Andrew Downes - Finished Fields

Finished Fields

Instrumentation

baritone or mezzo-soprano and piano

Other Information

A cycle of 4 songs to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the death of Wilfred Owen. The songs are settings of poems by this great World War 1 poet: 1914; Futility; Asleep; Happiness.  The songs were composed for Jonathan Pugsley (baritone) and Duncan Honeybourne (piano), who gave the first performance at St Mary’s Church, Weymouth, Dorset, on Wednesday November 12th 2008, in a concert entitled Finished Fields, marking the 90th anniversary of both the death of Wilfred Owen and the end of World War 1. The concert was repeated on Friday November 14th at Holy Trinity Church, Eccleshall, Staffordshire.  The USA premiere was given by Paula Downes (soprano) and David Trippett (piano) at the Memorial Church, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts on March 27th 2009.