Andrew Downes - Song of the Prairies

Song of the Prairies

Instrumentation

SATB soloists, semi-choir of high voices, full chorus and orchestra.

Other Information

Poem by William Cullen Bryant

Commissioned by the Shrewsbury School Sixth Singing Weekend and first performed in the Alington Hall of Shrewsbury School in April 1989 by soloists, Jacqueline Parker (soprano), Sally Burchell (mezzo soprano), Elfred James (tenor), Darron Moore (bass), Cantamus Girls´ Choir (director Pamela Cook), a massed chorus from all over Britain and Birmingham Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra under the direction of John Rutter.
Second performance took place in March 1991 in the Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham:

´...the Polytechnic Chorus, Conservatoire Singers and Sinfonia under Peter Johnson performed Andrew Downes´s Song of the Prairies with a warmth of sincerity to match that of this popular composer.
´In Downes´s typically jazzy/pastoral/reflective style, this major work topically deals with man´s destructive influence upon innocent nature, and strikes a chord in us all.´
THE BIRMINGHAM POST