Abstract
Inspired by a near-death experience, this tone-poem is full of colourful musical images and sharp contrasts of mood. It is sharp-edged in tone and challenging in performance.
Commissioned by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for its 1998 subscription series, 'Revelations' (1998) is a journey through states of high tension and levity, influenced by Ritchie's meditation on what happens to us after we die, and the near-death experiences that suggest an answer to this question.
After opening with an extended passage of dark drama led by writhing contours in the string section, the work is released into lighter material, eventually incorporating fanfare-like statements. In his review of Revelations, MusicWeb Interntional U.K. writer Nick Barnard wrote “This is a highly impressive work on every level and one that deserves far greater dissemination.”