17.
ANDREW DOWNES PUBLISHED
WORKS
INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE saxophones; horns; Wagner tubas
Saxophones:-
EARTH DANCES Opus 47 (1991) 20' View
Score
for Saxophone Quartet
Commissioned by 'Saxtet' with funds from West
Midlands Arts and the Peter Whittingham Award, and
first performed by Saxtet on 2lst November 1991 at
the Birmingham and Midland Institute. Numerous performances have followed: in
Birmingham (Adrian Boult Hall), London (Royal
Festival Hall), and on Saxtet's world tour, in
Bombay, Perth, Los Angeles and many other venues.
'...a fascinating series of 5 pieces which reflect this composer's
developing interest in world culture and musics.
The new work is especially successful in its rhythmic aspect, which leads the
listener to a constant series of surprises and unexpected accents. It was
extremely well received.'
THE BIRMINGHAM POST
DREAMLAND soprano saxophone; soprano voice; piano - see
under Song Cycles page 3
Horns:-
SONATA FOR 4 HORNS Opus 22 (1981) 17' View Score
To hear a performance of Sonata for 4 Horns, played by the
Horns of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, click 1
2
3
Commissioned by the British Horn Society and first performed by Julian
Faultless, Ruth Wilkinson, James Lowe and Richard Duckett
at the Midlands Arts Centre, Cannon Hill, Birmingham
on October 18th 1981.
The American premiere took place on 28th March 1995 at the University of New
Mexico Composers' Symposium. The performers were Ellen and Doug Campbell, Stanislav Suchanek and James
Lowe. Subsequent American performances at the University of Oregon on 17th
October 1995 by the Doug Campbell Quartet, and at the 35th International Horn
Symposium at Indiana University on 7th June 2003 by David G.Elliott,
Joanne Filkins and Mick & Karin Sehmann.
The Vienna Horn Society (The 'Wiener Waldhornverein')
gave the first Austrian performance as a Horn Choir at a Salon Concert at the
Josefina Fraternity Hall in Vienna on 23rd January 1998, and as a result
commissioned a Suite for 6 Horns or Horn Choir from the composer (see below).
The Central England Ensemble Horn Quartet performed the second movement in the Eglise de la Madeleine, Paris, in February 2007, and the hornists of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra gave
performances of the entire work at Forest Theatre, Revnice,
Czech Republic in June 2012 and at the Synagogue, Floss, Germany in September
2012.
A CD recording of the Sonata was made in February 2001 by the Vienna Horn Society (performers: Roland Fritsch, Suzanne Langor, James Lowe and Roland Horvath). The CD, on the Aricord label and entitled Messen und Sonaten (CDA 30111), also includes Andrew Downes' Piano Sonata No.1 performed by Anne Madison, and was recorded in the Baumgarten Studios, Vienna, and produced by Joseph Kamykowsky (see Discography).
The Horns of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra have now recorded the work for
CD entitled "Andrew Downes: Music for Horns and
Wagner Tubas". It is released on the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Artesmon label (AS 729-2). This recording has been broadcast many
times on Musicians Page Radio, Los Angeles, USA. To purchase this CD, click here
SUITE FOR 6 HORNS OR HORN CHOIR Opus 69 (1999) 20' View
Score
To hear a performance of Suite for 6 Horns played by the Horns of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, click:
1. Prelude 2. La Chasse 3. Romantische Mitternacht 4. Blazon 5. Postlude
Commissioned by
the Vienna Horn Society (The 'Wiener Waldhornverein').
Recorded for CD by Roland Fritch, Suzanne Langor,
James Lowe, Roland Horvath, Jonathan Sharp and Michael Sollner,
conducted by Franz Sollner, in the Baumgarten Studios, Vienna, in May 2001 (CD on the Aricord label of music for horns and piano, entitled Schlosskonzert, also including Andrew Downes' Sonata for Horn and Piano played by James Lowe with
Anne Madison, produced by Josef Kamykowski. See Discography).
Performed by Horns from Chethams
School of Music also in the spring of 2001. The work was given its
Czech premiere at Podebrady Castle, near Prague, by
the Horns of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra on March 3rd 2009. In September 2012, horn students of the Brno Academy,
directed by Ondrej Vrabec,
gave a performance of the work in the St Wenceslaus Concert Hall, Nove Vcelnice, South Bohemia, Czech Republic. The Za rohem Horns Ensemble, directed
by Ondrej Vrabec, performed
the work at Brozny nad – fortress, Jamu, Brno,
Czech Republic in October 2012.
The Horns of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra have now recorded the work for
CD entitled "Andrew Downes: Music for Horns and
Wagner Tubas". It is released on the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Artesmon label (AS 729-2). This recording has been broadcast many times on Musicians
Page Radio, Los Angeles, USA. To purchase this CD, click here
SONATA FOR 8 HORNS Opus 53 (1994) 22' View
Score See
CD Review
To hear a performance of Sonata for 8 Horns, played by the
Horns of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, click 1 2 3 4 5
(5 movements)
Commissioned by James Lowe, Janice Lee Sperling
MD and the British Horn Trust, for Ellen Campbell and the Horn Octet of the
University of New Mexico. Premiered on 29th March 1995 in the Keller Hall of the University
of New Mexico, as part of the 1995 UNM Composers' Symposium. The performers were Stanislav
Suchanek, Ellen and Doug Campbell, James Lowe, Cori
Tardif, Jason Eklund, Derek Ross and Julie Rochau. Subsequent performances in
USA at Interlochen Centre for the Arts and the
International Horn Society Convention in Oregon. First British performance
December 5th 1995 in the Adrian Boult Hall,
Birmingham.
