Orchestral Music with Solo by Victor Davies
This page contains music for sale or rent (see buttons below each score or work). For perusal scores click Rent Score & Parts.
The works below have been performed on many kinds of concerts. For ideas about how to include them in your programming feel free to contact us.
Explanation of Instrumentation
CONCERTO FOR CAR HORNS & ORCHESTRA (an automotive romance!) (1997) 9’
Commissioned for the 50th Anniversary of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
Premiere: Bramwell Tovey conductor, at the famous corner of Portage and Main September 12 1997;
also performances - indoors - WSO children’s concert, (one car and synth samples) and outdoors by
Symphony Niagara (wine festival); and the Calgary Philharmonic (Island Park).
Written for two solo cars (horns in!) and orchestra (and also audience participation).
Instrumentation: Soloists: (but exact notes or car not necessary) - Car 1 1997 Jaguar XK8 (notes A & B); Car 2 1997 Pontiac Grand Am GT (notes F# & A#); 2222/4331/timp/2 perc/ harp/ strings.
Difficulty: youth to professional orchestra.
Piano rehearsal score and orchestra score for sale (orchestra parts - rental)
CONCERTO FOR TUBAMEISTER AND ORCHESTRA (2009) 22’
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Virtuoso concerto for tuba and symphony orchestra. (Movements can also be played as individual pieces.)
Theme and Variations
12’; Waltz for Franco 4’; Sancho Panza Goes To The Bull Fight 7’
Commissioned by Commander Chip and Pennie Sherman for J.c. Sherman.
Premiere: Piano and tuba – J.c. Sherman, tuba, Zsuzsanna Lukas, piano at Christ Church Cathedral,
Vancouver, September 24, 2008. Orchestra Premiere – Chris Lee, tuba, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra,
Rei Hotoda, conductor, January 24, 2009.
Suitable for children's concerts, main concert series featuring orchestra players.
Difficulty: Tuba: very excellent university to professional. orchestra: youth to professional orchestra.
Instrumentation: 2222/2220/timp/2 perc/strings.
Piano rehearsal/performance score/tuba part and orchestra score for sale (orchestra parts - rental)
(Concert band and brass quintet versions planned.)
“Tuba concerto kicks some brass in world debut”
“Horn’s lighthearted side revealed”
“…A rare showcase for the patriarch of the brass family gave Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra principal tuba Chris Lee a chance to demonstrate his prodigious talent, showing the light-hearted and jaunty side of the instrument, …great dynamic variation in the Theme & Variations, … with impressive delicacy and sweet flow in Waltz for Franco, …and in Sancho Panza Goes to the Bull Fight a castanet enhanced paso doble engaging the tuba in trills, syncopation, and sky-high notes while the trumpets morphed into a mariachi band, all gracefully & precisely rendered by conductor Rei Hotoda”, (Winnipeg Free Press) Gwenda Nemerofsky
Theme and Variations Waltz for Franco Sancho Panza Clean
DEATH OF A WARRIOR (1982) 5’
A Baroque style piece ala the Albinoni adagio. Used in the film For The Moment as background for the reading of the poem High Flight by Russell Crowe. With the poem, it is an appropriate piece for Remembrance Day programs.
Instrumentation: 2222/2000/timp/perc/strings.
Orchestra score and parts rental
DUEL FOR VIOLINS (1982) 5’
Two fiddlers try to outdo each other with comic results.
Premiere: 1982 Orchestra London (ON) conductor, Victor Davies; David Lodge, Edourd Minuvitch, violins.
Instrumentation: 2222/4330/timp/perc/strings.
Orchestra score and parts rental.
FROM HARMONY (for reader and orchestra) (1968) 12’
A setting of Dryden’s Ode to St. Cecilia’s Day for celebratory occasions.
Commissioned by CBC Radio for the opening of Winnipeg’s Centennial Concert Hall.
Premiere: Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Victor Feldbrill, conductor; Paxton Whitehead, reader, October 4 1968, also Niagara Symphony Orchestra.
Difficulty: Suitable for good youth/community to professional orchestra.
Instrumentation: 2222/4331/ timp/2 perc/strings.
Score for sale (orchestra parts - rental).
HUSH-A-BYE-HUSH THE CHRIST CHILD IS SLEEPING (1978 & 2000) 4’
A Christmas carol, a lullaby for soprano and orchestra. (Text by Victor Davies)
Premiere: Anne Marie Inneo, soprano, Hamilton Philharmonic, Michael Reason, conductor, December 20, 2000.
Instrumentation 2222 /2200/ timp/perc/harp (or piano or synth)/strings.
Piano vocal score and orchestra score for sale (orchestra parts - rental) also see Vocal
INTERGALACTIC OVERTURE (formerly Genesis) (1982) 4’
An overture with a space theme.
Music from 1971 planetarium production The Beginning And End Of The World.
Suitable for good youth/community orchestra to professional.
