Ballads for Christmas

8 Christmas poems from around the world set to music for high voices and harp/piano.

PREMIERE:
17th December 1992
Birmingham Cathedral

More information on Ballads for Christmas

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An account by Andrew's wife and publisher, Cynthia Downes, posted on December 30th, 2020

In 1992, Andrew was asked by Valerie Pither, music teacher at Hillcrest School (formerly Bartley Green School), to compose a work for her superb choir, to sing alongside Britten's Ceremony of Carols in a Christmas concert in Birmingham Cathedral.  Andrew was thrilled to receive this commission, and chose to set different poetry from around the world and from different historical ages.  The poems which he chose reflected his new compositional philosophy, inspired by World Music: The Huron Carol (Canadian); Pilgrims in Mexico; The Virgin's Cradle Hymn; The Mother's Song (Eskimo); Shepherd's Carol; Christmas 1924; The Holly Bough; New Year Bells.

Up until this point in my life's work as Andrew's publisher, I had been photocopying Andrew's original handwriting, which had by this time become extremely neat and legible, using a fine nibbed felt tipped pen.  I realised, however, that Ballads for Christmas needed to be typeset and printed, ready to provide multiple copies for the Christmas market.  Anthony Bradbury had just set up his 'Keyboard Typesetting' business.  He typeset the Ballads and I proofread them. 

Anthony Bradbury also knew a brilliant artist in the Birmingham Festival Choral Society, which Anthony conducted.  The artist created this design for the cover, illustrating all the lyrics in the Ballads, thus representing the different poems from all over the world:

The commission for these Ballads for Christmas came from the Midland Chamber Players, who shortly after this made Andrew their Leading Patron.

The Ballads were first performed on 17th December 1992 in Birmingham Cathedral by Hillcrest School Chamber Choir, directed by Valerie Pither, with Robert Johnston, harpist from the CBSO.

Preview letter and articles:

We were delighted with this compliment in the Birmingham Post next day:

'Ballads for Christmas is a highly effective work which, coupled with its directness and economy, should secure it a firm place in the Christmas youth choir repertory.'

THE BIRMINGHAM POST

I directed an instrumental group at Hagley Middle School at the time, and arranged the Shepherd's Carol for them.  The music teacher, Heather Barnett, and I took the players to the Birmingham premiere.  They really enjoyed their day out and loved the piece.  They played the renamed Shepherd's Dance in the National Festival of Music for Youth really well shortly afterwards.  (Our daughter Paula should have been the lead violinist in the group for this performance.  Unfortunately she fell ill with flu, and her sister Anna, who had left Middle School for Haybridge High School, had to don Paula's Middle School uniform, pretend to be her and play the difficult violin part on the day.  Fortunately, Anna was small for her age and an excellent violinist!)

Cards and letters after the premiere:

Beautiful subsequent performances, either of individual Ballads or the whole work, were given by Hillcrest Choir in their Birmingham Cathedral Christmas concerts: in 1993 (Huron Carol, Virgin's Cradle Hymn and Shepherd's Carol), 1995 (Virgin's Cradle Hymn) and 1996 (complete work).

In December 1993, Andrew and I made a magical Christmas trip to Christchurch Priory to hear the whole work performed by the excellent Rilstone Singers with virtuoso harpist Susan Drake, conducted by Martin Schellenberg.  The following year the same choir gave a repeat performance in St Peter's Church, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, with CBSO harpist Robert Johnston 

The Chapel Choir of Royal Holloway, University of London, directed by Lionel Pike, performed Shepherd's Carol in December 1993 and then all of the Ballads in December 1994 in the Chapel of Royal Holloway.  Andrew and I were able to attend this special 1994 performance in my Alma Mater college, by the choir of which I used to be a member.  They recorded the Shepherd's Carol from the collection on their CD entitled ‘Whom do you seek, Shepherds?’ in 1995.

In 1995 I gave copies of Ballads for Christmas to the Music Teacher at our daughters' school, Haybridge High School, with the result that the school choir, with soloists Paula, our daughter, and Catherine Pickford, performed Shepherd's Carol in St Saviour's Church, Hagley, in December of that year.  With Paula as soloist, they performed The Virgin's Cradle Hymn in St Saviour's Church, Hagley, in December 1997.

During their teens, our daughters Anna and Paula were invited by Margaret Pickford, founder and conductor of the prize-winning Halesowen Girls' Choir, to join her ensemble.  I gave Margaret a copy of Ballads for Christmas.  Consequently, many performances were given by the Halesowen Girls’ Choir, and later by Margaret's Halas Chamber Choir, with pianists Keith Bradley and Heather Howell, in Halesowen Church and other Worcestershire churches, as well as the Birmingham Buddhist Centre.  Andrew and I loved attending their concerts.  As time went on, Margaret invited older members, including me, to sing with the choir, which I loved!

