Composer, Writer & Broadcaster
Andrew Ford has composed a lot of works for orchestras, large and small, with and without soloists.
Please click work titles for more information and resources (audio, sheet music, program note etc.) about individual works in this category.
Text: Oodgeroo of the tribe Noonuccal (formerly Kath Walker) and Capt James Cook
Commissioned by the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra with the support of the Music Board of the Australia Council.
First performance by Russell Harcourt (counter-tenor), Lorna McGhee (flute and boatswain's call), William Barton (didgeridoo), Camerata of St John's conducted by Federico Mondelci, Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Riverway Arts Centre, Townsville, Queensland, 4 August 2009
1(=alto fl, picc)-1(=cor ang)-1(=bs clar)-1(=contrabsn) / 1-1-1-1 / 2 perc / pno / hp / 1-1-1-1-1
Commissioned by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble with the support of the Music Board of the Australia Council.
First performance by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble conducted by the composer, Rodef Shalom, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 20 January 1997
i Motherwell at the Guggenheim
ii Rothko I
iii Utopia Parkway: 13 Cornell Boxes
iv Rothko II
v Blue Poles
N.B. Movements may be performed separately.
i. solo violin and string orchestra
ii. 5-5-3-3-1
iii. 5-5-3-3-1 and toy instruments
iv. 5-5-3-3-1
v. string orchestra
The whole piece may be played by 17 solo strings, but larger forces may be employed in the two outer movements.
Commissioned by the Australian Chamber Orchestra
First performance of Rothko I & II by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Roger Smalley, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 25 September 1994.
First performance of Utopia Parkway by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, conducted by the composer, Huntington Festival, Huntington Estate Winery, Mudgee, NSW, 1 December 1994.
First performance of Blue Poles by Canberra School of Music Chamber Orchestra conducted by Tor Fromyhr, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, October 2002.
First performance of Motherwell at the Guggenheim by Christina Katsimbardis (violin), Australian Youth Orchestra (NMC), conducted by John Harding, Llewellyn Hall, Australian National University, Canberra, 17 January 2004.
2(I=bass fl; II=picc)-2(II=cor ang)-2(I=Ebcl; II=bass cl)-sop sax-2(II=contrabsn) / 4-2-3-1 / 2 perc / timps (=lion's roar) / elec org (=cel, pno) / hp / 14-0-0-4-3
First performance by Sue-Ellen Paulsen and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra conducted by En Shao, Odeon Theatre, Hobart, 22 August 1995
0-2-0-1(=contrabsn) / 2-0-0-0 / 4-4-3-2-1
Commissioned by the Australian Chamber Orchestra
First performance by Richard Tognetti and Julian Shevlin (violins), Cameron Retchford (cello), Australian Chamber Orchestra conducted by the composer, Eugene Goossens Hall, Sydney, 23 July 1993
2(2+picc)-2-2-2 / 4-2-3-1 / 2 perc /hp / strings
Commissioned by Tall Poppies Records
First performance by Australian Youth Orchestra conducted by Graham Abbott, Eugene Goossens Hall, Sydney,
Text: Margaret Morgan
5-5-3-3-1 (double bass also plays tubular bell)
First performance by Gerald English and the Australian Chamber Orchestra conducted by David Stanhope, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 10 May 1992
Concertino: vibraphone (also side drum), celesta, harp, electronic organ
Orchestra: 2(II=picc)-2(II=cor ang)-2(I=Ebcl; II=bass cl)-sop sax-2(II=contrabsn) / 4-2-3-1 / 2 perc / pno / strings
Commissioned by Lisa Moore with financial assistance from the Performing Arts Board of the Australia Council for the Arts
Concertino: bass clarinet, mandolin, guitar, celesta, harp, violin, viola and cello
String quintet: 1-1-1-2-0
String octet: 2-2-2-2-0
Orchestra I: 4(1=bass fl, picc; 2=picc; 4=alto fl)-3-0-3(3=contrabsn) / 0-0-0-0 / pno / 0-0-0-0-8
Orchestra II: 0-0-4(=bass cl)-0 / 0-0-0-0 / elec.org / hp / 0-0-10-0-0
Orchestra III: 0-0-0-0 / 6-6-4-2 / 6 perc / 0-0-0-0-0
1(=picc)-1(=cor ang)-1(=bass cl)-1(=contrabsn) / 1-1-0-0 / 1 perc / hp / 4-4-2-2-2 (or 1-1-1-1-1)
First performance by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Patrick Thomas, Arcadia Theatre, Sydney, 1 November 1985