, violin and piano was toured by Klara Kolectiv, for Chamber Music NZ
Anthony's Oboe Concerto was performed at the Berlin Konzerthaus on 19 August, during the Auckland Youth Orchestra’s European tour. The soloist was Noah Rudd, who performed this work last year with the orchestra in Auckland.
Anthony's mini-concerto for double bass and orchestra, Whalesong, was performed in July by the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland's Junior Orchestra in Glasgow, under the baton of Holly Mathieson. The soloist was Ben Burnley, and the young players rose to the challenge of this difficult piece very well.
Gallipoli to the Somme was performed in Oxford and London in June, by the UK Parliament Choir and The Southbank Sinfonia under conductor Simon Over.
Soprano Anna Leese travelled to the UK to perform solo in the work, alongside British baritone Jon Stainsby.
Both singers were magnificent, as was the choir, who were augmented by 30 or so singers from City Choir Dunedin - having travelled around the world to join the performance!
Tessa Petersen also made the trip to perform the violin solo.
The work was very well received, the composer receiving many heart-felt messages from choristers and audience members.
Here is a link to a Podcast from the Oxford concert.
Gallipoli to the Somme British Parliament Choir and Southbank Sinfonia, London
Gallipoli to the Somme was performed in Oxford and London in June, by the UK Parliament Choir and The Southbank Sinfonia under conductor Simon Over.
Soprano Anna Leese travelled to the UK to perform solo in the work, alongside British baritone Jon Stainsby.
Both singers were magnificent, as was the choir, who were augmented by 30 or so singers from City Choir Dunedin - having travelled around the world to join the performance!
Tessa Petersen also made the trip to perform the violin solo.
The work was very well received, the composer receiving many heart-felt messages from choristers and audience members.
Here is a link to a Podcast from the Oxford concert.
Gallipoli to the Somme British Parliament Choir and Southbank Sinfonia, Oxford.
Anthony was promoted to Professor by the University of Otago. Here is a link to his inaugural professorial lecture
Anthony's opera The Eagle has Landed enjoyed a season of 6 performances during the CubaDupa Festival in Wellington, March 24-25. This comic opera, with libretto by Stuart Hoar, combines the famous 1969 moon landing with characters from Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon. It received a fabulous outdoors production at the hands of director Jacqui Coats and her team, supported by Opera NZ. You will be able to view this online, thanks to a film by Chris Watson from SOUNZ due to be released later this year.
Anthony was Artist in Residence at Woodford House College in Havelock North in February. Anthony worked with the students and teachers on composition, and directed the Woodford Chapel Choir for rehearsals of a new song that he wrote them, entitled Here Future Lies. The song was premiered in The Big Sing regional competition in June.
The NZ Symphony Orchestra recorded Albatross in Flight for The SOUNZ website, as part of the SOUNZ Composer Sessions. The recording sessions took place in January 2018. Albatross in Flight is a short, vibrant concert fanfare based on the graceful movements of an iconic NZ bird.
NEWS FROM 2017
Anthony's new trio Childhood was premiered by NZTrio on November 8, at The Piano in Christchurch. This work further explores a new direction in Anthony's work,
involving the development of a naïve style. The trio featured guest violinist Manu Berkeljon who played in the Swedish group The Dalecarlia Quintet -
the same group that recorded Anthony's Clarinet Quintet on the award-winning CD Fjarran: in the Distance.
NZtrio performed Childhood 3 more times during their tour, and recorded it for RNZ broadcast.
Anthony has had a chapter published in the newly released book Searches for Tradition: Essays on New Zealand Music, Past & Present. The chapter is entitled A Wonderful Shock: The Influence of Minimalism on New Zealand's Art Music Tradition. The book has been edited by Michael Brown & Samantha Owens, and published by Victoria University Press. FOR more details see: http://vup.victoria.ac.nz/searches-for-tradition-essays-on-new-zealand-music-past-and-present
Balkan Bagpipes (1985) and Procession (2008) have been released as performances online by SOUNZ.
These pieces were chosen as part of the Resound series, and features The Westlake High Girls and Boys Orchestra
under the baton of David Squire. Anthony was thrilled to have one of his earliest commissioned works, Balkan Bagpipes, recorded for the first time.
It shows strong influences from East European folk music, following his studies in Budapest in 1983-4.
