Sleevenotes from PFCD257, Three Dramatic Cantatas by Andrew Downes
1 Cain and Abel Op. 21 (1981) [17:53]
Libretto by Cynthia and Andrew Downes
2 The Death of Goliath Op. 17 (1978) [19:12]
Libretto by Cynthia and Andrew Downes
3 A Child is Singing Op. 24 (1981) [18:11]
Poem by Adrian Mitchell with additional words by an anonymous survivor of Hiroshima and Cynthia and Andrew Downes
Total Time [55:17]
Andrew Downes’ Dramatic Cantatas: texts and contexts
by Cynthia Downes
Cain and Abel Op. 21 (1981)
Dramatic Cantata in the style of a Greek tragedy, for treble, alto and bass soloists, SATB chorus and piano.
Libretto by Cynthia and Andrew Downes.
Conscience of Adam: treble soloist & SATB chorus
Cain: alto
Adam: bass/baritone
To be performed in costume. Action by the principal characters and chorus should be simple, bold and stylish.
This work was commissioned to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Midland Boy Singers in 1961 by Peter and Alvena Grant. Andrew had been a founder member of this excellent choir. Alvena Grant, who was a teacher at Andrew’s school in 1961, spotted Andrew’s lovely treble voice and invited him to join her newly formed boys’ vocal group. Andrew sang with them from the age of 11, first as treble, then as countertenor, until he was 18 and beyond. The Grants were always thrilled with Andrew’s singing and composing. They even showcased him in their Wigmore Hall recital in 1969. Peter and Alvena’s training and encouragement helped Andrew gain his place as a Choral scholar in the Chapel Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge. This review about him appeared in The Times the day after the Wigmore Hall concert:
‘The single most striking feature of Saturday afternoon’s joint programme in the Wigmore Hall by the Midland Boy Singers (conductor Peter Grant) and the London Boy Singers (conductor, Jonathan Steele) was the countertenor singing of Andrew Downes. A founder member of the former choir, a choral scholar elect of St John’s College, Cambridge, and the composer of an imaginatively meritorious setting of ‘O Magnum Mysterium’…, he could well be a figure to watch out for…’ (The Times)
In 1982 Peter and Alvena asked Andrew for a work for the choir to perform on their 20th anniversary tour of Germany. Andrew chose to write his second Dramatic Cantata for the occasion, this time the story of Cain and Abel. I played a large part in creating the libretto with Andrew for the work. I studied the biblical story and scribbled out the dialogue, which Andrew was free to adapt to his succinct musical style. We also altered the slant of the story, suggesting that Abel was the favourite of Adam and Eve, which caused the tension between the brothers. Abel’s death was to be recounted by Cain as an accident following a quarrel.
I suggested a scenario based on a Greek tragedy, where the chorus, with a treble soloist, played the part of the conscience of Adam, pointing out where Adam had gone wrong with his sons.
The two main soloists were to be Cain, sung by a male (or female) alto, and Adam, sung by a bass/ baritone. The action was to be performed in costume (my costumes for The Death of Goliath served perfectly) and the action was to be simple, bold and stylised.
The Midland Boy Singers, with soloists Roy Dickinson, Donald Young and Richard Green, accompanied by Alvena Grant (piano) and conducted by Peter Grant, first performed the Cantata on 22 August 1981 in the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche, Berlin, on their tour of Germany. Andrew flew over for the performance. I was unable to go because our daughters, Anna and Paula, were too young.
The British premiere was given by the Midland Boy Singers in their home town, Walsall (the Town Hall, September 1981), which I was delighted to be able to attend with Andrew. An extremely pleasing comment appeared in The Musical Times (no less!) after the Walsall performance: ‘Like all Downes’ music, it was admirably conceived for the medium.’ (The Musical Times)
The Midland Boy Singers gave a further performance in Luton in October 1982. Later, students of Andrew’s School of Creative Studies at Birmingham Conservatoire put on a further, stunning performance in the Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham, as part of the Festival of New Music and Art, in December 1989.
The Death of Goliath Op. 17 (1978)
Dramatic Cantata for soprano, high counter-tenor/mezzo-soprano and baritone soloists with piano. Libretto by Cynthia and Andrew Downes. The work is designed to be performed semi-dramatically, as a cantata in costume.
