11.
ANDREW DOWNES PUBLISHED
WORKS
INSTRUMENTAL SOLO - piano; organ; violin; trumpet
(for SOLO INSTRUMENT WITH PIANO ACCOMPANIMENT see
page 12)
Piano:-
SONATINA FOR PIANO Opus 3 (1974) 9' View
Score
To hear a performance of Sonatina for Piano, click: movement 1 movement 2 movement 3
3 movements - allegro moderato; moderato, legato; presto.
The composition of this work was begun while Andrew Downes was studying at the
Royal College of music with Herbert Howells, who wrote of Andrew Downes in his
report: `In a quiet (but strong) way one of the most effective composers coming
to me these days. I have very considerable hopes for him.' HH.
First performed by Malcolm Wilson at Birmingham Conservatoire on 5th May 1975.
Included as one of the recommended works for the 1997 International Piano
Competition at the Ecole Franco-Italienne, Paris. Performance by Duncan
Honeybourne, as part of the Birmingham Conservatoire Music Extra Festival in
March 2001, recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Performed by Duncan
Honeybourne, together with Herbert Howells' own Sonatina for Piano, in a
recital at Birmingham Cathedral on l lth May 2001. Duncan also played the work
in a recital at Wednesbury Art Gallery on May 11th 2005. Performed by David
Trippett on the ‘Festival Musiques en Mer’ Mediterranean cruise, August 2002.
Arrangement of second movement for guitar and electric bass guitar, entitled 'Cool Largo', recorded by Simon Dinnegan and Fred T.Baker for CD entitled Concerto for Two Guitars which also includes Andrew Downes' Concerto for Guitar, Bass Guitar and Strings (Classicprint label CPVP013CD).
A CD of Andrew Downes' piano music, recorded by Duncan Honeybourne on the new Steinway Grand piano in Bournemouth Pavilion on May 15th 2005, has now been released on the Lynwood Music label. This recording has been broadcast many times on Musicians Page Radio, Los Angeles, USA To purchase CD, click here
Recorded samples of
Andrew Downes' music and how to order CDs and videos
PIANO SONATA No.1 Opus 12 (1976) 15' View
Score
To hear a performance of Piano Sonata no.1 on YouTube,
click: movement
1 movement
2 movement
3
3 movements - 'slow - much faster'; andante; allegro molto.
First performed by Malcolm Wilson at the Birmingham School of Music on May 3rd
1978. Subsequently broadcast by Richard Wise, as part of his winner's recital
in the BRMB Young Musician's competition in 1983. The work has since formed
part of numerous prize-winning recitals by young musicians, in particular by
pupils of Beryl Chempin.
Duncan Honeybourne, in his concerts championing the piano music of 20th century British composers, has performed the work at numerous venues, including the Courtyard Theatre, Hereford, as part of the Three Choirs Festival (August 2000); the British Music Information Centre (October 2000); St Martin-in-the-Fields, London (November 2000); Birmingham Cathedral (February 2001); the Birmingham and Midland Institute (October 2001); Wednesbury Art Gallery (November 2001); Weymouth Arts Centre (August 2002); Wey Valley School, Weymouth (October 2002); Clevedon Music Club (September 2002); the Minster Church, Axminster (October 2002); Christchurch, Nailsworth (April 2003); the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham (July 2003); and a performance at Birmingham Conservatoire recorded for a CD of the Central Composers' Alliance in November 2000. The Sonata was performed by David Trippett on the ‘Festival Musiques en Mer’ Mediterranean Cruise in August 2002; by Jonathan French at the English Music Festival in Stratford upon Avon in 2002 and 2005; and by pupils of Duncan Honeybourne - Joshua Weller at Bryanston School (May 2005), and Alex Hoang at St Peter's Church, Poole (Movement 1, July 2009).
A set of 2 CD recordings of Vienna Horns and Piano, made February-May 2001 by the 'Wiener Waldhornverein' (Vienna Horn Association), include this Sonata, played by American pianist, Anne Madison. (The CDs - entitled Messen und Sonaten and Schlosskonzert - also include Andrew Downes' Sonata for Horn and Piano, Sonata for 4 Horns and Suite for 6 Horns). Anne Madison gave the first American performance of the Sonata no.1 for Piano in Nebraska on 29th November 2001, and the first Austrian performance at a concert of the Austrian Music Association in Vienna on 7th December 2001, besides performing the work in Birmingham Cathedral in April 2002, at Birmingham Conservatoire in October 2003, and at the Haus der Komponisten, Vienna, in June 2004. The CDs can be purchased by emailing downlyn@globalnet.co.uk , or using credit/debit cards through www.andrewdownes.com.
'This thoroughly attractive music, with an accent on charm and a most satisfactory feeling for structure, was well served by Mr Wilson, who gave it a sensitive reading. Here is a composer who has musical things to say and the technical skill to work them through in contactable contemporary terms.' BIRMINGHAM POST (following the world premiere by Malcolm Wilson).
'........a triumph for the soloist and for the thoroughly modern composer.'