Procession was written as part of Anthony's residency with the Manukau Orchestra, and evokes memories of city parades. Both pieces are playable by amateur and school orchestras.
Te Moana, written for The Royal NZ Navy Band, can now be watched on Youtube. The concert band commissioned the piece in 2016 to celebrate the Navy’s 75th anniversary.
Gallipoli to the Somme for choir, soloists and orchestra is now available for viewing from SOUNZ.
The recording of this magnum opus was done by Radio NZ Concert, and combined with the film by Chris Watson (SOUNZ). An interview with Anthony is also available.
The Diocesan School for Girls has recorded Anthony’s orchestral piece Remember Parihaka for Youtube.
TakoTsubo recording available
Link to Sue Wootton's blog on Tako-Tsubo, and recording of the song TakoTsubo, performed by Cantus Columba, musical director Richard Madden.
AWARDS NEWS:
Winner, Best Classical Album, NZ Music Awards
Fjarren: In the Distance with Anthony’s Clarinet Quintet and Purakaunui at Dawn has won its category in the 2016 NZ Music Awards.
(Atoll, ACD 316: see also under RECORDINGS. Copies can be ordered from the composer, or from Atoll Records.)
The CD Zephyr: Music for Winds with Anthony's Wind Quintet was also nominated for the NZ Music Awards.
The Woolston Brass Band of Christchurch has released a CD which includes He is Starlight which Anthony composed in 2015, to commemorate his father’s death. Buy it here.
Anthony recently travelled to Belgium to help with the recording of his choral works by the Aquarius choir.
The CD has the theme of 'Survivors' and includes two newly composed works for the choir: The Survivor and Ellen's Vigil (based on an aria from Gallipoli to the Somme).
Also on the CD are new recordings of This Sea We Cross Over, Widow's Songs and Song of Hope.
Gallipoli to the Somme was premiered at Arts Festival Dunedin in October 2016, by the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, City Choir Dunedin, Southern Youth Choir, with soloists Anna Leese and Martin Snell, conducted by Simon Over.
This new work is like an oratorio, that includes songs, choruses, and orchestral pieces. It is a humanist statement about ordinary peoples' experiences of World War I.
Soldiers, nurses, lovers, children etc from different nationalities are represented in this work, through diary entries, poems, traditional texts, and even a military plan of battle.
The piece was commissioned to commemorate WW1, with funding from Creative NZ.
The performance received a standing ovation, and great reviews. Here's what Elizabeth Bouman wrote in the ODT: "
Ritchie will be remembered as one of the greatest composers of his time."
Gallipoli to the Somme will be broadcast on RNZ Concert on the evening of November 11 -
Armistice Day. Following that, the performance will be available to be viewed online, via the SOUNZ website.
Recently SOUNZ completed an online resource on Anthony’s symphonies, including recordings and background information, plus an introduction by the composer. The recordings include:
Symphony No.1 NZ Symphony Orchestra, conductor Ken Young, RNZ 1998
Symphony No.2 Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, conductor James Sedares, RNZ 2000
Symphony No.3 Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, conductor Simon Over, RNZ, 2010
Symphony No.4 Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, conductor Tom Woods, soprano Jenny Wollerman, SOUNZ film, 2014
Follow this link: A Ritchie Symphonies.
In addition, Anthony’s Symphony No.1 has just been published by Promethean Editions (Wellington), to go with the publication of Symphony No.3.
On September 17 Sarah Watkins will play Anthony's Piano Concerto No.3 with the St Matthew's Orchestra, conducted by Michael Joel. The concerto has enjoyed performances with Emma Sayers, and the Auckland Philharmonia as well as the Manukau Orchestra. It has also been performed in a version for two pianos by Emma and Richard Mapp.
In September The Westlake Orchestra (Westlake Girls' and Boys' Schools in Auckland) recorded two of Anthony's works for amateur orchestras: Balkan Bagpipes (1985) and Procession (2008).
Conducted by David Squire, these recordings were also filmed and will be available on the SOUNZ website soon.
Anthony’s string quartet movement entitled Whakatipua was performed recently by the Takacs Quartet,
in Auckland and Wellington. Radio NZ recorded the concert for broadcast, and you can hear this by following this link:
RADIO NZ.
