Edward Cowie: Bird Portraits
Edward Cowie is one of the most individual and notable voices in contemporary music and considered by many to be the greatest living composer directly inspired by the natural world. He has worked for over 40 years writing music in response to landscapes and the voices of creatures. In this new cycle of 24 ‘sonic portraits’ of different British birds from 4 distinctive habitats, Cowie 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. This album will be followed in early 2022 by a companion (music for flute and piano) featuring birds of Australia entitled ‘Where Song was Born’.
This is a major addition of importance to the contemporary chamber repertoire and will benefit from the success and glowing reviews of previous Cowie albums.
Peter Sheppard Skærved and Roderick Chadwick are at the highest level of musical achievement and 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 enormous depth of knowledge and the innate musicality which also inspires the magical performances on ‘Bird Portraits’.
The artists have substantial followings online and in real life and Skærved in particular has strong links to institutions such as the Library of Congress.
Track Listing
- Edward Cowie (b. 1943): BIRD PORTRAITS
- Mute Swan (2:09)
- Kingfisher (2:37)
- Great Crested Grebe (3:15)
- Dipper (3:33)
- Bittern (2:14)
- Coot (1:36)
- Barn Owl (2:21)
- Pheasant (1:56)
- Rook (2:37)
- Magpie (3:01)
- Starling (2:46)
- Skylark (3:52)
- Tawny Owl (3:41)
- Green Woodpecker (2:16)
- Song Thrush (3:33)
- Wren (5:31)
- Bullfinch (2:05)
- Wood Warbler (3:08
- Curlew (3:16)
- Cormorant (3:18)
- Osprey (3:21)
- Arctic Terns (2:11)
- Puffins (1:36)
- Great Northern Diver (3:40)
Reviews
“Contains wit and even a couple of jocular moments. You don’t have to know anything about bird to enjoy it as a piece of music.
” —Jeremy Condliffe
“Anything played by ambassador for the violin Peter Sheppard Skærved has to be worth a listen. Music that intrigues but doesn’t really transport – it impresses and fascinates. Living with this recording I have come to value its unsentimental view on nature. It doesn’t lack in moments of beauty and lyricism or even, for want of a cliché, poetic expression and there is always depth and substance in each treatment.
” —Dominy Clements
“Edward Cowie’s Bird Portraits is virtually unique. Cowie strives to depict the birdsongs as they really are, and they do often stand out with remarkable clarity. Pianist Roderick Chadwick is often there to provide atmospheric colour… Peter Sheppard Skærved creates astonishingly detailed renditions of the bird calls. These come across like dazzling cadenzas and include some real eye-popping violin virtuosity.
” —Alan Cooper
“Extraordinarily imaginative and diverse sequence of pieces depicted with the same precision and strength of emotional response as in the composer’s beautiful illustrated graphic sketched notes. A fantastically vivid musical illuminated bestiary, or aviary.
”
“Cowie seems to neatly sum up a bird’s personality and behaviour, before almost invariably closing with some surprisingly close and accurate evocation of its song, as though giving his birds the last word. The results are imaginative, captivating and really very moving. Cowie could hardly have hoped for more committed, persuasive interpreters than Peter Sheppard Skærved and Roderick Chadwick. This is a disc of quiet wonders, captured in close, detailed sound.
” —David Kettle
“The movements are quite short, and each is distinct and intense [but] the cycle creates a surprisingly satisfying musical whole.. There is always a recognisable musical voice and whilst a lot of the material is spiky and tonally free, Cowie certainly does not shy away from tonality and lyricism. The results can, at times, be remarkably visual. The performances from Peter Sheppard Skaerved and Roderick Chadwick are exemplary, sympathetic and committed, lyrical and virtuoso.
” —Robert Hugill
“The impact of nature and Cowie’s response to the specific birds and their habitat have created a musical language that is unique. Like all great composers, Edward Cowie has managed to create a synthesis of his influences, and has added to them, and pushed well beyond. The playing by both partners of this violin/piano duo is revelatory. Engineer Jonathan Haskell has provided the wonderfully sensitive and always vivid recording.
” —John France
“New music with highly original treatments of the relationships between the bird singers and where and how they sing. Skærved and Chadwick bring to life Cowie’s vivid evocations.
” —John Pitt
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