Premiere: Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, Victor Davies, conductor, also Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Boris Brott, conductor.
Instrumentation: 2222/4331/timp/2-3 perc (drum set)/electric bass/strings/and
children’s chorus (high voices) or saxophone or synthesizer.
Score for sale (orchestra parts - rental) also see Choral
On the CD The Beginning And End Of The World as Genesis
JAZZ CONCERTO FOR ORGAN & ORCHESTRA (The St. Andrew's - Wesley Concerto) (2000) 28’
Virtuoso concerto for organ includes boogie, blues, swing, cool jazz, ragtime, and Dixieland.
Boogie Pipes 9’; Blue Pipes 5’; Cool Pipes 6’; Hot Pipes (Ragging the Pipes!) 8’.
Movements can also be played as individual pieces.
Commissioned by Calgary International Organ Foundation/Music Canada, 2000/Hamber Foundation.
Performances: Premiere: Wayne Marshall – organ, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Howard Cable, conductor, May 13, 2000; also Marnie Geisbrecht Organ, Edmonton Symphony; Neil Cockburn Organ, Calgary Philharmonic.
Broadcast on CBC Radio 1 and 2, and American Public Radio, on Michael Barone’s Pipe Dreams.
Suitable for pop, and classic concert series.
Difficulty: Organist: excellent university/professional. Orchestra: excellent youth/community to professional.
Instrumentation: Pipe organ, or electronic organ, 2222/4331/timp/2 perc/strings.
Organ/piano performance/rehearsal score, orchestra score for sale (orchestra parts - rental).
"The most warmly received work on the program....a Jazz Organ Concerto by Victor Davies. .... the redoubtable Meil Cockburn, an organist as at home in blues as in Bach, performing movements with titles such as Boogie Pipes and Hot Pipes. Filled with clever tunes and hot rhythms, this concerto was a real hit, not the least in its great final movement based on ragtime rhythms. Brilliantly performed by Cockburn, with colourful registrations and superbly delivered virtuoso licks, the concertto had the audience tapping its feet in obvious enjoyment. Kenneth Delong - Calgary Herald (Calgary Philharmonic - CPO Light Classics Concert)
Boogie Pipes Blue Pipes Hot Pipes
A JAZZ PIANO CONCERTO (Piano concerto No 2.) (2001) 29’
Theme With Nine Scenes (A Detective Story) 16’; I Thought I Saw Them In Paris (Sorbet) 6’; Escape To Havana (Farewell) 7’.
Movements can also be played as individual pieces.
Commissioned by The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Bramwell Tovey, through the Canada Council.
First movement premiered Bramwell Tovey, piano, Michael Hall conductor, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, May 13, 2001. Entire work premiered by Wayne Marshall, piano, and Michael Reason, conductor, with
the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, September 21, 2002.
Suitable for pop, and classic concert series.
Difficulty: Pianist: excellent high school/university/professional. Orchestra: excellent youth/community to professional
Designed to be played and conducted by the solo performer.
Instrumentation: Piano, 2222/4331/timp/2 perc/strings.
Piano solo/piano performance/rehearsal score and orchestra score for sale (orchestra parts - rental)
Theme 9 with Scenes 1 Theme 9 with Scenes 2
LET’S TALK! (Conversations for Big Band and Orchestra) (1984) 16’
Jazz and Latin elements are the main ingredients in a set of high energy variations as orchestra
and band combine with a sweeping lyrical theme in the middle section.
Commissioned by CJRT Radio, with Xerox Canada and The Ontario Arts Council.
Premiered by CJRT (Radio) Orchestra and The Boss Brass; Paul Robinson, conductor, December 1984.
Also, The Boss Brass and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Mario Bernardi;
Hamilton Philharmonic, and The Hamilton All Star Band, Michael Reason, conductor.
Features solos for both groups, with ad lib solos for the big band.
Suitable for very good university level to professional orchestra and big band.
Inspired by Duke Ellington’s visits to Toronto.
Instrumentation: Orchestra: 2222/ 4331/timp/perc/strings.
Big Band: 5 trpts/5 trbs/5 saxes: (asax 1.=picc+ssax; asax 2.=fl+cl; tsax 1. & 2.=fl & cl;
barsax= fl+bcl) /electric guitar/ bass /piano/drums /percussion.
Score for sale (orchestra parts - rental)
Let's Talk (Intro) Let's Talk (2)
MAYONNAISE WITH SALAD (1973) 10’
An entertainment featuring solo trumpet, percussion, and harmonica, using traditional melodies, (Amazing Grace, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, When The Saints Go Marching In) for symphony orchestra.
Commissioned by The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
Premiere: Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Mitch Miller, conductor, Fred Davis, trumpet; Jack Matheson, percussion, Charles Lynch, harmonica, March 1973.