YORKSHIRE POST
'Andrew Downes has the gift of composing in an easy communicative style without
compromising his artistic personality.'
Malcolm Wilson
'Truly beautiful.'
John Ogdon
A CD of Andrew Downes' piano music, recorded by Duncan Honeybourne on the
new Steinway Grand piano in Bournemouth Pavilion on May 15th 2005, has now been
released on the Lynwood Music label. This recording has been broadcast
many times on Musicians Page Radio, Los Angeles, USA. To purchase CD, click here
Recorded samples of
Andrew Downes' music and how to order CDs and videos
PIANO SONATA No.2 Opus 82 (2002) 20' View Score
To hear a performance of Piano Sonata no.2 on YouTube,
click: movement
1 movement
2 movement
3
Specially composed for Duncan Honeybourne and first performed by Duncan at the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin, on 9th March 2003, with a second performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin on 10th March 2003. Subsequent performances by Duncan Honeybourne in Wednesbury Art Gallery (June 2003); Oban Cathedral, Scotland (August 2003); Elgin Library, Scotland (August 2003); Woodwick House, Orkney (August 2003); the Church of St. Lawrence Jewry - London premičre (1st September 2003); Kidderminster Library (September 2003); the Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham (September 2003 and June 2005); Weymouth Arts Centre (March 2004); St Mary's Church, Swanage (January 2005); Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery (May 2005); Bournemouth Pavilion (May 2005); All Saints Church, Newland, Forest of Dean (June 2005); Harting Music Club, West Sussex (November 2005); and Chichester University (April 2007). David Trippett performed the work at the National Portrait Gallery, London, in August 2004.
‘Downes has long loved the writing of Thomas Hardy and the distinctive personality of Hardy’s deeply rural home county, Dorset, a land eloquently depicted and reflected in the poet’s work. He wanted to give the Sonata a Dorset flavour on account of Duncan Honeybourne’s Dorset birth, and the second movement is especially rich in quotations from Downes’ Hardy settings... This deeply reflective, sensuous and haunting work today receives its world premiere.’ Duncan Honeybourne - programme note to the first performance.
The Sonata was analysed in an illustrated talk given by Michael Jones at the Malvern Hills Piano Holiday in August 2003 and also in the British Music Society News (www.musicweb.uk.net/BMS).
'The Sonata was well received by a sizeable audience who regularly support the Wednesbury Music Club and it is refreshing to experience a premiere where the music communicates effectively in the way premieres were regarded at the beginning of the 20th century, when such events were just that - an event. Duncan Honeybourne’s performance was the central point of an excellent recital...' Michael Jones BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY NEWS
'Pianist Duncan Honeybourne played Downes' powerful, Hardy-inspired Second Sonata without a hint of self consciousness. In this work, as in much of Downes' music, short contrasted passages gradually yield to a sense of quiet exaltation - but so naturally that a flashy performance is unnecessary.
'With unaffected and sincere playing, the music speaks eloquently for itself; humane, optimistic and often extremely beautiful...Honeybourne immersed himself completely in Downes' musical language.' Richard Bratby BIRMINGHAM POST
A CD of Andrew Downes' piano music, recorded by Duncan Honeybourne on the new Steinway Grand piano in Bournemouth Pavilion on May 15th 2005, has now been released on the Lynwood Music label. This recording has been broadcast many times on Musicians Page Radio, Los Angeles, USA To purchase CD, click here
7 PRELUDES FOR PIANO Opus 89 (2006) 20'
To hear a performance of 7 Preludes for Piano on YouTube,
click below:
1. Solitude ; 2. Leaves in Autumn ; 3. Winter Lanes ; 4. Spring Lambs ; 5. Summer Calypso ; 6. Daybreak in the Fields ;
7. Storm Force
Specially composed for Duncan Honeybourne who gave the first performance on the 2nd March 2006 in the Chapel of the Ascension at Chichester University. This performance was recorded for CD (see Discography). To purchase CD, email.downlyn@globalnet.co.uk Each of the preludes, played by Duncan at this world premiere, can be heard on YouTube. They have also been broadcast many times on Musicians Page Radio, Los Angeles, USA. To hear them, click on each of the titles above.
Subsequent performances by Duncan at the Dorset Rural Music School in Blandford Forum (April 2006), the Parish Church of St Francis of Assisi, Bourneville, Birmingham (June 2006), Birmingham Conservatoire (November 2006, and November 2010 as part of Andrew Downes' 60th birthday concert), Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery (October 2007) and Prelude 3 (Winter Lanes) at the Royal Northern College of Music (December 2006). Three of the preludes were played by Michael Jones at Kidderminster Art Gallery (October 2007) in a concert in which he also accompanied violinist Anna Downes who performed Andrew Downes' The God Marduk and Sonata for Violin and Piano. Michael Jones has also performed individual movements from the Preludes and other piano works by Andrew Downes on several occasions in the UK Midlands. In February 2013, Mark Lockett performed the 7 Preludes in his recital entitled ‘Frontiers’ at Birmingham Conservatoire, and also played a set of his own pieces, one of which was dedicated to Andrew Downes.
