He was awarded the C.B.E. (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1986 Queen's Honours List for his services to music.
He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1993 (1992 season) for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for "Stiffelio.".
Sometimes confused with the late Edward Downes, former host of the
Metropolitan Opera's popular "Opera Quiz".
He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 Queen's Honours List for his services to music.
He and his wife Joan ended their lives at a Dignitas assisted-suicide
clinic in Switzerland. He was almost blind and becoming deaf; she was terminally ill with cancer.