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
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. 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).
SUITE FOR 6 HORNS OR HORN CHOIR Opus 69 (1999) 20'
View Score
5 movements: Prelude; La Chasse; Romantische Mitternacht; Blazon; 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.
SONATA FOR 8 HORNS Opus 53 (1994) 22'
View Score
PLAY sample
track : movement 4 - Horns of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. /
Review
(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 at the University of New
Mexico 1995 Composers' Symposium on 29th March 1995. 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) and at the Church
Stretton and South Shropshire Festival (UK) in July 2005. 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 on www.musicweb.uk.net - 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.
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 by Rosemary Cooper:-
for photograph see http://www.wagner-tuba.com/downes_wt_5pieces.htm
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 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!