IN MEMORIAM HERBERT HOWELLS Opus 97 (2008) 6'
Composed at the request of the Royal Forest of Dean Herbert Howells Society to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Howells' death. World premiere given by Duncan Honeybourne at St Mary's Church, Lydney, Gloucestershire, on July 11th 2008, as part of the 2008 Lydney Festival. Subsequent performances by Duncan include ones at All Saints Church, Newland, Gloucestershire (July 2008), St Mary’s Church, Weymouth (June 2009), St Michael’s Church, Lyme Regis (June 2009), the Baptist Church, Lydney (November 2009), and Radley College, Oxfordshire, as part of the English Music Festival (May 2013).
FANFARE FOR MADAM SPEAKER: Piano arrangement of the Fanfare
composed for Betty Boothroyd. See page 18
PRELUDE: THE FOREST AT DAWN: Piano transcription by Duncan Honeybourne. See Organ below.
Organ:-
PRELUDE FANFARE & POSTLUDE FOR ORGAN Opus 9 (1975) 15'
View
Score
First performed by John Bishop in Birmingham Cathedral on 6th May 1976.
Broadcast by John Bishop on BBC Radio 3 on 27th December 1979. Performed in
many of the country's concert halls, churches and cathedrals, in particular by
John Bishop, Martin Schellenberg, Robert Green, Richard Silk, Duncan
Honeybourne and Graham Williams. The Postlude
was performed by Carson P Cooman at the Memorial Church, Harvard
University, USA on March 14th 2007.
PRELUDE: THE FOREST AT DAWN Opus 78(a) (2000) 5'12''
Commissioned and published by the Incorporated Society of Organists in their Millennium Organ Book (ISMN M9002031). Recorded by Paul Hale for Incorporated Society of Organists CD entitled Fanfare for the Millennium (see Discography). Premiered by Paul Hale at Southwell Minster on 4th November 2000. Numerous subsequent performances and broadcasts include ones by Thomas Trotter in Birmingham Cathedral in December 2000; by Christopher Totney on the organ of Durham Cathedral on Easter Sunday, 2005; by Anthony Cairns at Christ Church, Leatherhead (2008) and performances by David Bruce Payne and Duncan Honeybourne in the South West of England.
Duncan Honeybourne has transcribed this work for piano, and has included it in this form in many piano recitals and on his CD entitled Piano Music from the Midlands (see Discography). This version has been broadcast many times on Musicians Page Radio, Los Angeles, USA.
To hear a performance of this version of The Forest at Dawn on
YouTube, click here:
SONATA FOR ORGAN OPUS 92 (2006) 22'
Commissioned by Robert Green, who gave the world premiere at St David’s Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK, on Wednesday 22nd August 2007.
INTRODUCTION AND ALLEGRO FOR SOLO ORGAN OPUS 94 (2007) 12'
Commissioned by American organist Carson Cooman, who premiered the work at the Memorial Church, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA on 22nd June 2008, and has given subsequent performances at Christ Episcopal Church, Portola Valley, California, (July 2008); at First Unitarian Society, Newton, Massachusetts (July 2008); at Christ United Church, Worcester, Massachusetts (August 2008); and at Salem Hills Parish, Nantucket, Massachusetts (August 2008).
Organ with brass see INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE page 18
Organ with choir see CHORAL ACCOMPANIED page 8
Organ with orchestra see SYMPHONY NO.1 page 21
Violin:-
SACRED MASS FOR SOLO VIOLIN Opus 75 (2000) 15' View
Score
Commissioned by James Coles for performances in Churches and Cathedrals in
Normandy and in the South of France.
Recorded in the summer of 2001 by James Coles for his CD entitled echos d'ete
(CYR 1). The USA premiere was given at the Chapel of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston, USA, on March 6th 2008 by Anna Downes,
who also performed the Kyrie and Gloria from the work in a
concert at St Saviour's Church, Hagley, Worcestershire UK, on July 10th 2010.
(for SOLO INSTRUMENT WITH PIANO ACCOMPANIMENT see
page 12)
Trumpet:-
MEDITATIONS FOR SOLO TRUMPET Opus 38 (1986) 3' View
Score
Commissioned by Richard Adams of the Cambrian Brass Ensemble and first
performed by him at St.Paul's Church, Hockley, Birmingham, on June 17th
1986.
Subsequently performed as part of numerous student recitals at Birmingham
Conservatoire.
THE LAST TRUMPET Opus 46 (1990) 1'7" View
Score
Specially composed for the BBC Radio 3 programme, 'The Offering of Life', by
the Rev Canon Denis Claringbull, recorded in St. Paul's Church, Hockley,
Birmingham, and broadcast on the 3rd February 1991. The trumpet soloist was
Garry Page. Performed as part of numerous student recitals at Birmingham
Conservatoire.
(for SOLO INSTRUMENT WITH PIANO ACCOMPANIMENT see page
12)