Instrumentation
tenor solo, SATB choir and symphony orchestra
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Other Information
Cantata for tenor solo, SATB choir and symphony orchestra.
A setting of the poem by Sydney Lanier.
Commissioned by Birmingham School of Music to commemorate the Royal Opening of the Adrian Boult Concert Hall.
First performed in the Adrian Boult Hall on February 20th 1986 by John Mitchinson, tenor, with the Birmingham School of Music Choir and Symphony Orchestra conducted by Damian Cranmer, in the presence of HRH the Duchess of Gloucester. This performance was recorded on LP record, and re-released on CD in 2000. Extracts from this recording were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 ´Woman´s Hour´. A repeat performance of the work, by popular demand, took place within one month. The first performance outside Birmingham Conservatoire was by the Birmingham Festival Choral Society in 1987.
´Downes, not frightened by writing melodically, and realising the impact of lush harmonic sound, has created and structured a major choral work of imaginative stature.´ THE BIRMINGHAM POST
´What a lovely piece of music that is. A marvellous way to end our programme!´ BBC RADIO 4 WOMAN´S HOUR
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