Regarded as a New Zealand classic, Ritchie's Concertino (1960) takes its special force from what might be called the typically semi-detached New Zealand viewpoint. The Concertino is a superbly crafted achievement, its texture enriched by the idealism of the post-war English pastoralists, the neoclassicism of Walter Piston (who Ritchie studied with at Harvard in 1956-57), the delighted play of an imaginative harmonist, and the individualism of a New Zealander unconcerned with musical regionalism.
John Ritchie was one of New Zealand’s senior composers. Throughout a long composing career, he elected to write in an accessible and traditional manner, often in stark contrast to much of the work being produced by his contemporaries in the style of the European avant garde. He created a body of work which, while less well-known than it deserves to be, is loved and enjoyed by performers and audiences alike for its deft craftsmanship and pleasing melodic grace.
