Composer, Writer & Broadcaster
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.
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
Text: poems by Chrstopher Reid, Martin Turner, Anne Ridler, Craig Raine and Thomas Shapcott
Commissioned by Gerald English for his 70th birthday concert
First performance by Gerald English (tenor) and Marshall McGuire (harp), Eugene Goossens Hall, ABC Ultimo Centre, Sydney, 5 November 1995
Text:
poems by Onakatomi no Yoshinobu, Oshikochi no Mitsune, the Emperor Koko and Akahito (translated by Kenneth Rexroth)
First performance by Gerald English (tenor) and Helen O'Brien (piano), Piper's Brook Vineyard, Piper's Brook, Tasmania, February 1994
Arrangement of Epithalamium for voice and violin
Text: William Shakespeare from Act IV of The Tempest
First performance by Gerald English (tenor, Kathleen Gallagher (flute) and Sue-Ellen Pauslen (cello) Piper's Brook Vineyard, Piper's Brook, Tasmania, February 1994
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
This is the original version of Epithalamium. There is also an arrangement for voice, flute and cello, and an extended version for mezzo-soprano and string quartet.
Text:
William Shakespeare, Act IV of The Tempest
First performance by Gerald English (tenor), Alice Evans (violin), Michael Askill (tubular bell), Huntington Estate Winery, Mudgee, NSW, 30 November 1991
Text: poem by Craig Raine
First performance by Gerald English, Gregory Hill and Peter Clarken, University of Tasmania, Hobart, 13 June 1987
Text: poems by Christopher Reid
First performance by Gerald English and the Seymour Group conducted by the composer, Broadwalk Studio, Sydney Opera House, 9 August 1986
1. Chanson d'automne (Verlaine)
2. La cloche fêlée (Baudelaire)
3. Being beauteous (Rimbaud)
4. Encore un chapelet ( Anon. 13th cent.)
5. Colloque sentimental (Verlaine).
Voice, melody instrument (can be played by clarinet, soprano, alto or tenor saxophone, violin or any other instrument), harmony instrument (piano, organ, guitar, vibraphone or accordion, or any combination); score includes percussion suggestions
Commissioned by Mini Dekkers with funds from the Music Board of the Australia Council
First performance by Marjanne Kweksilber (soprano), Mini Dekkers Trio, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1 March 1987
Text:
poems by Elizabeth Smart
Commissioned by Elizabeth Campbell with funds from the Music Board of the Australia Council
First performance by Elisabeth Campbell (mezzo-soprano) and Anthony Fogg (piano), National Library of Australia, Canberra, 16 November 1986