Andrew Downes - Sonatas, Vol. 2 (Various Artists)

Information

Composer: Andrew Downes

CD1

• Meditations, Op. 38
• Flute Sonata, Op. 67
• Piccolo Sonata, Op. 74
• Clarinet Sonata, Op. 100

CD2

• Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 117
• Trumpet Sonata, Op. 120
• Bassoon Sonata, Op. 121
• The Last Trumpet, Op. 46

Sasha Canter, trumpet

Emily Andrews, flute

Lindsey Ellis, piccolo

Angus Meryon, clarinet

Paul Galluzzo, violin

Alison Brierley, bassoon

Helen Reid, piano

Catherine Milledge, piano

Duncan Honeybourne, piano

David Trippett, piano

Rustam Khanmurzin, piano

Date: 2026

Label: Prima Facie

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Prima Facie’s Sonatas by Andrew Downes: Volume II continues a deeply personal survey celebrating the late British composer Andrew Downes. Spanning over three decades, from the 1986 Meditations for Solo Trumpet to his final piece, the 2022 Bassoon Sonata, this release highlights Downes’s stylistic evolution, seamlessly weaving lyrical Romanticism with elements of Tudor music, jazz, and global traditions. Performed by a distinguished roster of leading artists, the album features vividly characterized sonatas for flute, piccolo, clarinet, violin, trumpet, and bassoon. This recording stands as a compelling, broad-ranging tribute to one of the UK’s most distinctive 20th- and 21st-century musical voices.

British composer and educator Andrew Downes (1950–2023) built an influential career as a leading international composer and longtime Head of Composition at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. After studying under Herbert Howells at the Royal College of Music, Downes produced a vast output spanning six symphonies, an opera, concerti, chamber pieces, and choral works. Rooted in the Late Romantic English tradition and Tudor counterpoint, his style uniquely integrated global musical traditions, jazz, and rock. Downes’s acclaimed compositions were widely broadcast internationally and commissioned for major venues, featuring high-profile premieres by the Czech Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras.