Suite No.1 [CF:PME04S]

Rooted in the pastoral mode of Elgar and Vaughan Williams, Suite No.1 (1956) is an early manifestation of Ritchie's lifelong preoccupation with the ritornello as a basis for first-movement structure. The Air is a dreamy, slow-moving waltz with a folky feel, an intense middle section and a reprise that exploits a solo viola in its final bars. A prominent divisi viola sound features in the slow march that makes up the middle of the Intrada, while the Fugue's jaunty theme approaches jazz in spirit.