Anthony's short piece for cello and guitar, called Autumn Moods was commissioned by Matthew Marshall for a tour with cellist Heleen Du Plessis. It was performed on August 10th 6p.m. in the Sargood Centre, 40 Logan Park Drive, Dunedin,
Touched for solo piano was released in May on a CD collection of NZ piano works entitled Sarajevo. The CD was recorded by pianist Jian Liu for Atoll Records, and can be purchased from Marbecks.
Touched was originally commissioned by Stephen de Pledge for a tour of the UK, and takes the madness of being in love as its theme.
Cornet Rhapsody was premiered no less than twelve times on the same day, at The National Brass Band Championships in May. It was commissioned by the Brass Band Association of NZ (BBANZ) as the test piece for solo cornets. It references a Hungarian folk tune and shows off the soloist to a high degree. Dunedin's John Lewis was the winner on the night, with his performance being live streamed from the event. The sheet music for Cornet Rhapsody is available from BBANZ for purchase, or from the composer.
Cartoon was premiered by Noah Rudd and The Auckland Youth Orchestra on May 20th. This concerto is a reincarnation of his work Cartoon: Fantasy for Soprano Saxophone and Orchestra (1996) which was later arranged for oboe and piano: The Oboe Sonata (2002). The sonata version has been published and recorded on CD by Marika Lombardi, and performed frequently in New Zealand. The Oboe version was instigated by young Noah Rudd, as part of winning a performance competition in Auckland. It should be a welcome addition to the oboe concerto repertoire. Here is a link to this performance.
Following the performance of Gallipoli to the Somme Anthony has been recognized for his contribution to choral music in the community by being appointed Patron of City Choir Dunedin.
He is already patron of the Southern Youth Choir.
City Choir Dunedin will be performing his Lullabies on September 2nd, in Knox Church Dunedin.
The album Expressions: Piano Music of Anthony Ritchie, performed by Tom McGrath, has been released on Bandcamp. Download individual tracks or the whole album.
Music for Tristan, for piano, has also been made available on Bandcamp, as a separate track.
Anthony's Wind Quintet (2009) has been released on CD, entitled Zephyr: Music for Winds, Atoll CD, ACD 716. The work was commissioned by the group Zephyr who include New Zealand Symphony Orchestra players. It is available through Marbecks in Auckland or Atoll Records.
Anthony has been enjoying some dedicated time composing as he takes Research Leave leave from the University of Otago this semester.
He has been working on various projects, including new works for NZTrio, for Cellos Aotearoa (entitled Memories of Purakaunui for 5 cellos and piano, performed October 3 on the Arts Festival Dunedin),
for tenor and piano (for James Rodgers), and for cornet (a solo test piece for Brass Bands NZ).
However, his major project is a new symphony – No.5. Anthony is exploring a new approach to composition in this work, based on simplicity and naivety.
Gallipoli to the Somme was broadcast on RNZ Concert on the evening of November 11 - Armistice Day.
Follow this link to hear it on replay radio.
Check out these different youtube versions of Tutira Mai, arranged by Anthony Ritchie:
Tutira Mai 1
Tutira Mai 2
Tutira Mai 3
Tutira Mai 4
Tutira Mai 5
Tutira Mai 6
Tutira Mai 7
Tutira Mai 8
Tutira Mai 9
Tutira Mai 10
Tutira Mai 11
Tutira Mai 12 (Tapiola Choir)
Anthony originally arranged the song for Rangi Ruru High School in Christchurch. It has spread world-wide (and has now been imitated by other arrangers!).
The following versions available for purchase:
All versions cost $30 which includes the right to perform as often as you like. They can be provided as PDF files or as hard copy scores.
Or you may like to request a new version of Tutira Mai. Contact Anthony.
contact@anthonyritchie.co.nz.
Whispers of Gallipoli
Whispers of Gallipoli is Anthony Ritchie's response to baritone Robert Tucker's commission of a new work about the tragedy of Gallipoli on this the event's 100th anniversary. Anthony has used the words of soldiers, anxious mothers, poets looking back on the campaign and a range of other sources to build a powerful picture of events both at and surrounding Gallipoli.
The song cycle was premiered by Robert Tucker and Terence Dennis at Marama Hall last Wednesday. The following Resound film was made as a studio recording a week prior to that, also at Marama Hall. Danny Buchanan engineered and produced the audio while Chris Watson made the film. Resound is funded by NZ On Air. #WW100
Whispers of Gallipoli has also been recorded for a SOUNZ film, and will be available on the SOUNZ website.
