By:

• Anthony Ritchie

Duration:

09' 00"

Instrumentation:

2(1pc)222; 2200; timp (4),2perc(bs-dr,s-dr, tamtam, xylo, glock, sus cym); strs

Contents:

one movement

Samples

	Recording (469k)	From 5:55 - 6:55	© Ribbonwood
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Availability

• This work has a score and 2 recordings

Programme Note

‘Beginnings’ was commissioned by Auckland Philharmonia. It was inspired by the birth of Ritchie’s son Tristan. It depicts the slowly mounting tension of the labour, through to the birth itself. There is a gradual growth in the music from small, delicate gestures into wild and pulsating ones towards the end. The child is represented by a ‘little Tristan waltz’ which eventually gets caught up in the musical frenzy. The waltz sequence imposes order on the music, which tends to be fragmentary and changeable. There are some echoes of Bartok and Debussy in this early work, and it presents a good challenge for a professional orchestra.

Commissioned:

Commissioned by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

• Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

Difficulty:

Advanced

Influences

• Impressionism
• Birth

Dedication:

To Tracy and Tristan