Wife of Goliath: soprano
David: high counter-tenor/mezzo-soprano
Goliath: baritone
In 1979, Andrew was commissioned to compose a work for the 200th anniversary of St Paul’s Church, Hockley, in Birmingham. Andrew chose to set the story of Goliath, but from the point of view of Goliath, not the triumph of David. He asked for my help with the story line. I suggested that the Philistine, Goliath, should be past his prime and worried that eventually some younger, fitter Jew would accept his challenge for a duel. I suggested that he should be married with a family, to add poignancy to the Goliath tragedy.
I wrote out a libretto, not realising the economy of words required when setting music. Andrew brilliantly extracted the salient features of my libretto and created an extremely dramatic, moving and tightly knit structure with heart-rending music.
I made the costumes from calico, with parts of the outfits died brown, and also using an old light green linen coat. I used leather for tassels and wooden beads for decoration.
Then we needed a Goliath’s head! I created one with wire and papier-mâché. I then painted on features to look like Michael Dowding, who was going to sing the role. For the hair and beard, I unravelled an old brown knitted pullover, and stuck the wool in the appropriate places.
The cantata was first performed by superb soloists: Catherine James as the wife of Goliath, Michael Dowding as Goliath, Andrew Downes himself as David, and Malcolm Wilson, piano, on 10 January 1979, in the Recital Hall of the Birmingham School of Music (now Royal Birmingham Conservatoire).
Just before the performance, Malcolm Wilson told me his mum would be coming on the bus from Walsall. He said she would probably complain that the piece was not long enough for such a long journey! Sure enough, Mrs Wilson, who sat next to me, said at the end: “I did enjoy that. I could have done with a bit more though!”
We were delighted to read this comment in the Birmingham Post:
‘This is a work of consequence, strongly dramatic in content and constructed with an admirable economy which in no way detracts from its emotional impact.’
These same wonderful artists gave the second performance of the work in St. Paul’s Church, Hockley, on 9 June 1979, as part of St Paul’s Bicentenary Week. (The church was consecrated in June 1779.) This performance was recorded for BBC Radio Birmingham and broadcast on 11 June 1979 and again on 3 September 1979.
The Death of Goliath received more performances by musicians from Birmingham Conservatoire over the years, including: a further performance in the Recital Hall of the Birmingham School of Music in September 1979; a production at the West Dyke Methodist Church by the Centurion Opera Group in Redcar, Yorkshire, in September 1981; a performance in the Josiah Mason Hall at the Birmingham School of Music in February 1987; one in the Recital Hall of the Conservatoire in November 1994 and a performance in Worcester College Hall in February 1995.
Plot synopsis
Three soloists enact the story, with a piano accompaniment. Goliath enters. He expresses his apprehensions: he is said to be strong, the strongest man alive. But now he is past his prime. The strength leaves his limbs every day. He prays to God for courage, for his people are dependent on him. Every day he goes out and challenges the Jews to find an opponent for him, to settle the differences between their tribes with a duel and thus avoid a battle. But the Jews have remained silent and produce no one to challenge his strength. And yet his strength is failing…
He becomes aware of his wife who has just come onto the scene, wondering what is wrong. He covers up his anxiety and says he was just counting his blessings for his lovely wife and family.
Now Goliath’s wife expresses her anxieties. Why does her husband want to go about destroying their happiness? Why does he insist on facing the Jews single handed? Is there no one else?
Suddenly the voice of David is heard from the wings. He has come to accept Goliath’s challenge. Is Goliath not going to come? Is he afraid?
Goliath and his wife see that David is young. He will be swift and agile. Goliath’s wife is terrified.
But Goliath goes out to face the duel. The battle is conveyed on the piano. The running backwards and forwards, the clashes, the thrust of the sling, the stone through the air and the fall of Goliath are all evoked in a thrilling cadenza, which reaches its climax when David cries from the wings: “I am victorious!”. We hear him decide to cut off Goliath’s head, so that Goliath’s people will see their defeat. Carrying the severed head, he appears, declaring: “This is the head of an arrogant man”, and that his victory will be remembered till the end of time.
The stage is then left to the dejected wife of Goliath.
A Child is Singing Op. 24 (1981)
Dramatic Cantata about the horrors of nuclear war, for baritone soloist, SATB chorus and piano.
Title and poem “A Child is Singing” by Adrian Mitchell1with additional words by an anonymous survivor of Hiroshima2 and Cynthia and Andrew Downes.
