"For the Fallen" – by Andrew Lowe Watson
2007 Adagio Composition Contest Finalist
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“For the Fallen” was selected as one of three finalists from over 160 worldwide entries to the 2007 Adagio Composition Contest.
About the Piece
”For the Fallen” is a tribute to those who have lost ther lives in the war in Iraq.
About the Composer
Andrew Lowe Watson was born in London in 1958. He studied piano and composition at Trinity College of
Music, London and Trinity College Cambridge where his tutors were Hugh Wood, Robin Holloway and Richard Marlow. As a student he won the University Chamber Choir Composition Prize and his setting of Hopkins’ ‘The Windhover’ was heard on the Backs by 3,000 people.
He has written 8 musicals for the Grimm Festival in Germany which have also played in Japan. He collaborated with the author Catherine Storr on an opera of her children’s classic novel ‘Marianne Dreams’, performed in London in 2004 and wrote commissions for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar in 2005.
We had the fortunate opportunity to not only listen to this beautiful piece, we were also honored with Mr. Watson presence and introduction this Sunday at the Chicago Cultural Center.
The Chicago Chamber Orchestra played Mr. Watson’s piece with such beautiful haunting emotion. It took our breath away for quite a while.
Words are not fitting to explain how this moved us other than to say, Thank you Mr Watson for your gift to us and for the fallen.
A very beautiful piece of music. Very moving. Thank you Andrew.
Beautiful piece of work. Thank you Andrew.
A beautiful piece of music; ethereal and moving.
Bon Chance Andrew
i was much moved by the sense of a terrible beauty – and also the feeling of both birth and death. Thank you andrew for creating a piece that so beautifully and fittingly creates those tensions together.
I could detect an inherent ebb and flow, relaxation and tension, building up in just the right places. I was particularly struck by an unusual falling chord progression
This adagio fuse the spirit of the most poignant aspects of the English tradition from Elgar with a truly original intensity of feeling and consumate craftsmanship. One hopes never to fall, but this music would provide dignity to balance the futility and humiliation of the loss.
I’m so envious of your talent Andrew, your music is beautiful ! As others have said the volume needs to be improved on the website for your music to be fully appreciated. Well done.
“Conservative”, of course, but beautifully turned, and by no means unoriginal. I’d like to hear more by this interesting composer. (And louder than here!)
Very moving and deeply felt. Look forward to hearing it played louder!
Thank you Andrew.
Absolutely beautiful. I have played this wonderful piece for my family – they also loved it. It is so appropriate to honor the fallen in Iraq. Thank you, Andrew, for doing it so flawlessly.
This work is so, so moving and so deserving of being one of the 3 finalists. As someone who entered the competition and received an honourable mention, it is so pleasing that THIS is the standard that got to the top spots.
As someone who is familiar with Andrew Lowe Watson’s career, I must say that this is definitely in keeping with the work of a very emotionally intelligent and talented individual.
I absolutely love the contrast between the soaring sections and the rich, lush and lower register use… and then the contrast with more harrowing ideas that come forward. I find the music very filmic and as such I think it is very accessible to a wide variety of listeners. The opening is stilted and develops like a flower unfolding tentatively – it’s a very organic work. I really like the interplay between the different sections of the orchestra which become, almost like human voices – capable of singular and collective expression. There is wonderful interplay here and the use of the cellos and double basses is skilful.
This really is first rate and I think manages to convey all the various emotions that I think people might feel – not only those directly involved by also by-standers. Various themes and impressions linger with you but it’s not the memory of a melody (which I believe it shouldn’t be).
Praise is also due to the musicians behind Fauxharmonic – this has been beautifully rendered using the virtual orchestra technology.
Quite the most moving piece I have heard for a long time. I was particularly taken by the crescendo towards the end, which gave me a feeling of hope, indicating that the lives lost were not in vain. Well done Andrew, you have written a very touching piece.
A very beautiful composition – haunting and melodic (it moved me to tears). A truly fitting piece of music which reflects its title perfectly and deserves to win the 2007 Adagio Final in my opinion.
Memorable, melodic and moving. There should be many a fitting tribute to the men and women who have died in Iraq and this is a worthy one. While works of the “In Memoriam” sort are often better after the event, this one is all the more poignant because the event is still with us. However its poignancy will remain and grow even more after the events it so brilliantly conveys to us are long gone. A marvellous piece of work worthy of the highest praise anyone can muster.
Beautiful and fitting to the title. I was espcially pleased to hear the theme take a more positive turn, reflecting perhaps, a celebration of the lives taken and the memories they leave behind.