This Other Eden - opera launched on film
Anthony's latest opera This Other Eden has been released on film by SOUNZ (Centre for NZ Music), thanks to the efforts of Chris Watson (film) and Danny Buchanan (audio). The opera was premiered by Opera Otago in 2014 as part of the Dunedin Arts Festival, with Jacqueline Coats directing and Tecwyn Evans conducting, and received rave reviews. From TheatreView's Brenda Harwood:
"Ritchie's score brilliantly evokes the sound of New Zealand. The music is spellbinding... This is New Zealand history as we have never seen it before, and is a brilliant addition to this country's opera tradition. Highly recommended."
It is based on the dramatic story of missionary Thomas Kendall and his dealings with Nga Puhi chief, Hongi Hika in the early days of New Zealand settlement (1814-1820). The libretto by Michelanne Forster tells a story of love, ambition, idealism and harsh reality, based on historical fact. It includes the famous visit by Hongi and Kendall to King George IV, and the subsequent musket wars. The story is related through the eyes of Kendall's long-suffering wife, Jane. The cast of This Other Eden includes brilliant young performers Elizabeth Mandeno (Jane Kanedall), James Rodgers (Thomas Kendall), Joel Amosa (Hongi Hika), James Adams (Samuel Marsden), Matt Landreth (the convict Stockwell), Tamara Mayo (Tungaroa) and Clinton Fung (Waikato).
The film was made at the dress rehearsal and is divided into 4 segments that you can watch here.
'A Bugle Will Do' performed in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Anthony's overture 'A Bugle Will Do' (1996) was performed in August by The Ulster Orchestra under Nicholas Braithwaite, and broadcast on BBC3 recently. If you would like to hear the broadcast go to the following link. Anthony's overture is first on the programme.
Two New CDs Released
Atoll Records has just released Fjarren: In the Distance featuring clarinet quintets by Anthony and fellow New Zealand composer Ross Harris. Their works are superbly played by the Swedish group The Dalecarlia Quintet, with Kiwi Anna McGregor on clarinet.
Anthony's Clarinet Quintet dates from 2006 and was commissioned by Christopher Marshall for Gretchen La Roche and The New Zealand String Quartet to perform. It's an epic work that explores lots of emotions from joy to despair. It also commemorates the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth by referencing that composer's own clarinet quintet.
Ross Harris' mysterious and veiled Fjarren makes an excellent foil for Anthony's piece, and also references the past, this time a theme of Brahms'. The CD is rounded out by Anthony's short piece Purakaunui written especially for the Dalecarlia Quintet, and toured by them as part of a Chamber Music NZ series in 2013.
In September 2014 John Ritchie, Anthony's father, died at the age of 93. His career as a musician and composer touched many people's lives. He is best known for Kiwi classics such as the Clarinet Concertino or Papanui Road Overture.
On this new album, Father & Son: Music by John and Anthony Ritchie, for the first time John's ground-breaking song cycle Four Zhivago Songs (1977) are recorded onto CD by soprano Rebecca Ryan, with John van Buskirk at piano. These settings of Pasternak's poems are moving, whimsical, lyrical, modernist... and many other things. John's final composition, his Clarinet Sonata, also features on the album. This sonata was completed by Anthony during the last years of John's life, when his eyesight prevented him from working on composition. Performed by Stephen Cranefield, with pianist Tom McGrath, this sonata is characteristic John Ritchie, finishing with a cheeky and virtuosic finale.
The other half of the CD features pieces by Anthony that all involve the violinistic skills of the wonderful Tessa Petersen, including Variations for G.B.P. for violin and organ (David Burchell, organ), Four Violin Duos (with Justine Cormack, violin) and Thoughts from an Inner Garden (with Rebecca Ryan and John van Buskisk). The last item is a cycle of seven songs, setting poems by the late Diana Neutze, who suffered for over 20 years from multiple sclerosis. These are moving songs, reflecting on life and death, and Nature.
Lullabies
Anthony Composer-in-Residence in Sweden
Anthony has recently been chosen as Composer-in-Residence for a 3-week stint at the seaside town of Visby in Sweden, in October-November 2016. The Visby International Centre for Composers offers the use of well-equipped studios and the stimulating company of other creators. Anthony will be working on a project that collaborates with Swedish-based clarinettist Anna MacGregor and violinist, Manu Berklejon. He is aiming to make this part of his sabbatical leave from Otago University in 2016.