General Giah: baritone
Soldiers and Civilians: SATB chorus
Andrew was a committed pacifist and, aged just twelve, lived through the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. He came of age during the cold war, and often reflected on the experience of living under the threat of nuclear conflict before the Berlin wall fell. The Musical Times critic, Tony Cross, who had been complimentary about Andrew’s Cain and Abel, was also the accompanist of the Moseley (Birmingham) choir, the Clarion Singers. Cross recommended to the Clarion Singers that they should commission Andrew to compose a work for their concerts for CND and Amnesty International. Andrew saw an opportunity to create another Dramatic Cantata, for soloists, choir and piano. Andrew was particularly taken by Adrian Mitchell’s poem, A Child is Singing, and gained permission to use it for his title and opening and close of the Cantata. At the end of the work Andrew set words from an anonymous survivor of Hiroshima.
For the rest of the work I again played a large part in creating the libretto with Andrew, as we had done with The Death of Goliath and Cain and Abel.
The Cantata was performed by the Clarion Singers, with Michael Dowding as baritone soloist, Peter Dempsey, tenor soloist, and Malcolm Wilson, piano, directed by Aubrey Bowman and produced by Val Stevens, on 20 March 1982 in Carrs Lane Church, Birmingham. The choir performed the work with absolute conviction, acting their roles with total commitment and drama.
Subsequent equally riveting performances by the Clarion Singers, with soloists Michael Dowding and Peter Dempsey, took place at Highgate School, Birmingham, in May 1982, Walsall Town Hall also in May 1982, the George Cadbury Hall, Selly Oak, Birmingham, in March 1983, St Martins in the Bullring, Birmingham, in November 1983, Moseley Parish Church in June 1984 and at the Friends Institute for Performing Arts Festival, Highgate, Birmingham, in October 1991.
Libretto texts
[1] Cain and Abel Op. 21
Chorus: Cain, where is thy brother Abel? Cain, where is he thy brother Abel?
Cain: On a rock, he struck his head on a rock.
Chorus: But where is he now thy brother Abel?
Cain: He went over yonder to see his lambs, his precious lambs. They all love his precious lambs, his cursed lambs.
Chorus: Cain, what has happened to your brother Abel? Your father is desperate. He cannot bear this uncertainty.
Cain: How can I ever tell my father, tell him what happened?
Chorus: You must tell him Cain, tell him what happened.
Cain: Oh God, how can I ever tell him?
Chorus: You must tell him what happened. Go and tell him.
Cain: How can he ever live without his beloved son? His grief will be terrible, as will his hate for me. Oh God, oh God, how can I ever tell him?
Chorus: You must tell him what happened. Go and tell him.
Adam can be seen arriving from the distance.
Chorus: Cain, Adam is coming. Are you ready to tell him?
Enter Adam.
Adam: Cain, my son, where is your brother Abel? I have looked for him everywhere.
I cannot find him. Cain, I saw you with him. Did he not tell you where he was going?
Cain: How should I know about him? He can look after himself. I know nothing, nothing.
Adam: Cain, could you not help me look for your brother?
Cain: Why all this concern? He often goes off by himself.
Adam: But never for as long as this. He has been missing for two days. Cain, did I not see you quarrelling the day he disappeared? Cain, tell me the truth. Have you been fighting your brother? Tell me!
Cain: What are you suggesting? Are you accusing me of something? I cannot stand it. Leave me alone. I will go and look for him.
Exit Cain.
Adam: I cannot help it, but I suspect my own son. Why do I not trust him? Why is he so distant from me? He was acting so strangely. Something happened between them, I know it.
Chorus members: He was acting so strangely. You are right to be anxious. You must find out what happened, what has happened to Abel. You must find him.
Adam: Why have my sons always quarrelled? Cain, when he was first born, was sweet and loving. But when Abel came, he changed. He has always been jealous of his brother.
Chorus members: Adam, Adam, have you never thought that you could be to blame? Adam, are you sure the fault is with Cain? Adam, what went wrong? Could you have stopped it?
Adam: What could I have done? I have tried to be a good father to my children.
Chorus: Adam, you always gave more love to Abel. When he was born, you ceased to notice Cain, your son. Your preference for Abel has caused great sorrow to Cain. He always loved you with all his heart. At the altar of sacrifice you exalted Abel and praised his lambs. Not a word for Cain, poor Cain, who works so hard in the fields. He was left unwanted. Adam, your neglect of Cain has destroyed your family.
Adam: This is so true. I have ignored what has been happening. I have behaved so badly to my son. What have I done?
