Commissioned by the McLaren Vale Music Festival Association for the Coriole Music Festival
The Blessing (2021)
25 minutes
for mezzo-soprano and oboe
Vocal
Andrew Ford’s vocal works are among his best known, and several of them have won awards, notably Learning to Howl, which won the prestigious Paul Lowin Prize in 2004.
Please click work titles for more information and resources (audio, sheet music, program note etc.) about individual works in this category.
Red Dirt Hymns (2020 -)
Voices and instruments
This is a work in progress. Each song has words by a different Australian poet. Individual songs have different and variable instrumentation.
1. Gone (Jordie Albiston)
2. The New Summer (David McCooey)
3. Hymn of the Garden (John Kinsella)
4. dark cloud (Ellen van Neerven)
5. Isolation Hymn (Judith Bishop) *
6. Rain Hymn (Judith Beveridge)
7. What Desire Knows (Sarah Holland-Batt) +
8. Ultraviolet (Stephen Edgar) *
9. Our Mother's Heart (Kate Fagan)
10. Between Birds (Merlinda Bobis)
11. To Whom Do We Sing? (Mark Wakely)
12. Respair (Felicity Plunkett)
13. This Is to You (Philip Harvey)
14. My Octopus Teacher (Alison Flett)
15. Waiting for the Clouds (Martha Marlow)
16. Syreeni (Maria Takolander)
17. South Golden Beach (Lisa Brockwell)
* Commissioned by Kim Williams + Commissioned by Opera Queensland for its Young Artists Program
Nature (2019)
23 minutes
for mezzo-soprano and ensemble
flute (= piccolo), percussion (tabla, crotales, wind chimes and temple block), guitar and cello
N.B. the percussion part is written for an improvising tabla player, though it can be played on other hand drums
Commissioned for Halcyon (Sydney), Haga Duo with Karin Lovelius and Suranjana Ghosh (Stockholm), Lina Andonovska and Crash Ensemble (Dublin) and Elisabeth Holmertz and Poul Høxbro (Oslo), with financial assistance from the Australia Council of the Arts, the Australian Government's arts funding and advisory body.
First performance by Karin Lovelius (mezzo-soprano), Sareidah Hildebrand (flute), Suranjana Ghosh (percussion), Joakim Lundström (guitar), Mattias Rodrick (cello), Norrtullskyrkan, Söderhamn, Sweden, 5 September 2019
The Moor (2019)
2 minutes
for mezzo-soprano and guitar
A song from the cycle Nature
Nigh-No-Place (2018)
3 minutes
for mezzo-soprano and flute
A song from the cycle Nature
No One Could Relax around Jezebel (2017)
14 minutes
for soprano and percussion
soprano, metal percussion
Commissioned by Julian Burnside AO QC for Jane Sheldon and Claire Edwardes
First performance by Jane Sheldon and Claire Edwardes, Port Fair Spring Music Festival, Reardon Theatre, Port Fairy, 13 October 2018
Comeclose and Sleepnow: six Liverpool love songs (2016)
27 minutes
for singer and 14 instruments
flute (= piccolo), clarinet in B flat, bass clarinet, alto sax, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, vibes, drum kit, piano, electric guitar, violin, double bass
Commissioned by the Monash Art Ensemble
First performance by Gian Slater, Monash Art Ensemble directed by Paul Grabowsky (piano), Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music, Monash University, Melbourne, 13 October 2017
In transit (2014-16)
15 minutes
for piano and speaker
Commissioned by Ian Munro, Roy Howat, Joel Sachs and Aura Go, with the support of a project grant from the Music Funds of the Australia Council for the Arts
First performance by Ian Munro (piano), Andrew Ford (speaker), Arts in the Valley Festival, Kangaroo Valley, NSW, 6 May 2017
A Pitch Dark Night (2014)
4 minutes
for baritone, piccolo, trumpet and piano
First performance by David Greco (baritone), David Shaw (piccolo), Leanne Sullivan (trumpet), James Huntingford (piano), conducted by Roland Peelman, Canberra International Music Festival, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 8 May 2015
After the Visitors (2014)
3 minutes
for mezzo-soprano and string quartet
Commissioned by Katie Noonan with financial assistance from the Australia Council for the Arts
First performance by Katie Noonan and the Brodsky Quartet, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane, 28 April 2016