Edward Cowie (born 1943) is an English composer, author, Natural Scientist, and painter
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Cowie was born in Birmingham, England in 1943 and spent most of his early life in the rural countryside. This first-hand experience of nature was to have a profound influence on his life and work.
In 1964 he began composition studies with Alexander Goehr and in 1971 he won a Chopin Fellowship to study with Witold Lutosławski in Poland. He also came under the influence of Michael Tippett, who remained a close friend and mentor.
Early recognition came with the 1975 BBC Proms commission Leviathan for large orchestra, and this was followed by a string of festival commissions and recordings. Major works from this period include Gesangbuch (1975-6), the Piano Concerto (1976-7) and Concerto for Orchestra (1982), as well as the opera Commedia (1976-7).
In 1983, Cowie was awarded the first Granada Composer Fellowship with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He remained with the orchestra for three years and worked with them as both composer and conductor. He subsequently worked as a conductor with several major orchestras and ensembles in Britain and Australia.
Among works from this time are the Clarinet Concerto (1978), Choral Symphony (1983), Atlas (1986), Cello Concerto (1993, revised 2003) and several pieces inspired by the Australian folk-hero Ned Kelly.
After spending twelve years in Australia he returned to England to live in 1995. His appointment as the first Composer in Association with the BBC Singers (2002-6) saw the completion of some of Cowie's most complex and inventive scores, including Gaia (2002), an hour-long creation epic inspired by the writings of James Lovelock[1] and National Portraits, shortlisted for the 2007 British Composer, Radio 3 Listeners' Award. In May 2010 the third part (Spring) of Four Seasons for a cappella choir, a joint commission by CC21 in London and Commotio in Oxford, received its premiere. The conductor was Howard Williams, who has premiered many of Cowie's works. His 24 Preludes were released on UHR Label in 2008 to great critical acclaim. This was followed by the release of his Magma Psalm for Harp and Wind Quartet on NMC label in March, 2010. His Rutherford's Lights, a massive cycle of 24 pieces for solo piano has just been recorded on UHR label with Richard Casey as the pianist and will be released in the early autumn, 2010. It was described as 'an epic achievement'in International Piano Magazine in February, 2010
1973-83 Associate Professor of Composition, University of Lancaster
1979 Guest Professor, University of Kassel, Germany
1978 Visiting Professor, University of Florida
1983-88 Professor and Head of the School of Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong, Australia
1989-94 Professor and Director of the Australian Arts Fusion Centre at James Cook University, Townsville
1996 - Professor and Director of Research at Dartington College of Arts in Devon.
In addition to his lifelong fascination with landscape and the natural world, Cowie has acknowledged the influence on his music of the works of J.S. Bach, Haydn, Janáček, Debussy, Sibelius and Messiaen.[2] His mature style combines elements of impressionism with intricate part-writing, intense lyrical expressiveness, tonal fluidity and rhythmic complexity. The composer himself anticipated the possible charge of over-complexity and eclecticism:
In general, critics have described his music as "complex–confused–derivative–highly original– colourful–masterly–dull–formally amorphous etc." The music has always arisen as a result of inspiration from observations of nature, the works of other artists, (especially painters), and from the nature of form itself. He has always believed that all of the arts languages are derived from central theories of form. As a result, his music does sometimes sound unpredictable though never without clear formal direction. If this is an impression gained from some critics, it is certainly not the intention behind (and before) his ways of forming musical compositions.A close study of the dynamics and forces of nature reveals a constant and ever-refreshing source of new forms. It is perhaps true to say that like Messiaen's study of birdsong and his 'relocation' of that sound-world into his music, has set him apart from composers who choose purely musical contexts as sources of inspiration. Cowie too challenges an 'intersensual' approach to his music.
Alongside his rise to prominence as a musician, Cowie has exhibited internationally as a painter, and his works are in public and private collections in more than 20 countries. He has also made several television films, including his acclaimed BBC2 film on Leonardo, of 1986. In 1988 and 1989, he wrote and presented two major radio series commissioned by ABCFM, Australia. In 2002 he was created the first Artist in Residence with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.In that same year, he became the first Composer in Association with the BBC Singers in London; a collaboration that spawned three major new works in the genre. During the late 1990s, he worked as an author of books on wildlife and the first in a major series, Birds Talk, was published in 2001.
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