Cain appears in the distance. Adam turns and sees him.
Cain: Abel is dead father: he is dead. We quarrelled, the worst quarrel we ever had. He hit me. I hit him so hard he fell, struck his head on a rock, died there. I tried to save him, but it was too late. I have carried his body, and laid it at the altar of sacrifice. If only it were me lying there.
Cain turns and leaves.
Adam: My son Abel dead? Lying at the altar of sacrifice. Can it be true? Am I dreaming? My son, my beloved, beloved son, lies dead at the altar of sacrifice.
Chorus: Abel is at peace. He lies with the father. You will see him again in heav’n. You need not grieve for Abel your son. Turn your thoughts instead to Cain, who as long as he lives must carry the burden of his guilt. Adam, when you go to the altar of sacrifice, pray for Cain.
Adam: Oh God, what have I done? This grief is all my doing. How can I ever heal the wounds of my family? How can I ever live with this guilt? For I am more guilty than Cain.
Solo Treble: Adam, your task is clear: you must rebuild your family. You must help Cain to live with his guilt. Increase your family, and bring him back into the fold. This terrible day will never be forgotten, but may you and all mankind ever pray for peace.
[2] The Death of Goliath Op. 17
Enter Goliath
Goliath: My name is Goliath. I am said to be strong, the strongest man alive. But now I am past my prime, the strength leaves my limbs every day. Oh God, my God, give me courage to face my future. Give me courage, for my people are dependent on me. I am their champion, but with each day I wonder more if my former strength is not dwindling away. Each day I go out and challenge the Jews to find an opponent for me, to find a champion worthy to fight me, a champion capable of killing me. Each day they produce no-one, no-one to challenge my strength. And yet, oh God, my strength is failing. If the enemy knew, they would surely find someone to kill me.
Enter Goliath’s Wife
Goliath’s wife: Goliath, out here alone? Talking to yourself? Looking so sad?
They move towards each other and embrace.
Goliath: I was thinking to myself, counting my blessings for my lovely wife and family.
Goliath’s wife: And yet you only want to go about destroying that happiness. And yet you go out every day to face the Jews single-handed. Oh God, my God, is there no-one else? Oh my love, you are no longer young, you are not in your prime. Yet you gamble your life, that our people be saved. Oh my love, I am sorely afraid. I could not bear your death. Yet you gamble your life, you play with your life, and I am left in anguish. Oh my husband, do you not see the pain you are causing me, the pain of fear?
Goliath: You must have confidence in me; put away these thoughts of fear and death. I need your support, for I must go and show these Jews we shall not be their slaves! I shall be triumphant!
David sings unseen at some distance behind.
David: Goliath. Goliath, I have come to accept your challenge. My name is David. I am the champion of the Jews.
Goliath: The wait is over at last. I am ready.
Goliath’s wife: Oh my love, I am afraid.
Goliath: There is nothing to fear.
David: Goliath, Goliath, I have come to destroy you. Make ready to die.
Goliath’s wife: Look, he is young! He will be swift and agile. You will surely be slain.
Goliath: I am the unconquered champion. How can he challenge my experience and skill?
David: Goliath, Goliath, why have you not come? Are you afraid, afraid of my courage, afraid for your life?
Goliath: I must go and fight him.
Goliath’s wife: Farewell my love, may God go with you.
Goliath: Farewell, may God go with you.
Goliath leaves the stage in David’s direction. After watching him go, his wife, head bowed, leaves the stage in another direction. Stage empty for battle music.
David: I am victorious! I have destroyed the champion of the Philistines! I shall cut off his head, that his people may see that we the Jews are their masters.
David appears from the battlefield carrying the head of Goliath.
David: Here is the head of an arrogant man. He thought he could humble the Jews single-handed. But with just one stone in my sling, I showed up his impertinence. The Philistines will take up their rightful place. They shall be our slaves. No-one of them will dare to refute our authority. For I shall purge this people. I shall devastate the nation. My victory shall be remembered for the rest of time.
David leaves the stage, trying to look triumphant.
Slow entrance of Goliath’s widow
Goliath’s wife: My husband is dead. How can I go on living? His life is ended. I too must surely die. He sacrificed all, that we might live in peace. He was so brave, so brave, but now he’s gone for ever. The hopes of our people have perished with my husband. As a nation we are finished. David will come with his army and destroy us. For him the future is now assured. He will cling to his glory forever. In just a few years the myth will form: a tender child killed a mighty warrior; an innocent youth killed an evil villain, my husband, my darling. He was a good and gentle man, who only wanted freedom and peace for his people. He gave his life, but that will be forgotten. My only consolation the memory of his love.
