Edward Cowie: 24 Preludes for piano

This extraordinary CD of Edward Cowie’s 24 Preludes for piano is a reissue of a rare recording released by the University of Hertfordshire Recordings back in 2008. I am beholden to the excellent booklet notes and personal communication with the composer in preparing this review. The 24 Preludes were composed between late 2005, and mid-2007. They are dedicated to the present soloist, Philip Mead, who gives such a stunning performance on this CD. 

The original CD liner notes give a good basis for appreciating these Preludes. Cowie explains that he has travelled extensively, and that his “memories of landscapes and places in some of those far-flung habitats are as strong as ever, no matter how long ago they were first visited.”  Furthermore, he states that he has “nearly always written music that derives from a direct “on site” interaction with wild places; the voices of the natural world.” The present sequence of Preludes recall twenty four “distinctive yet sometimes related and interconnected locations.” 

No listener will need to be reminded of historical precedents for this procedure. Most obvious is J.S. Bach Das Wohltemperirte Klavier. Equally relevant to this exploration are the cycles of Preludes by Frederic Chopin and there are the early Preludes by Olivier Messiaen which are often forgotten about in any consideration of his music. Most pertinently of all is Claude Debussy who applied titles to his Preludes after he had written them. With Cowie the imagery came first.

There is another aspect to this massive composition. Surprisingly, for a contemporary composer, Cowie wanted to use the 24 major and minor keys of the well-tempered system as a structural basis for the music. I have no access to the score and do not possess perfect pitch, so I wondered if each prelude was written using the precise key signature or if each note had the relevant accidental added. Cowie assures me that “all the key signatures were written as Bach did.”  The progress of the key sequence is C major/minor then the dominant G major/minor and so on. Bach began in C major/minor and then moved up a semitone to C# major/minor etc. So Cowie’s structure is a fusion of key relationships.

What the listener must be aware of is that these are not character sketches, where the composer wrote the music and then dreamed up a catchy and commercial title. Here, each place/event is the fundamental inspiration for the genesis and development of the individual prelude. To understand his methodology, it is essential to recall that Cowie does his preparatory work with four notebooks. The first one records “shape” or “form” of what is round about him, the second puts down colours: those that blend and clash. Notebook three is devoted to representational drawing, and may include landscapes, flora and fauna. The final jotter is where Cowie records the musical notation of what he hears. Using his collection of notebooks, Cowie then creates what is effectively a work of art, combining the various elements of his research. Several of these are included in the CD booklet. It is from these that he completes his score.

Philip Mead has categorised Cowie’s Preludes as being neo-baroque but belonging wholly to the 21^st century and balancing a “stark tonality” with a “non-tonal flavour.”  He considers that Bach is the main inspiration for technique – “There is an accent on polyphony, lithe, contrapuntal textures, sometimes even imitation, in strict 2-part writing.”

Several times the word “improvisatory” is used in connection with this music. I asked Edward Cowie about this. He explained that they were all “strictly notated” but allowed a “regular scattering of rubato.” This is a method of playing that allows for “subtle rhythmic manipulation and nuance.” In other words, the performer may “stretch certain beats, measures, or phrases and compact others.”

I did wonder if the composer imagined that the entire cycle would be played at a single sitting. He assured me that he “always imagined they’d be played in whatever grouping the performer likes. Performed in pairs...like Scarlatti...or perhaps a group of four with one each from the elements...”  On the other hand, like Bach and Debussy these Preludes are “like a series of linked parts to a greater whole.” So hearing the cycle complete is a valid option.

As an aid to listening, the Preludes are assembled into four books: Water, Air, Earth, and Fire. This elemental structure gives the music a kind of alchemical validity. The geographical reach of this music is impressive. From the opening evocation of O Brook (Devon) to the Blast Furnaces at Port Kembla Steel Works (Australia) and from St Maxime Beach, Provence to the New Year Fireworks, Kassel, Germany, the imagery is striking.

I listened to these pieces a book at a time. And then had a short break. In future I will cheat and pick out some of the places that I know and love such as Glencoe, Loch Carron, Boscastle and Rosedale in Yorkshire. But then, it is possible to extend one’s geographical reach to the Tennessee River, Lake Eacham in Queensland and to 35,000 feet inspired by a view from the flight deck of a jet airliner high above the Straits of Java. I did notice one lovely touch: the cycle opens and closes with an evocation of Glorious Devon. What could be more appropriate?

I have come to expect superlative liner notes to be provided with Edward Cowie’s recordings. And this latest CD is no exception. There is a considerable essay by the composer. This is followed by some important “Personal Thoughts on the Cowie Preludes” by the soloist, Philip Mead. Of interest is the biographical notes on the composer and the pianist. But the added value of this booklet is the artwork. There are four examples of Cowie’s “pre-compositional sketches” for these Preludes. It is safe to say that these are works of art. They feature representational images of the locations, various abstracted designs, and patterns, fugitive text as well as interpolated notational extracts. There is also a photo of a selection of his notebooks. The CD cover features a remarkable painting by Heather Cowie, Cancleave – Sea Mist in oil and cold wax medium on paper. All this material contributes to a satisfying and rewarding experience. For details of the composer’s biography and achievement, please see his excellent website.

Philip Mead provides an ideal, succinct summary of this cycle of Preludes: “One can look for similarities with its predecessors, but this seems to me a fruitless task as these works inhabit a wholly original world which only Cowie could create. Original, yet omnipresent, tonal, yet non tonal, full of movement yet also sometimes of stasis.” They are a splendid addition to the cycles of Preludes of Bach, Chopin, Debussy and Messiaen.

Track Listing
Book 1 – Water
I. O Brook (Devon, England) in C major [3:16]
II. Kiama Blowhole (NSW, Australia) in C minor [2:50]
III. Cancleave (Cornwall, England, sea mists) in G major [3:19]
IV. River Dronne (Dordogne, France) in G minor [1:47]
V. St Maxime Beach (Provence, France) in D major [3:30]
VI. Tennessee River (Tennessee, USA) in D minor [4:38]
Book 2 – Air
I. Boscastle (Cornwall, England, gale) in A major [2:06]
II. Hay Plains Twisters (NSW, Australia) in A minor [2:48]
III. 35,000 feet (Straits of Java) in E major [6:41]
IV. Tapada (Portugal, thermal raptors) in E minor [2:18]
V. Lake Eacham (Queensland, Australia, night breezes) in B major [3:23]
VI. Dartington Gardens (Devon, England, autumn leaf-fall) in B minor [4:14]
Book 3 – Earth
I. Uluru (Australia) in F sharp major [3:29]
II. Crackington Haven (Cornwall, England) in F sharp minor [1:21]
III. Rosedale (Yorkshire, England) in C sharp major [3:07]
IV. Glencoe (Scotland) in C sharp minor [3:25]
V. Brecon Beacons (Wales) in A flat major [1:17]
VI. Shenandoah Valley (Virginia, USA) in A flat minor [4:19]
Book 4 – Fire
I. Sunrise (Loch Carron, Scotland) in E flat major [2:19]
II. Bush Fires (Bluewater, N. Queensland, Australia) in E flat minor [1:00]
III. Home Fire (Garlinge Green, Kent, England) in B flat major [1:56]
IV. Blast Furnaces at Port Kembla Steel Works (Australia) in B flat minor [3:14]
V. New Year Fireworks (Kassel, Germany) in F major [1:34]
VI. Sunset (Dartmoor, Devon, England) in F minor [2:57]