'Stations' Recording of the Year
MusicWeb International editor Nick Barnard has selected Anthony's 'Stations' as one of his Recordings of the Year for 2015. Read the full selection here.
Whakatipua for string quartet chosen for recordings
Anthony's 1995 work Whakatipua for string quartet has been chosen for The inaugural Aroha String Quartet recordings later this year. The Aroha String Quartet features Haihong Liu, Simeon Broom, Zhongxian Jin and Robert Ibell, and has developed an impressive track record over a decade.
They are collaborating with SOUNZ on the recordings, which will be made available on the SOUNZ website in 2016. Whakatipua was written for the 60th birthday of Pat Jones, and has also been performed in version for string orchestra; this will be its first recording.
'Spring String Trio' (2013)
Violin, Kate Oswin
Viola, Sophia Acheson
Cello, Heather Lewis
Film by Chris Watson, Centre for NZ Music
Stations continues to get good reviews
Symphony No.4 Stations received a great review by Brian Wilson on MusicWeb International late in May 2015. To quote:
"In many respects it's comparable with Britten's War Requiem, though not on the same level. After some very intense sections, often as sorrowful as Gorecki's symphony of that name, the work ends with celebratory music leading to stillness and quiet..."
"The value lies in the quality of the music and the performance, and both are very much worth your attention. If you're not sure, sample the music from Qobuz - subscribers can stream the whole work: don't make an instant judgment based on one hearing - but you won't find the booklet there. For that you need the CD, which can be obtained at an attractive price by clicking the MusicWeb-International purchase button."
Just a reminder also that you can view the live performance of Stations on the SOUNZ website
Father and son composer-combinations are relatively rare in recent times, but there have been some famous examples: Johann Sebastian Bach and his sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel and Johann Christian, Johann Strauss I and II, Wolfgang Amadeus and his father Leopold Mozart, Domenico Scarlatti and his father Alessandro. Anthony was fortunate to have been exposed to numerous musical sources of inspiration when he was growing up with his family, and not just his father: his mother was a fine soprano who sang solos on many occasions, and his brothers and sisters all played and listened assiduously to music. Records of Beethoven, Shostakovich and Bartok jostled alongside the Beatles, Fiddler of the Roof and Dark Side of the Moon. Anthony and his older brother Simon used to refer to the 1960s Kiwi Pacific Record of John Ritchie's Clarinet Concertino as simply "Dad's music". It was just one of many LPs in the house.
However, in his teens Anthony became interested in writing down his piano improvisations, stealing quite a quantity of his father's manuscript paper in the process. Over the years, John quietly encouraged his son without ever pushing him into a career as a composer. He let him go his own way, while fostering Anthony's interest in East European composers, Bartok, Stravinsky and Shostakovich. There were never formal lessons, but a lot of sharing of information and opinions about music, and birthday presents that consisted of music scores.
In more recent years Anthony has tried to repay the debt he owed by helping to stage performances and recording of his father's work. The Clarinet Sonata on this album, John Ritchie's last composition, is part of that repaid debt: the work was completed by Anthony when John's eyesight became too bad for him to work. Anthony was also very keen to include the Four Zhivago Songs (1977) on this recording (the first time it has appeared on CD), a work that he regards as one of his father's finest achievements.
This album also represents an investigation into the violin, and its multi- faceted character. The Variations for G.B.P. and Thoughts from an Inner Garden were written around the same time as Anthony was working on a Violin Concerto. He feels very privileged to have been able to work closely with Tessa Petersen, and the other musicians, on this recording.
A Bugle Will Do in Ireland
Anthony was pleased to hear that his overture A Bugle Will Do is being performed by the Ulster Symphony Orchestra in Ireland under conductor Nicholas Braithwaite, on August 21. It will be part of a BBC concert focusing on music from New Zealand.
The virtuoso euphonium player, Buzz Newton, will be premiering Anthony's new concerto in Wellington (St Andrews-on-the-Terrace) on May 9, with the Wellington Brass Band. Buzz released his debut solo album late last year, which featured a superb recording of Anthony's Triptych for euphonium and piano (published in score form by Prima Vista Musikk). Now he trumps that with a concerto specially written for his skills.