Stanislav Suchanek, who
played first horn in the first performance, introduced the work to his
colleagues in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, with the result that the first
Czech performance, by the Horns of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, took place
at the International Horn class '97 at Nove Straseci on 2nd August 1997 with further performances in
the Suk Hall of the Rudolfinum, Prague (January 1998
and December 2001), at the Lichtenstein Palace, Prague (August 1998), Bertramka Mozarteum (August
2005), Nove Straseci
(August 2002 and 2005), at the Church Stretton and
South Shropshire Festival (UK) in July 2005, and at the Engelbert
Schmid Concert Hall, Mindelzell,
Bavaria, Germany in September 2008. They recorded the work in 1998 for
Czech Radio and for CD entitled 'Czech Philharmonic Horns' (Classicprint
label CPVP12CD - see Discography).
An excellent review of the CD can be found by clicking
here: - the CD was awarded 5 stars and voted CD of the month
(September 2000) and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in November 2000, on
Dutch Radio in April and August 2001, and twice on Austrian Radio in
2002. The CD has also
been broadcast many times on Musicians Page Radio, Los Angeles, USA. To purchase CD,
click here
As a result of the CD, Andrew Downes was commissioned
to compose a Concerto for 4 Horns and Orchestra, which was premiered by the
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Valek
in the Dvorak Hall, Prague, on 28th February and 1st March 2002, and a work for
8 Wagner Tubas for the 2005/6 Czech Philharmonic season. Downes'
Sonata for Brass Sextet, dedicated to Stanislav Suchanek and the Czech Philharmonic Brass as a token of the
composers' gratitude for the wonderful interpretation of his Sonata for 8
Horns, was premiered in the Dvorak Hall, Prague, on 21st February 2001 (see next page).
'This is an excellent addition to the horn ensemble repertoire... has plenty to
engage all eight players, as well as the listener.. a challenging and satisfying piece.'
John Pineguy - THE HORN MAGAZINE
'...25 minutes of real quality, immediately attractive, deeply-felt, elegantly
idiomatic in scoring, and profoundly memorable.
'The music paints the wide open spaces of New World landscapes, buoyed
up with the upbeat rhythms of Africa. Melodies ride broadly over compelling
textures or dance gravely in echoes of the Renaissance. A scherzo movement
revels in the horn's natural 'hunting' quality...'
THE BIRMINGHAM POST
Recorded
samples of Andrew Downes' music and how to order CDs
and videos
CONCERTO FOR 4 SOLO HORNS AND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - see SOLO INSTRUMENTS WITH ORCHESTRA p.13
FIVE DRAMATIC PIECES FOR EIGHT WAGNER TUBAS Opus 80 (2002) 25'
This work was commissioned by the horns of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, who gave the first performance on 18th October 2005 in the Dvorak Hall of the Rudolfinum, Prague.
Article and photographs by Rosemary Cooper:-
The World Premiere of Andrew Downes’ 5 dramatických částí pro 8 Wagnerových tub opus 80 (5 Dramatic Pieces for 8 Wagner Tubas) commissioned by the hornists of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, was given on Tuesday October 18th 2005 at the Dvorak Hall, Rudolfinum, Prague, in the Czech Republic. The new work was played as the first item in the second half of the concert, the interval giving the players the opportunity to adjust their embouchures from horn to Wagner Tuba.
The work is in five movements: Prelude (Úvod), Dawn of Love (Úsvit lásky), New Life (Nový život), Meditation (Hloubání-rozjimáni), Jubilate: O be Joyful (Vesele,rodostnĕ,jásavĕ).
Prelude begins quietly, but builds to two exciting crescendos. The monumental chords could almost be seen rising to the roof in the wonderful acoustic of the Dvorak Hall.
Dawn of Love starts with a rising motif with a quiet, pulsating accompaniment, and builds to climaxes of dramatic intensity and emotion.
New Life is a bubbling, buoyant movement, suggestive, perhaps, of a baby bouncing up and down on its parent’s lap. This is interspersed by two quiet, reflective and profound passages.
In Meditation each instrument in turn, accompanied by the others, has its voice. The movement is also characterised by chordal passages reminiscent of a choir singing antiphonally in Renaissance-like polyphony.
Jubilate: O be Joyful is rhythmically and emotionally charged throughout. Intermittent bursts of joyous music finally dominate and end the movement.
The performance by the Czech Philharmonic Hornists was outstanding. Their sense of ensemble, immaculate intonation and velvet tone were truly remarkable. The audience gave the performance a long and enthusiastic ovation and many compliments. A number of people on the day following the performance said they had been unable to sleep because of excitement!
The
Horns of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra have now recorded the work for CD
entitled "Andrew Downes: Music for Horns and
Wagner Tubas". It is released on the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Artesmon label (AS 729-2). To hear a sound sample, or
to purchase the CD using credit/debit cards, click on http://www.andrewdownes.com
Meditation from this CD was broadcast on Rhubarbradio.com in July 2011,
and the recording of the whole work
has been broadcast many times on Musicians Page Radio, Los Angeles, USA.
An arrangement for mixed brass ensemble, by Rachel Coles, of the Jubilate, was performed, as part of Music for Youth, by the Northamptonshire Youth Brass Ensemble, conducted by Rachel Coles, in Cripps Hall of Northampton School for Boys on March 17th 2012.