3] A Child is Singing Op. 24
Choir behind audience, complete darkness: then projection of black and white photo of Hiroshima after bomb. Few moments silence, then music begins. Projection remains until procession of choir.
Sung from behind audience
Chorus: “A Child is singing
and nobody listening
But the child who is singing.”3
Lights go up, rather dimly, to reveal a stage bedecked with political slogans in praise of capitalism and free enterprise and condemning Marxism and state control. To stage left there is a podium covered in various flags and insignia, and above it a large portrait of General Giah. As the music progresses, the audience becomes aware of senior soldiers and civilians marching up the central aisle. Finally comes General Giah. They march up the centre steps and take up position in front of their seats, which face the podium. The soldiers stand to attention. The general goes straight to the podium, and signals to the people to sit.
General Giah: I, General Giah, President of the United Western Alliance, have in my power, as you know, the means of destroying our enemies.
Loud applause, gradually dying away.
General Giah: My speech tonight is the most serious of my life, for never before have we been so dangerously close to that final step, which must be taken if truth is to survive.
Chorus: If truth is to survive.
General Giah: With every day that passes, this cancerous enemy becomes a more dangerous threat to our way of life: to our freedom, freedom in enterprise, business, speech, even thought. My friends, for our children, our cherished values must be protected. Our great ideals must be defended even with our lives.
Chorus: Even with our lives.
General Giah: I therefore say to you, the time has now come to test our strength. Never before have our defences been so impenetrable. We are safe from attack. With your support, I am now ready to launch our missiles. The threat will be gone forever.
Chorus: The threat will be gone forever.
(each soloist slowly stands before they sing)
Chorus soli: Yes, it must be done; the missiles must be launched; there is no alternative. O God, we must protect our children.
All chorus slowly stand.
Chorus: Yes, you have our support; the missiles must be launched; it is our only hope.
General Giah: O God, stay with us in this mission.
Chorus: Amen
General Giah: I will go and give the signal.
Giah turns and quickly leaves the stage.
Lights dim. Stage audience sits and then remains still and silent. At various moments during the short piano interlude, and beyond, black and white slides appear on the screen: aerial photo of devastated city; photo of a single house burning; close-up photo of a child disfigured by radiation.
Black screen
Chorus: “Bulldozers grab the earth and shower it.
The house is on fire.
Close-up photo of old person disfigured by radiation. Photo of graves, bedecked with flowers
“Gardeners wet the earth and flower it.”
Black screen
“The house is on fire.
The houses are on fire.
Fetch the fire engine.
The fire engine’s on fire.
We will have to hide in a hole.
We will burn slow like coal.”
Horrific photo of people, burning
“All the people are on fire.”4
Lights go up. Military messenger, breathless, runs on stage, up to podium.
Messenger: I come with a message from General Giah! He has ordered me to tell you that the enemy missiles have pierced our defences. We must go quickly to the VIP shelters.
Led by the messenger, the choir files off the stage in a fast, but orderly manner. At bottom of stage steps they fan out and move to different parts of the hall, taking up position all around the audience. About halfway through the procedure, there is a lights blackout.
During the following text, a series of colour slides of appropriate paintings by atom bomb survivors are shown on the screen.
Chorus: “A glaring, whitish, pinkish light appeared in the sky. An unnatural tremor, followed by a wave of suffocating heat, and a wind swept away everything in its path. Within a few seconds, the thousands of people in the streets were caught by a wave of searing heat.”
Chorus: And “A Child is singing
and nobody listening
But the child who is singing.”
Biographies
Andrew Downes was born in Handsworth, Birmingham, in 1950, into a well-known Midlands family of musicians. He won a choral scholarship to St John’s College, Cambridge, where he specialised in composition, and in 1974 went on to study at the Royal College of Music with Herbert Howells, who wrote of him as ‘one of the most effective composers coming to me these days. I have very considerable hopes for him’. By the time of his death in 2023, his output included an opera, six symphonies, numerous concerti and chamber works, song cycles, piano music and a large body of choral and sacred music.