The concerto also appears in a version for euphonium and wind band, which will be performed by the Royal Airforce Band in June. Composed with support from Creative NZ.
Lullabies for choir and organ
Anthony has collaborated again with poet Elena Poletti to produce Lullabies for soprano, choir, childrens chorus and organ, a commissioned work for the Auckland Choral Society. It is being premiered in Holy Trinity Cathedral on June 6, under the baton of Brian Law. This work celebrates different aspects of songs associated with sleep, and encapsulates a child-like perspective. Composed with support from Creative NZ.
Anthony's orchestral suite Portrait of FH is being performed again by the Southern Sinfonia, this time at the Festival of Colour in Wanaka, on Sunday April 26, at 1pm at the Lake Wanaka Centre.
The work is about the life and work of the famous NZ artist Frances Hodgkins, and features a narrated monologue by Catherine Chidgey, interspersed with the music. The text is derived from letters home by Hodgkins while overseas. The three main movements of music depict the different media the artist used: water colours, oils, and gouache. The latter movement, gouache, was recorded for SOUNZ online by the NZSO.
Anthony's fourth symphony 'Stations' has been reviewed by Music Web International. Read the full review.
"The structure of the work is hugely impressive - the listener is drawn forward inexorably with each station clearly defined yet clearly part of a greater scheme. As a continuous movement lasting over forty minutes this is a compositional tour de force yet it is the deeply personal and human aspect that resonates most. Ritchie's greatest single triumph is to be both deeply personal in his reaction to his home city's tragic losses yet strikingly universal. This is not a work 'only' about Christchurch or Ritchie or indeed the Summers sculptures. Perhaps even more importantly, although the iconography is explicitly Christian this is not a specifically religious - let alone Christian - work. The message is one of suffering, transcendence and ultimately a fragile sense of hope."
"I have not been as impressed by a contemporary piece of music since I heard Tommie Haglund's magnificent Hymns to the Night. Although of very different musical styles both works show that contemporary music can still speak in an intensely personal and deeply moving way. The fact that the source of Ritchie's inspiration lies entombed in the ruined cathedral and might well never be recovered - the current thinking is to demolish the existing ruins and rebuild a completely new church in its place - adds power and poignancy. That aside this is a work for all times and all people. Ritchie's music speaks with a very individual yet accessible voice and his work - and certainly this symphony - deserves a wide audience."
'A Bugle Will Do' recording of the month on Music Web International
Anthony's CD 'A Bugle Will Do' has been named "the top New Zealand composition CD of the year" by The Listener (December 12-21). Reviewer Ian Dando cites the works Revelations and Symphony No.3 as the "stunners" on the CD. The disk has also been named one of the "CDs of the year" by British reviewer Nick Barnard, on the Music Web International site.
Edin Article
2015 has begun with the publication of an article on Anthony's music in Edin, a new online magazine.
Titled 'Anthony Ritchie - Music of the Soul', it gives some background to Anthony's reasons and goals for composing. It shows him in the coastal environment of Purakaunui, where his holiday home is. Follow this link, and go to page 10.
Anthony's Salaam on YouTube
On September 14 Anthony's new choral work Salaam was premiered by Belgium choir Aquarius, in Gravensteen Castle in Ghent, conducted by Marc Michael De Smet. It was part of a concert on the theme of imprisonment, focusing on the detainment centre at Guantanamo Bay, where prisoners have been kept incarcerated for years without trial. Salaam sets four texts written by the prisoners, published in the book Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak. They are a heart-felt plea for justice. You can now watch this performance on YouTube.
The songs are all linked by the sounds of the sea surrounding Guantanamo Bay:
1. Is it True? Poem by Osama Abu Kabir
2. Hunger Strike Poem Poem by Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif
3. Ode to the sea Poem by Ibrahim Al Rubaish
4. Even if the Pain Poem by Siddiq Turkestani
Salaam begins at 51:00 on the recording and lasts 20 minutes. You can also see his Widow's Songs being performed in the same concert, at 23:00. Sharing the same concert was English composer Ed Hughs, whose work A Buried Flame is featured at the start of the programme, and also sets poems by the Guantanamo prisoners.
This Other Eden review
"The passion and intrigue of New Zealand's early European history is revisited in all its drama, joy and tragedy in Anthony Ritchie and Michelanne Forster's new opera, This Other Eden."
