flute (= piccolo), alto flute (= bass flute), oboe (= cor anglais), soprano sax, bass clarinet, bassoon (= contrabassoon), 3 horns, trumpet (= flugelhorn), tuba, percussion (one player), piano, harp, 4 violas and double bass
Commissioned by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs with financial assistance from the Performing Arts Board of the Australia Council
First performance by Gerald English (tenor), Sydney Philharmonia Motet Choir, Sydney Alpha Ensemble conducted by Antony Walker, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 25 September 1994
Reviews
A major event . . . was the first performance of Andrew Ford's cantata for solo tenor, chorus and orchestra, In somnia: not a musical recipe for keeping listeners awake, as it might be if its title were printed as one word, but a work designed to draw its hearers into the world of sleep and dreams. The writing for strings, wind, piano, harp and percussion is ingeniously detailed, the word-setting sensitive, the score as a whole haunting in its recurring treatment of sleep, dreams and the life of amorous imagination. I look forward to hearing another performance . . .
Roger Covell, The Sydney Morning Herald