With 'PHILLIP COOKE Organ Music', Regent Records delivers a breathtaking CD that will touch both audiophiles and liturgy enthusiasts deeply.
The British label Regent Records is no ordinary label; it is a thread that has accompanied me throughout my musical life since my youth. The fact that the company continues to be run to this day by the couple that founded it says everything about their passion. They are world-renowned for their sharp focus on English choral and organ music, but equally for their excellent recording quality. And this is another bullseye. The recording of the organ at Blackburn Cathedral is executed so superbly that it feels as if you are sitting right in the middle of it. I put it to the test: first listened to through good equipment and also through a simple Bose box. And I can tell you: even with that Bose box, the recording remains equally impressive. The instrument itself, built in 1969 by J.W. Walker and expanded and rebuilt in 2002 by Wood of Huddersfield under the direction of the legendary David Briggs, sounds in the exceptional acoustics of the cathedral truly like the world class organ that it is.
On the CD, organist Ed Jones presents a comprehensive 73-minute overview of compositions by Phillip Cooke (born 1980). This creates a wonderful time document. The danger of a CD built entirely from the work of one composer is that it becomes monotonous or has only one colour. But to be honest: that is absolutely not the case here. The pieces were written over a period of two decades, giving you a whole evolution in Cooke's work.
Phillip Cooke grew up in the enchanting surroundings of the Lake District, an atmosphere that he consciously tries to convey in various pieces. He studied composition at the universities of Durham and Manchester and obtained his PhD under Anthony Powers in Cardiff. Through positions at Oxford and Eton College, he was appointed in 2022 as Professor of Composition at the University of Aberdeen. His works are performed by top choirs such as the BBC Singers and The Sixteen, and as a musicologist he also wrote leading books about, among others, James MacMillan and Herbert Howells. And that influence of Howells? You hear it clearly shining through here and there.
If I had to describe the music and performance in two words, I would use accessible and practical. Accessible, because it is a CD that you can listen to without interruption, both intensively and in the background. And practical, because you can quite easily see many of these compositions being performed during a church service.
This has to do with the strong link with the sung word and the liturgy. Several pieces are based on Gregorian themes, such as the three Meditations and the two Recessionals. It is always wonderful and certainly not easy to convert Gregorian chants into organ music in a clear, recognizable way without it becoming tedious. And I must say that Cooke has succeeded very well here, with the vibrant O Lux Beata Trinitas as a fine example.
The programme is very well put together and switches smoothly between different atmospheres. From the powerful Fantasia (based on his motet Veni Sancte Spiritus) to a pastoral adaptation of the Easter night Exultet, and even a short, witty Prelude for Organ Pedals, a piece played exclusively on the pedals, ideal for scoring high points on the concert stage.
Two compositions made a particularly deep impression. First of all the Elegy. When listening to it, it came across as a very slow movement: meditative, dark, gloomy... and then at the very last moment comes a cry for help or an affirmation of hope. Only when I consulted the booklet did I fully understand it: Cooke wrote this piece for the funeral of a close friend in 2003. This is music that brings you to the core and shows the essence of what sounds can do to a person. And with the Epitaph, I also consulted the booklet, and I was glad my feeling was right: I heard a glimpse of John Tavener in it, and indeed, the piece turned out to be dedicated to him.
That all these magnificent colours come out so well is of course solely the merit of organist Ed Jones. Ed has had a highly interesting career: he graduated cum laude from the University of Aberdeen, obtained his PhD there in choral composition under the guidance of Paul Mealor and Phillip Cooke himself, teacher and pupil here together on one CD! He developed as a countertenor and organist at St Andrew's Cathedral and subsequently held various cathedral positions throughout the United Kingdom.
A magnificent organ like that of Blackburn can greatly inspire an organist, but it is the performer who must make the music. Jones does that superbly. In the first piece, Dialogue, he immediately reveals all the colours and facets of the organ. But where he really excels for me are the Gregorian pieces. Playing Gregorian themes is complex: you must not only follow the composer's wishes, but also be very well acquainted with the breath and heartbeat of those ancient chants. If you don't know those, it is virtually impossible to get that soul into it. Jones masters that breath perfectly, which ensures a recognizability that is literally breathtaking.
As a listener with a great love for the liturgy and the sung word, I can only conclude: mission accomplished. This is a real masterpiece where everything is right.
Oh yes, after listening, the question inevitably arises why an organist of this calibre has exchanged full-time music for a career as a financial advisor (as mentioned in his curriculum). Perhaps understandable, the life of a musician is unfortunately hard and uncertain. But when you deliver a CD of this quality, one thing is certain: the organ remains his true vocation. A recording that will delight many organ enthusiasts and belongs in every organ collection!
regent-records.co.uk
PHILLIP COOKE: Organ Music
1 Dialogue
Three Meditations on Plainchant Themes
2 I Jesu dulcis memoria
3 II Christus vincit
4 III Salve Regina (Solemn Tone)
5 Epitaph
6 Praeludium for organ pedals
7 Exultet
8 Lament
Two Hymn Tune Preludes
9 I Christ, be our light! (Farrell)
10 II Rhosymedre (Edwards)
11 Fantasia
12 Elegy
Two Recessionals on Plainchant Themes
13 I The St Edmund Antiphon 5
14 II O lux beata Trinitas
back cover is in media library
Regent Records
barcode 802561059523
REGCD595
73:25
Session photographs by Phillip Cooke and George Richford
Cover image by Stuart Ashley (c) shutterstock.com