Concerto for 4 Solo Horns and Symphony Orchestra
Instrumentation 4 horns in f and symphony orchestra |
Other Information Composed for the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and first performed by them with soloists Radek Baborak, Zdenek Divoky, Stanislav Suchanek and Ondrej Vrabek, conducted by Vladimir Valek, on 28th February 2002. A second performance took place the following evening, 1st March, and the work was recorded for and broadcast on Czech Radio in March 2003. The following extract is from the programmes note to the first performance:- ´The British composer Andrew Downes (born 1950) ranks today among the internationally acclaimed personalities. He has produced compositions of all genres: song cycles, choirs, cantatas, chamber pieces for various ensembles, symphonic compositions as well as church music. Downes´s chamber pieces are often written for the woodwinds - Downes pays special attention chiefly to flute and French horn ... Downes made a successful debut in Prague with his Sonata for 8 French Horns, and the horn section of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Horns, recorded this sonata for Czech Radio and a CD, which was well received and highly appreciated by experts. In February 2001, another Downes composition for brass instruments interpreted by members of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra was heard in the Dvorak Hall - Sonata for Brass Sextet. The premiere tonight - Concerto for 4 French Horns and Orchestra - was directly inspired by the interpretational art of the horn section of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.´ ´In my forty five years of listening to music seriously there have been some notable and unforgettable milestones. These include the first hearings of such masterworks as Beethoven´s Symphony no. 7, Dvorak´s Carnival Overture, Humphrey Searle´s The Riverrun (and, indeed, all else that he wrote) Irving Fine´s The Hour Glass, the music of Webern and now, Andrew Downes´s Concerto for four horns and orchestra Op.77, a truly staggering piece.´ DR DAVID WRIGHT, MUSICWEB
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