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British composer Edward Cowie is also a conductor, pianist, scientist and acclaimed painter. Born in Birmingham in 1943, he spent much of his early life in the countryside and this early experience of nature has profoundly shaped his life and work. He studied composition with Alexander Goehr and was influenced by Michael Tippett, who became a close friend and mentor, as well as the music of J.S. Bach, Haydn, Janácek, Debussy, Sibelius and Messiaen. Whilst acknowledging these influences Cowie has continued to explore new musical forms, especially those that can be discovered by a fusion of music with structural and behavioural materials, and has been described as ‘the greatest living composer directly inspired by the Natural World.’

One of the most individual voices in contemporary music, he works with sound, colour, order and disorder, shape, pattern and form, seeing them as a part of a grand unification of sensual input. Edward Cowie’s first BBC Proms commission was in 1975 for the massive orchestral work Leviathan and since then he has produced many works inspired by wild (and sometimes not so wild) places on our planet. As a successful visual artist, he often creates drawings to visualise his subject matter before composing, though his music is not ‘filmic’ or directly impressionistic.

In this cycle of 24 ‘sonic portraits’ inspired by British birds from four distinctive habitats, he has drawn even closer to composing music that not so much imitates nature, but that – after much study and extensive field-work – has led to new music with highly original treatments of the relationships between the bird singers and where and how they sing.

Violinist Peter Sheppard Skærved and pianist Roderick Chadwick are champions of the best contemporary composers, while Skaerved is also renowned as a musical historian and writer. His continuing series of ‘The Great Violins’ recordings and other early music for the instrument are testament to his depth of knowledge and the innate musicality which also inspires the magical performances on ‘Bird Portraits’. Skærved and Chadwick bring to life Cowie’s vivid evocations of the  Mute Swan, Kingfisher, Great Crested Grebe, Dipper, Bittern,  Coot, Barn Owl, Pheasant, Rook, Magpie, Starling, Skylark, Tawny Owl,  Green Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Wren, Bullfinch, Wood Warbler, Curlew,  Cormorant, Osprey, Arctic Terns, Puffins and Great Northern Diver.