His emergence as a leading international composer was combined with a strong academic profile as an innovative and inspired educator: he created and was Head of the School of Composition and Creative Studies at the Birmingham School of Music (now Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) for 30 years, and following his retirement, devoted himself solely to composition.
Downes’ music has been performed in many leading concert halls, cathedrals and festivals worldwide, and has been broadcast on BBC Radios 2, 3 and 4, BBC TV, Czech Radio, France Musique, Italian TV, Austrian Radio, Dutch Radio and Central Peking Radio. Over 30 CDs of his music have been issued on a range of labels, plus a DVD of his opera Far from the Madding Crowd. His numerous commissions included The Marshes of Glynn, for the Royal Opening of Birmingham’s Adrian Boult Hall in 1986; the Overture In the Cotswolds for the opening concert of the Three Choirs Festival; song cycles for Sarah Walker and John Mitchinson, both premièred on BBC Radio 3; anthems for the BBC Radio 4 Daily Service; and the overture Towards a New Age, premièred by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Downes’s Concerto for Four Horns and Orchestra was commissioned for and premièred by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in the Dvorak Hall, Prague, in 2002, and recorded by Czech Radio the following year. His Sonata for Violin, Horn and Piano was premièred by the Brahms Trio Prague at the Suk Hall of the Rudolfinum, Prague, in 2008, and subsequently released internationally on the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Artesmon abel. Downes’s Piano and Horn Concertos were premièred at Birmingham UK Town Hall in 2009 and 2012 respectively.
Downes’s lyrical gift, with the inflections of the human voice ever discernible, places him squarely in the Late Romantic English tradition and renders him a worthy successor to Howells. So too does his contrapuntal ingenuity and textural athleticism, with the church music of the great Tudor masters frequently recalled. But the indigenous musics of other cultures, and jazz and rock music, are also treasured influences and reflect the depth of responsibility Downes felt as an educator to instruct and enthuse in a broad range of traditions, and not purely in western art music. The Violin Sonata, for instance, is based on Indian rāgas and incorporates striking rhythmic displacements and syncopations to brilliant effect.
Biography by Duncan Honeybourne
Will Sims has been Director of Chapel Music at Robinson College, Cambridge, since 2022, where he directs the Chapel Choir for their twice-weekly services and busy concert tour and recording schedule, and supervises undergraduates in the Faculty of Music. Prior to this, he was the Director of Music at University College, Durham. He is a prize-winning Choral Director of the Royal College of Organists. Will is an experienced singer and has sung in the Cathedral Choirs of Ely, Edinburgh, Lincoln, and Peterborough; he is an accomplished collaborative pianist and regularly gives recitals of English Song, including in the Edinburgh and Cambridge Festivals; and his compositions have been performed in Cathedrals around the country, broadcast live internationally, and premièred in The London Festival of Contemporary Church Music. Will has performed across the UK, Europe, and the US, and recorded with BBC Television and Radio, Delphian, Priory, Prima Facie, and Apple TV.
David Trippett is a pianist, conductor and cultural historian at the University of Cambridge, where he is Professor of Music and a Fellow of Christ’s College. He has performed widely in Germany, the UK, and on both coasts of America, in venues from the Britten-Pears festival in Aldeburgh and the Liszt Academy in Budapest to the Library of Congress in Washington DC. Most recently, he has begun directing the Philharmonia Orchestra and Philharmonia Voices in a new recording project of music by Andrew Downes. He is author and editor of five books, including Wagner’s Melodies (2013), Nineteenth-Century Opera and the Scientific Imagination (2019), and Wagner in Context (2024), and his work to edit and orchestrate Franz Liszt’s hitherto unheard Italian opera, Sardanapalo, resulted in the first critical and performing editions, and has now been performed around the world.
Mezzo-soprano Alison Daniels studied music at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and singing at the Royal Northern College of Music, where she held the Frances Furness Scholarship. She worked during her early career with the BBC Daily Service Singers, and has appeared as a soloist with the Hallé Orchestra, Manchester Camerata and the Britten Sinfonia. She has sung at the Rydale Festival, Buxton Opera Festival, in oratorio at Chichester, Ely, Lichfield, Derby and St Edmundsbury cathedrals, and is a keen recitalist. In 2019 Alison was installed as the first female alto lay clerk at Ely Cathedral. She also sings with Kantos Chamber Choir, East Midlands based choir Luminatus, is a deputy Vicar Choral at St Paul’s Cathedral and a deputy Lay Vicar at Westminster Abbey. Career highlights to date include Handel’s Israel in Egypt with the Fairhaven Singers in King’s College Chapel and Messiah with the Britten Sinfonia and Ely Cathedral Choir in 2023.
