12.
ANDREW
DOWNES PUBLISHED WORKS
SOLO INSTRUMENT WITH PIANO
ACCOMPANIMENT :-
violin & piano; viola & piano; cello & piano;
piccolo & piano; flute & piano; oboe & piano; horn & piano;
violin, horn & piano
SONATA FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO
Opus 52 (1994) 25'
View Score
Specially composed for a concert dedicated to the memory of
Ernest Element, given on 3rd May 1994
in the Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham, by the Kingsdown Duo -
Roger Huckle, violin, and John Bishop, piano.
First Indian performance by John Mayer accompanied by Gillian
Mayer at the Calcutta School of Music,
also in 1994.
Numerous subsequent performances by the above artists and others,
including Alla Sharova with Gillian Mayer, Erich
Gruenberg with Daniel Adni, James Coles with Yoko Arai, David Chadwick with
Robert Markham and Robert Birchall, and many by the composer's daughters, Anna
and Paula.
First movement recorded for Central Composers' Alliance CD by
Anna Downes with Duncan Honeybourne in February 2001. Whole
Sonata performed by these same artists on l lth May 2001 in
Birmingham Cathedral.
'... Echoes of plainchant in an ostinato like opening
provided the springboard for an Allegro of
developing rhythmic complexity and melodic richness which drew to
a close with effective lyrical naivety.
'A more sombre Largo was again carefully and convincingly
shaped by the Duo, with its haunting
melodic lines.
'The finale skilfully entwined reflective mood with rhythmic
dynamism. This is a purposefully accessible
work whose consistency of style and sense of atmosphere ensured
its warm reception.'
THE BIRMINGHAM POST
POEME: 'THE GOD MARDUK' FOR VIOLIN & PIANO Opus 72 (1999)
6'
View Score
Composed
for the Russian violinist, Alla Sharova, for her concerts with pianist, Gillian
Mayer, as a result of their performances of the Sonata for Violin and Piano (see
above) and the Piano Quartet (see Arrangements of Andrew Downes' Music - page
23).
Their first performance took place at the Voices Chamber Ensemble concert at St.
John's Church, Fulham, London on 18th September 1999. Also performed by the
composer's daughters, Anna and Paula at several venues in Worcestershire and the
West Midlands
The God Marduk was the ancient Babylonian God. The music sums up the awe
inspiring aspect of
an ancient mythical God and also the playful nature
he was said to have.
SONATA FOR VIOLA AND PIANO Opus 68 (1998) 25'
Transcription by Cynthia Downes of the Sonata for Horn and Piano
(see below) for violist Phillip
Houghton and his accompanist Jasmina Kulaglich.
SONATA FOR CELLO AND PIANO Opus 86 (2001) 21'
First performed by Sharon McKinley, accompanied by Duncan Honeybourne, on 23rd April 2004, at the Birmingham Conservatoire Music Xtra Festival, in the Adrian Boult Hall.
‘... contrast (fierceness/lyricism, delicacy/drama) was explored through often ritualistic instrumental exchanges, generating a succession of evolving episodes. Pianist, Duncan Honeybourne... and cellist Sharon McKinley’s... pensive and tender dialogue in the third movement and the cello’s simple and dignified theme in the second delivered real emotional warmth.’ BIRMINGHAM POST
SONATA FOR DOUBLE BASS AND PIANO Opus 90 (2006) 20'
This sonata was composed for David Daly (Principal Double Bass, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra) and his accompanist, Duncan Honeybourne, who gave the first performance at Christchurch Priory on June 14th 2007 as part of the Christchurch Music Festival.
SONATA FOR PICCOLO & PIANO Op. 74 (2000) 20' View Score
Composed for Keith Bragg, Principal Piccolo and Chairman of the
Philharmonia Orchestra.
The first performance took place on 2nd August 2000 at the Town
Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon, as part of the Stratford-upon-Avon
International Flute Festival. Keith Bragg was accompanied by
Judith Keaney. Their second performance took place on 24th
October 2000 in the Recital Hall of Birmingham
Conservatoire. Performances in the USA by Michael Jordan and a CD recording by
Andrew Anson with Alistair Lilley are planned.