"In the world premiere performance of this stunning work, presented by Opera Otago last night [October 10] at Dunedin's Mayfair Theatre, a superb team bring to life pivotal historical figures and some of the earliest encounters between Maori and European."
Read the full review.
Eggner Trio and Amihai Grosz perform 'Oppositions'
Anthony's piano quartet Oppositions is being performed by the Eggner Trio and Amihai Grosz during their Chamber Music NZ tour in September. This work was most recently played by Stroma and was previously recorded by The NZ Piano Quartet on a Kiwi Pacific CD of Anthony's chamber music. Click here for details of performance dates and venues.
Touched: a new piano work
Auckland pianist Stephen de Pledge has been performing a new work for piano by Anthony, entitled Touched, as part of a Chamber Music NZ tour. Stephen visits Dunedin on September 24 to play the piece, and record it. It is a piece based on the theme of love.
A new opera: premiere in Arts Festival Dunedin 2014
Anthony's new opera 'This Other Eden' is to be staged by Opera Otago in Arts Festival Dunedin, October 10-16 this year. The opera is based around a classic NZ story set in the 1820s in the Bay of Islands, featuring the missionaries Thomas and Jane Kendall, and their dealings with the Nga Puhi chief Hongi Hika. It's a story of ambition, lust and power, to a powerful script by Michelanne Forster. The production will feature a number of Music Department students and staff, the orchestra will be led by Violin lecturer Tessa Petersen, and the musical director is alumnus Tecwyn Evans. If you would like to contribute towards this production visit the website Boosted.
New Violin Concerto a Success
"Ritchie's Violin Concerto is a landmark work. Hristova's performance was awesome. . . Ritchie has created an overwhelmingly personal statement of creative maturity. There is much there to reward many repeat live performances."
- Marion Poole, Otago Daily Times
The film and recording of Anthony Ritchie's Violin Concerto has just been released on the SOUNZ website.
Anthony's Violin Concerto was premiered on Saturday May 31 by Bella Hristova and the Southern Sinfonia, under conductor Tecwyn Evans. The Dunedin Town Hall was well attended and witnessed a superb performance from the young U.S. based violinist, who seemed completely at home with the music. Her cadenzas were particularly stunning in quality, and was very well supported by a well-drilled Sinfonia. The composer was hugely appreciative of the support he received for the work; it has proved to be one of the highlights of his career so far.
If you enjoy this work consider programming it in future. Bella would love to play it again: "I was honored to premiere your concerto - thank you for writing it for me! I really can't wait for the next time I get to play it and I will definitely spread the word in the US as much as I can and post the video so other people will play it, too."
Click here for the full reviews.
A big thanks to Radio NZ and Chris Watson (SOUNZ, NZ on Air) for their work and support on this film and recording project.
BBC Symphony Orchestra recording
Anthony's A Bugle Will Do for orchestra is being recorded by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Pascal Rophe, for BBC 3. The recording takes place June 23, and will be broadcast in 2015-16, as part of a focus on music from the Southern Hemisphere.
A Belgium premiere
The Belgium choir Aquarius is premiering a new 20-minute work by Anthony entitled Salaam on September 14, in Ghent, on 'Open Monuments day'. In the same concert they will be singing Anthony's Widow's Songs along with British composer Ed Hugh's A Buried Flame in a Burning Heart. The theme of the concert is 'Songs of Imprisonment.' Anthony will be traveling to Belgium for the occasion.
A new opera: premiere in Arts Festival Dunedin 2014
Anthony's new opera 'This Other Eden' is to be staged by Opera Otago in Arts Festival Dunedin, October 10-16 this year. The opera is based around a classic NZ story set in the 1820s in the Bay of Islands, featuring the missionaries Thomas and Jane Kendall, and their dealings with the Nga Puhi chief Hongi Hika. It's a story of ambition, lust and power, to a powerful script by Michelanne Forster. The production will feature a number of Music Department students and staff, the orchestra will be led by Violin lecturer Tessa Petersen, and the musical director is alumnus Tecwyn Evans. If you would like to contribute towards this production visit the website Boosted.
Symphony No.4 premiere
Anthony's Symphony No.4 was premiered on February 22, the third anniversary
of the devastating Christchurch earthquake. It was performed in the Royal Airforce
Museum by The Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, with soprano Jenny Wollerman
and conductor Tom Woods. Reviews of the work have been very positive. Ian Dando,
writing in The Listener said:
"Ritchie's unflinching dissonances in the codettas and the unself-conscious
abrasiveness in the entire work add assured forcefulness to hi s style. Such new-
won expressive range unequivocally betokens the omnipresence of truth - that
prime ingredient of any artistic magnum opus, which this work certainly is...
The evening belonged to Ritchie's symphonically unconventional masterpiece."
Reviewing in The Press, David Sell wrote:
"I found it a most moving work, its expressive climax being Station 12, with its
references to the opening chorus of Bach's St John Passion. The intensity of Ritchie's
own feeling on the destruction of his own town is unmistakable.
But its strength goes well beyond the circumstance, and needs no programme to
reveal its power in pure music."
The symphony is based around the 14 stations of the cross, as portrayed in Llew Summers' wonderful sculptures that are now trapped in the ruined Catholic Cathedral, in Christchurch. It also uses poems by Bernadette hall that are paired with the sculptures in the book, The Way of the Cross, published in 2005 to celebrate the centenary of the cathedral. In the symphony, the suffering of Jesus Christ is made analogous to the suffering of Christchurch during the recent earthquakes.
The symphony was recorded for CD by Atoll Records, and will be released later in 2014. The Centre for NZ Music also filmed the premiere, and this will be made available on their website later in the year. Watch for news of these recordings.
Review of Symphonies No.1 and 2 on CD
British reviewer Nick Barnard had positive things to say about Anthony's CD Symphonies No.1 and 2, on Music Web International. Here are just two quotations:
"He strikes me as part of a small elite group of composers who have found - in their differing ways - a personal musical language that takes elements of contemporary musical culture, whether nominally classical, ethnic or popular and fuses the resulting conflation into works that speak with a relevance and depth to audiences who might otherwise feel the contemporary music genre was too unapproachable."
"What is not in any doubt is just how engaging and of real worth Ritchie's music is. Certainly it deserves to be far more widely known than it currently is outside of his native country. By now it should be clear that this is music that appeals to both the head and the heart and speaks using a voice that will touch those who do not normally respond to the traditional Classical Music idiom."
Some radio highlights
In November last year Anthony acted as Composer Mentor for the Todd Young Composers Competition, featuring student works performed by the NZSO. Anthony enjoyed working with these talented young composers, and also with conductor Tecwyn Evans. RNZ has made 2 radio programmes on the event, which are being aired on Sundays, April 14 and 21, at 8pm.
Anthony has also devised his own radio programme, featuring Dunedin composers who are associated with the University of Otago. This is being aired on Otago Access Radio (105.4 FM) on Wednesday nights at 8.30pm, and features student composers Corwin Newall, Chris Geddes, Kerian Varaine and staff composers John Drummond, Lou Kewene, Graeme Downes, as well as Anthony himself. The remaining composer is this year's Mozart Fellow, Samuel Holloway. Listen in, or catch the podcast from the Otago Access Radio website.
A Bugle Will Do makes the NZ Music Awards Finals
Anthony Ritchie's latest CD A Bugle Will Do has been selected for finals of the NZ Music Awards. Released earlier this year by Atoll Records, the CD features the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under conductor Tecwyn Evans playing Anthony's Symphony No.3 and three other compositions.
Symphony No.3 has already received The Listener's Supreme Achievement Award for the best new classical piece in 2010. Critic Marion Poole wrote that the symphony was "...compelling, rhythmically dynamic and unashamedly honest".
The title track for the CD, A Bugle Will Do, is an overture dedicated to war hero Sir Charles Upham, depicting scenes from his life. If there is a theme to the CD it is the theme of conflict and peace, whether physical or mental. The third track is Revelations, describing a near-death experience and the idea of life after death. The final track, French Overture, was composed in Paris and is a Kiwi's response to life in a big city with a long history.
Anthony's music is communicative, exciting and emotional and beautifully interpreted by New Zealand's world-class orchestra along with rising international star, Tecwyn Evans. The quality of the Atoll recording, produced in the Wellington Town Hall, is superb.
The CD A Bugle Will Do is a must-buy for followers of classical music. You can purchase it online from www.atollcd.com or from www.anthonyritchie.co.nz. The NZSO are also selling the CD through their online shop, and it is available from retail outlets Marbecks, Parsons etc.