Instrumentation: 2222/4330/timp/2 perc/strings
Orchestra score and parts – rental
THE MENNONITE PIANO CONCERTO (Piano concerto No.1) (1975) 32’
Sonata 11’; Theme and Variations 14’; Rondo/Scherzo 7’
Based on traditional Mennonite hymns: (English Victorian hymns and American Gospel songs in German translations)
Commissioned by the Fast Foundation with the Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society.
Premiere: Irmgard Baerg, piano, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, William Baerg, conductor, 1975.
Widely performed across Canada, (CBC Winnipeg Symphony, Boris Brott, conductor; Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Jon Washburn, conductor; National Arts Centre Orchestra; Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra; Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra; Symphony Niagara, Mississauga Symphony and Georgian Bay Symphony, John Barnum, conductor; Boris Brott Summer Festival etc) and performances in the USA (Chicago, Seattle, North Dakota, Kansas, Philadelphia), and Bulgaria, and China, Howard Dyck, conductor.
Heard world wide on radio, it is the most requested work on CBC Radio 2 in Canada and is heard on BBC, American and National Public Radio in the US. In 1996 it was #8 in sales on Classic FM, the most listened to classical broadcaster in the UK. In 2007 it was voted #50 in Australian Broadcasting poll of listeners for 100 Top Concertos.
2 piano version premiere, Irmgard Baerg and Jenny Regehr, 1986. Is often performed in this two piano version in church and community settings. Adapted as the score for the film And When They Shall Ask
Suitable for pop concerts, also main classics concerts series.
Difficulty: Has been performed by pianists from teens to seasoned professionals and youth/community to professional orchestras.
Instrumentation: Piano, 2222/4330/timp/2 perc/strings.
Two piano four hands reduction (by Suzanne Davies), and orchestra study score for sale (full score and orchestra parts - rental)
On the CD The Mennonite Concerto (1983), Irmgard Baerg, piano, The London Symphony Orchestra, Boris Brott conductor.
"In our day great talent is required to make traditional music respectable.....there are many moving and delightful things throughout" Chester Duncan - Arts Manitoba
“The style of the music varies from Mozartian lightness in the second movement variations, to the lazy jazz syncopations of the first movement and the fun-making play with bells and percussion in the final movement. Davies is definitely a populist composer.” David Doughly - Classic FM Magazine
1. Sonata 2. Theme & Variations 3. Rondo
PULSATIONS (Concerto for violin No.1 *) (1978) 33’
The Wheel of Fire, 14’; Sunday Afternoon, 8’; Between the Planets, 8’.
A virtuoso concerto (*originally intended for amplified or electric violin) combining elements of
jazz, rock, Broadway, and Hollywood in the form of a classical concerto.
Commissioned by Arthur Polson and CBC Radio.
Performances: Premiere: Arthur Polson violin, CBC Winnipeg Orchestra, Brian Priestman, conductor, 1978;
Also, Arthur Polson violin, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra; Erich Kunzel, conductor, multiple performances, 1984;
Mark Lupinsky violin, Toronto Community Orchestra, James McKay, conductor.
Difficulty: excellent youth/community to professional orchestra.
Instrumentation: 3222 /4331 /timp/2 perc /drums /piano electric=acoustic/electric bass /electric guitar/strings
Score for sale (orchestra parts - rental) (piano rehearsal reduction of orchestra in preparation)
Recorded, Polson, Kunzel London Symphony Orchestra, 1986. On the CDs Music of Victor Davies and Pulsations
“Pulsations….brought a standing ovation that was an expression of the delight felt throughout the house”. Kip Park - Winnipeg Tribune.
“..vintage Davies, vitality, energy, and an unending stream of tuneful toe tapping melodies.” Sid Robinovitch - Border Crossings “
“...Sunday Afternoon...this beautiful lyric melody...” Michael Burton - Sound and Vision
Freeway Frenzy Dreams By The Fire Space Ride
YUKON SCENES (for flute and orchestra) (1997) 19’
The spirit of the Yukon in four sonic picture post cards, with echoes of the land, the Gold Rush, and its people.
Spring Flowers 4’; Kate 1898 4’; Ice Crystals 5’; Rendezvous 4’
Original version (for flute & piano) commissioned by Yukon Arts Council & Bonnie Jones and premiered by her.
Orchestra version premiered April 1997, commissioned by Kingston Symphony Orchestra (ON) Glen Fast, conductor for Donelda Gartshore, flute..
Suitable for pop concerts also main classic concerts which feature orchestra players.
Difficulty: Orchestra: excellent youth/community to professional orchestra. Flute solo excellent university/professional
Instrumentation: 0222/2200/timp/1-2 perc/strings (amplified flute in Ice Crystals)
Orchestra score and piano flute rehearsal score for sale, (orchestra parts - rental)
On the CD Silhouettes also see Chamber
“..transports us through the wonders of the Yukon’s landscape, blending..jazz to rock’n roll and classical....” Ingrid Gagnon - Kingston Whig Standard
Spring Flowers Ice Crystals Kate 1898 Rendezvous