Soprano Paula Downes has been described as ‘excellent’ by the Boston Globe; has been praised for her ‘fine upper register’ by Opera News; for floating soaring lines ‘expertly’ by Musical Opinion; and for her ‘immaculate intonation’ by the Nordsee-Zeitung, Germany. She has sung as a soloist with the Philharmonia Orchestra in Alexandra Palace in recordings of large-scale choral works by her late father, Andrew Downes, for Prima Facie Records; has recorded as a soloist with the Firebird Ensemble in Boston USA for Navona Records; has performed opera roles for Opera East Productions and for the Thomas Hardy Festival; and has performed as a soloist in performances under Stephen Cleobury in King’s Chapel, Cambridge, and in St John’s Smith Square under Sarah MacDonald. Following a Choral Scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge, Paula went on to sing with groups including The Sixteen, Handel and Haydn Society, Emmanuel Music, Philharmonia Voices and Ely Cathedral Choir.
Bass/Baritone Jonathan Midgley is a Lay Clerk at Ely Cathedral. A founder member of Cambridgeshire Boys’ Choir, he was a Music Scholar at Winchester College and Choral Scholar at Clare College, Cambridge, where he studied Russian, Ancient Greek and Linguistics. While at Clare, he worked with Ivor Bolton, Richard Egarr, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Roy Goodman, Daniel Harding, René Jacobs, Nicholas Kraemer, Sir Roger Norrington and Leonard Slatkin. He has sung with English Voices, Choir of London, Cambridge Handel Opera, Cappella Artois, Zürcher Sing-Akademie, Cambridge Vocal Consort, De Profundis, St John’s Voices, Cambridge University Schola Cantorum and Luminatus Vocal Ensemble, and is a member of New Cambridge Singers. Jonathan studied singing under Nicholas Bergström-Allen, Julian Smith and David Lowe. A graduate of the National Youth Orchestra, he was Principal Horn of Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra and held a University Instrumental Award. He also works as a researcher, writer and language consultant.
The Choir of Robinson College, Cambridge is an exciting and ambitious ensemble which strives for the highest standards of music-making. Made up from 24-30 Choral Scholars and volunteers covering a wide range of subjects and colleges within the University of Cambridge, the Choir sings for two services each week during term, alongside a busy schedule of concerts, recordings, broadcasts, and international tours. The Choir’s repertoire encompasses a millennia, with a focus on contemporary music; since 2022, they have given over a dozen first performances, including works by Ben Ponniah, Sarah Cattley, Phillip Cooke, Mary Offer, and Jeremy Thurlow. Robinson has recorded numerous CDs: most recently, the Choir released To the End of the Age (2024; Prima Facie Records), featuring several anthems premiered by the College. Recent tour destinations have included Barcelona, where the Choir performed in the Sagrada Família, and Milan, where the Choir broadcast a concert from the Duomo on TV.
The Choir of Robinson College, Cambridge
Soprano
Holly Jewitt Maurice*
Sarah Kasas
Anrie Kilian**
Hannah Millar**
Imogen Morgan
Jessica Ruddock**
Rose Whitwam
Avery Yip*
Tenor
Fearghus Beauchamp*
Benedict Collins-Rice
Jonny Keyte**
Sam Madden*
Alto
Paula Downes* **
Molly Hord
Sophie Howarth
Blandine Jacquet
Zoë Lancaster* **
Maddie Melville-Smith
Bass
Harley Jones**
Daniel Morgan*
Fingal Plumpton
James Richards**
Henry Rogers
*soloist in A Child is Singing
** soloist in Cain and Abel
Credits
Producer: Elliott Park
Sound Engineer: Phil Hardman
Cover Photo: Spotyphoto
Recorded on 3/4 July 2025 in Robinson College Chapel
- Adrian Mitchell, Come On Everybody: Poems 1953-2008 by Adrian Mitchell (Bloodaxe Books, 2012), 173-74. ↩︎
- From an account by Marcel Junod, Warriors without Weapons (The Macmillan Company, 1951), 267. ↩︎
- Adrian Mitchell, Come On Everybody: Poems 1953-2008 (Bloodaxe Books, 2012), 173 ↩︎
- Mitchell, Come On Everybody, 173-74. ↩︎