SONATA FOR FLUTE AND PIANO Opus 67 (1998) 25'
View Score
Specially composed for Carol Kniebusch Noe and first performed by
Carol with her accompanist, Vicky Berneking in the American
Cathedral, Paris, on 4th November 1999.Their second performance
took place on 31st March 2000 in the Wilson Auditorium, James
Madison University, Virginia USA.
Performed by Michael Jordan, accompanied by Thomas
Stumpf, on 6th April 2000, in Lexington, Boston, USA; by Andrew Anson with Alan
Cuckston on 13th February 2002 in the Recital Hall of Birmingham Conservatoire;
and by Andrew Anson with Alistair Lilley in St.John’s Smith Square, London, in
January 2004, and at Birmingham Conservatoire on October 20th 2004.
IN THE GARDENS OF BURDWAN - SONATA FOR OBOE & PIANO
Opus 55 (1994) 20'
View Score
PLAY sample
track : movement 4 - George Caird with Malcolm Wilson
Composed for George Caird, for first performance with accompanist,
Malcolm Wilson, at the Birmingham and
Midland Institute on 20th October 1995.
The work was composed during the months following the composer's
visit to the beautiful gardens of the
University of Burdwan in Bengal, India, and represents the
composer's emotional response to this
part of India.
George Caird and Malcolm Wilson recorded this work for CD entitled 20th
Century Music for Oboe and Piano in January 1999 (Classical Recording Co. CRC 1009-2).
Many performances of this work have taken place, in the UK and in Holland,
notably one by George Caird and Duncan Honeybourne in a concert of Music by
Andrew Downes, on June 21st 2005 in the Adrian Boult Hall Birmingham, to mark
the composer's retirement from Birmingham Conservatoire.
'... a substantial 4 movement Idyll, its sounds, as in all
this approachable composers'
output, genuinely imagined. Its combination of Indian inspiration
and ecclesiastical modality proved magical.'
BIRMINGHAM POST (21.10.95)
' In Downes' fantastic 1995 sonata In the Gardens of Burdwan, George Caird's oboe swung from raucous Indian piping to limpid English pastels exactly as this ravishing score demanded.' BIRMINGHAM POST (23.06.05)
Recorded
samples of Andrew Downes' music and how to order CDs and videos
SONATA FOR HORN AND PIANO Opus 68 (1998) 25'
View Score
Commissioned by Roland Horvath of the Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra, and first performed by James Lowe with Anne Madison in
the Theresianische Akademie, Vienna, on 17th March 2001, with subsequent
performances at a Hauskonzert bei Familie Horvath in Vienna (June 2001); at the
Osterreichische Gesellschaft fur Musik, Vienna (December 2001); in the Recital
Hall of Birmingham Conservatoire (April 2002); and the last movement in Trinity
Episcopal Cathedral, Omaha, Nebraska, USA (August 2002) and at the Haus der
Komponisten, Vienna (June 2004). James Lowe and
Anne Madison recorded the Sonata for CD entitled Schlosskonzert in March
2001 (This CD also includes Andrew Downes Suite for 6 Horns - Aricord label -
see Discography).
This work has been transcribed by Cynthia Downes for Viola and
Piano for Phillip Houghton and his
accompanist, Jasmina Kulaglich.
SONATA FOR VIOLIN, HORN AND PIANO Opus 93 (2007) 20’
This work was commissioned by the Brahms Trio Prague (Ondrej Vrabec, solo and principal horn, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Monika Vrabcova, violin; and Daniel Wiesner, piano), who gave the world premiere on 5th February 2008 in the Suk Hall of the Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic. They have recorded the work for CD, on the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Artesmon Label.
' ... a recording that deserves an international gramophone award... The three-movement work is thematically very tightly conceived... and has great emotional pull... his sonata has a distinct creative poetry... ' HARMONIE MAGAZINE, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (January 2008) Play final movement