There is a short feature on me and (interestingly…) my choice of computer software on www.compositiontoday.com written by Christian Morris. I’m glad he kept my clarinet/rabid cat simile in. Check out the feature here.
There were some nice reviews of my pieces Invocation and Lakesongs in recent publications that I stumbled across. Classical Music Magazine had Lakesongs as one of their premières of the year and referred to the piece as “A very interesting extension of the English nature music tradition”. Jeremy Summerly reviewing the Novello New Choral Series (of which Invocation is featured) in Choir & Organ said of Invocation: “arguably the most interesting of Novello’s new clutch…Invocation is memorably haunting…spine-tingling.” Nice.
Here are two of the photos that were taken by Peter Jones earlier this month. The photos were taken on a benign Autumn day in Mollington, Oxfordshire. I’m very happy with them, even if the main response so far appears to be ‘not the kind of guy you would want to bump into on a dark night.’ Due to some unwieldy technology on my website I haven’t been able to upload as many as I’d hoped, but then again, two photos may be enough of me.
Promo 1 (© Peter Jones 2011)
Promo 2 (© Peter Jones 2011)
It was a hugely enjoyable, if slightly surreal experience at the première of The Two Trees at The Queen’s College, Oxford on Thursday. Meeting HRH The Duchess of Cornwall was nice, as was chatting with Rowan Atkinson as was being given a bit of birthday cake by a Ukrainian Billionaire’s wife. Fiona Maddocks in The Observer was very kind about my piece referring to the ‘Subtle colours of Cooke’s work’. The feature can be read here. An article in The Oxford Times can be read here.
I recently received some reviews of the performances of my work Invocation that took place with JAM in Scotland last month. Though I was hoping for, perhaps, some more national newspapers (both in Scotland and the UK) to cover the events, I was nevertheless happy with the positive comments about the piece. The St Andrews Citizen referred to the work as ‘evocative and vivid in [it's] imagery’ and the equally august publication the Dundee Courier stated that ‘Phillip Cooke’s Invocation - a beautiful secular work which was a rhapsody’. The website Sound Scotland was kind to call me ‘a contemporary master of the new imagining of traditional music’. I was, however, most happy with some feedback from a 10 year old audience member who said the piece was ‘like heaven in a way’ – very high praise indeed!
I was very excited to hear that my work Invocation has been published by Novello today in a series entitled ‘Novello New Choral Series’. The series will be launched at the ABCD Conference in Birmingham later this month. To purchase a copy please visit here.
A short article on me (with a lovely accompanying photo) is featured in this month’s Choir & Organ magazine. It features a brief round-up of my recent activities and a few bon mots. Also featured are articles on Thomas Hyde, Elizabeth Winters and Joseph Phibbs amongst others – illustrious company.
I have recently received these photos of some recent portraits of me from the artist Helen Ganly. It was quite strange having these done, but quite entertaining also. The acrylic portrait is a study for a project on Henry II, Empress Matilda and the Anarchy that Helen is working on. We met through rather serendipitous circumstances that I was working on a piece, Nineteen Years of Winter, that was also based upon the Anarchy at the same time that Helen had begun her project. It was quite spooky really.
I recently stumbled across this interview I gave on BBC Radio Cumbria in May 2009 alongside LDSM Director Andrew Lucas about the 4 x 4 Composer Scheme. It’s not the most exciting interview ever, but it gives a little info on the course, has a spurious reference to Status Quo (the rock band) and features an excerpt of Whither Thou Goest.
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The current (and inaugural) Phillip Cooke Newsletter detailing performances, commissions and other exciting developments is available now. To download the newsletter click here. To be added to the mailing list to receive the Newsletter on a regular basis please email Phillip@phillipcooke.com
