Edward Cowie: Streams and Particles
Edward Cowie is considered by many to be the greatest living composer directly inspired by the Natural World. His post-impressionist works, from the gigantic orchestral Leviathan (his first Proms commission) to his cycles of Bird Portraits and other chamber and instrumental pieces are drawing gasps of admiration from critics and audiences alike.
This album focuses on Nature in the smallest sense – the subatomic building blocks of the Universe, and the conceptual realisation of mathematical structures in art by the great symbolic abstract artist Kandinsky. Three works for guitar(s) – solo, duo and quartet – are bookended by a violin duo and an oboe solo in a collection which once again demonstrates Cowie’s genius and his place as one of today’s most inspired and inventive composers – a place which is being confirmed by critics more and more with each new album.
The performers are all leaders in their fields: Skærved and Trandafilovski are the two violinists with the Kreutzer Quartet as well as having varied successful careers as soloists, composers/arrangers and educators – with many Métier and Athene recordings to their names. Christopher Redgate is recognised as one of the world’s foremost oboists specializing in new music (and the inventor of the Howarth-Redgate oboe) while Saki Kato and Hugh Millington are creating a fine reputation for their championing of contemporary guitar music. They are also recording music by Trandafilovski for a new Métier release in November.
Overall this recording reinforces the brilliance of Cowie’s writing and shows his ability to create fine works for instruments he was not previously familiar with!
Track Listing
- Particle Partita - I. The Democritus Question (2:37)
- Particle Partita - II. Mendeleev's Table (3:13)
- Particle Partita - III. Bequerel's Radioactivity (2:16)
- Particle Partita - IV. Rutherford's Nucleus and Thompson's Electron (2:13)
- Particle Partita - V. Postron to Muon (1:52)
- Particle Partita - VI. Meson to Lepton (2:29)
- Particle Partita - VII. November Revolution (3:42)
- Particle Partita - VIII. Higgs Boson and beyond.. (4:55)
- Basho Meditations - No. 1 (1:05)
- Basho Meditations - No. 2 (1:01)
- Basho Meditations - No. 3 (1:36)
- Basho Meditations - No. 4 (1:09)
- Basho Meditations - No. 5 (1:01)
- Basho Meditations - No. 6 (1:22)
- Basho Meditations - No. 7 (0:44)
- Basho Meditations - No. 8 (2:31)
- Stream and Variations - I. Theme (1:35)
- Stream and Variations - II. Variation 1: The 1st Pool (0:27)
- Stream and Variations - III. Variation 2: The 1st Run (1:44)
- Stream and Variations - IV. Variation 3: The 2nd Pool (1:20)
- Stream and Variations - V. Variation 4: The 2nd Run (1:38)
- Stream and Variations - VI. Variation 5: The 3rd Pool (2:38)
- Stream and Variations - VII. Variation 6: The 3rd Run (4:25>
- Stream and Variations - VIII. Variation 7: The 4th Pool (3:04)
- Stream and Variations - IX. Variation 8: The 4th Run (5:54)
- Kandinsky - I. Points (3:38)
- Kandinsky - II. Lines (4:54)
- Kandinsky - III. Planes (5:16)
- Kandinsky's Oboe - I. Points (2:06)
- Kandinsky's Oboe - II. Lines (4:25)
- Kandinsky's Oboe - III. Planes (4:58)
Edward Cowie (b.1943):
Reviews
“Cowie has a fine ear for color and texture, and he also gives shape to the music through a carefully designed rhythmic ebb and flow. Contrapuntal textures are important in his music. This is the kind of music usually only performed by artists who are deeply committed to it, which explains the excellence of the performances here. My own appreciation grew the more I listened, and in the end I found an almost hypnotic attraction had set in.
” —Henry Fogel
“All the performances are top of the range. The recording is perfect. The liner notes are essential reading unless the listener just wants to allow the music to wash over them. The entire booklet is a masterclass of design.
” —John France
“Edward Cowie take[s] you on a journey through musical landscapes that you never imagined could exist. I thought that I had heard everything there was to hear – evidently not! Apparently unrelated subjects marry together surprisingly well in Cowie’s music. His creative musical form comes through as uniquely his own. The seven performers are absolute virtuosi. They have no need of me to ratify their brilliance.
” —Alan Cooper
“WHAT A PERFORMANCE! 2022 WINNER>>>>>>This is really interesting music for the listener to follow. Few composers could handle this sort of thing with the grace and intelligence of Cowie; What I particularly admire about Cowie is that, as this record proves, he is not a “one style” composer. He can think outside the box and produce a varied oeuvre of works that complement each other without all sounding alike. Very highly recommended!
” —Lynn Rene Bayley