The first London performance of the Shepherd's Carol was given in December 2002 by choristers at South Hampstead High School for Girls, in an exquisite performance conducted by Diana Kieverstein, with Paula (who was teaching at the school at the time) singing the solos.
Andrew and I were delighted to go to their concert.

Halesowen Girls' Choir performed the work again in 2003 as part of their reunion concert.  This photo appeared in the local press:

Front: Alexandra Rudge
Left to right: Cynthia Downes, Liz Rudge, Lucy Pickford, Katie (Pickford) Kestin, Margaret Pickford, Amy Bloodworth, Andrew Downes, Aisla Nicholls, Anna Downes, Chloe Marks. (Paula was teaching in London at the time)

The Halesowen Girls' Choir (including Paula and myself) performed The Holly Bough and New Year Bells at the beautiful Christmas wedding of Anna to Michael Jason Price, on December 27th 2003, in St John's Church, Hagley, Worcestershire. 

This was followed by a performance of the whole work on December 4th 2004 in Hampstead Parish Church by the Millennium Scholars, with Tanya Houghton, harp, directed by Paula, who founded the choir especially for the occasion from her Cambridge choral scholar friends.  I spent the afternoon of the concert handing out the following flyers to the passers by.  Andrew attended the rehearsal meanwhile.  We loved the concert!

We were delghted to hear that the Cadon Chorus of Cornwall gave two performances in December 2005.

While she was living in Boston at the beginning of her marriage to David Trippett, our daughter Paula, who has continued to champion Ballads for Christmas on numerous occasions, organised the first USA performance in Boston by her American Millennium Scholars, which she founded and directed, on 14th December 2005 at the Friends Meeting House, Cambridge Massachusetts.  Paula was interviewed by Cambridge Massachusetts local TV just before the performance!

In March 2013, Paula made a multi-track recording of Ballads for Christmas, singing all the voices, with harpist Rita Schindler and recording engineer Matthew O'Malley, at Birmingham UK Conservatoire.  In January 2016 Paula completed and launched on YouTube a series of animations and films to go with her recordings of each of the 8 Ballads.  Andrew and I were enchanted by Paula's animations:

Paula has also created educational resources to go with her animations.

Loving the Ballads for Christmas so much, I have created and directed performances of Instrumental arrangements of The Shepherd's Carol and The Holly Bough on several occasions with musicians from Hagley, Worcestershire, and the West Midlands. 
My arrangements of The Virgin's Cradle Hymn and The Mother's Song were first performed by Paula, soprano soloist, with Hagley Community Orchestra, in St Saviour's Church, Hagley, Worcestershire in December 2015.  It was lovely to have Andrew himself playing (keyboard) in many of these performances.

Back living in Cambridge, Paula founded and directed 'The Cantabrigians', an ensemble of solo voices, who were ex choral scholars.  In December 2016, The Cantabrigians, accompanied by harpist Rohan Platts, performed Ballads for Christmas in the Chapel of Christ's College.  Andrew and I travelled to Cambridge for their memorable concert, which they repeated in Christ's College in December 2017 and in St John's Church, Duxford in December 2018. 
The Cantabrigians have also given performances of individual Ballads for Christmas: firstly Christmas 1924 in the Chapel of Selwyn College, Cambridge, as part of their Remembrance Day concert in November 2017, which we also attended; and then several performances of 2 more of the Ballads, The Virgin's Cradle Hymn and The Mother's Song.  They sang these 2 movements: at "The Big Switch On" of the Christmas Lights in Cambridge Market Square in November 2017; in the Chapel of the Grange Wellington Hotel, London, as part of the Brandenburg Choral Festival of London in January 2018; at St Andrew's Street Baptist Church, Cambridge, in December 2018; and at St Mary's Eaton Socon, St Neot's, also in December 2018.  These last venues were not wheelchair friendly for Andrew, but I was able to attend the Cambridge and London ones, travelling back to Hagley the following morning.  Andrew was looked after by his carer meanwhile.

Photo of the performance in Christ's Chapel, Cambridge, 2016.  Rohan Platts, followed by Paula (in white fur stole), is leading  the choir into the chapel:

Photos of The Big Switch On, 2017:

Excerpts from the 2017 performance of Ballads for Christmas, followed by Britten's Ceremony of Carols, alongside which Andrew's work was originally intended to be performed:

The Eskimo Song from this Brandenburg Choral Festival of London performance:

Photos from the Duxford performance, 2018:

The Mother's Song from the collection has several times been broadcast on Dutch Radio!

As part of Andrew Downes' 70th Birthday celebration year, the Cambridgeshire Holiday 7+ Choir, directed by Paula, performed The Virgin's Cradle Hymn, which they entitled Cradle Song, in West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge, in January 2020.  Paula sent us a video of their delightful performance.

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