JOHN RITCHIE (1921–2014)Four Zhivago Songs (1977)
2020 ◽
pp. 257-260
This chapter explores some New Zealand music from John Ritchie. Compact and tightly structured, this cycle is a model of its kind. It carries a powerfully evocative atmosphere with touching simplicity and directness. Ritchie has a gift for creating distinctive, repeated motifs that stay indelibly in the mind. He writes expertly for the voice, with arching lines in practicable spans, stretching over a wide range without strain. Vocal lines are so finely chiselled that pitches can be plotted with jewel-like precision, with time to gauge each interval cleanly in relation to the piano. The music maintains a natural fluency through changes of tempo and mood, from confiding intimacy and bitter reflection to emotional outpourings.