Anthony Ritchie Gallipoli to the Somme (European premiere)
Simon Over Conductor
Annabel Drummond violin
Anna Leese soprano
Jon Stainsby baritone
City Choir Dunedin
The Parliament Choir
Even in the darkest hours, music endures. You could scarcely believe that a hundred years ago, in the same decade Europe was ravaged by the Great War, Vaughan Williams and Ravel wrote such cloudless masterworks. To find a way forward through such testing times, both composers drew upon earlier musical hallmarks, symbols of what once made mankind good, and would again. A hundred years on, New Zealand composer Anthony Ritchie in turn echoes the evergreen sounds of Vaughan Williams. His powerful oratorio remembers the everyday people who strived to retain hope and dignity as the First World War shattered their humanity.
Sometimes the simplest music can be the most powerful. From a lone violin line and a plaintive melody of centuries before, Vaughan Williams spins gold in his two most-loved masterpieces.
