Arnold Atkinson Cooke (4 November 1906 – 13 August 2005) was a British composer, a pupil of
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advo ...
. He wrote a considerable amount of chamber music, including five string quartets and many instrumental sonatas, much of which is only now becoming accessible through modern recordings. Cooke also composed two operas (still unperformed), six symphonies and several concertos.
[Biography by Eric Wetherell, British Music Society]
extract at ''Musicweb International''
/ref>
Education
Cooke was born at Gomersal, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
, into a family of carpet manufacturers. As a child, Cooke learned to play the piano, and later the cello, and began composing by the age of 7 or 8. He was educated at Streete Preparatory School, Repton School
Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, private, boarding and day school in the public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England.
Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school which was th ...
and at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...
, where he read history, taking Part 1 of his Tripos
TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...
in 1927, earning his B.A. He changed to read music with his composition teacher E. J. Dent.[Wetherell, Eric. 'Cooke, Arnold (Atkinson)' in ''Grove Music Online'', 2001]
/ref> At Cambridge, Cooke continued to play the cello in the CUMS orchestra and in a string quartet. He was President of the Cambridge Musical Society from 1927 to 1928.
In 1929, he gained his Music degree and went to Berlin where he studied composition and piano at the Berlin University of the Arts
The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the second largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research uni ...
under Paul Hindemith. Hindemith's composition class also included Harald Genzmer, Oskar Sala and Franz Reizenstein, the latter remained a lifelong friend and kept Cooke's Piano Concerto in his repertoire.
He later became musical director of the Festival Theatre at Cambridge, and in 1933 was appointed a professor at the Royal Manchester College of Music (now merged into the Royal Northern College of Music). In 1948, through the recommendation of E. J. Dent, he obtained a doctorate from Cambridge, submitting as his composition portfolio his Symphony No. 1 (1946–47), Piano Concerto (1939–40) and Sonata for viola and piano (1936–37).
Career
Cooke moved to London in 1938 to further his career. In the 1930s, he carved out a reputation for himself as a promising young composer, and his music was taken up by leading interpreters. The harpist Maria Korchinska introduced his ''Harp Quintet'' in 1932; Sir Henry Wood
Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundr ...
conducted his ''Concert Overture No. 1'' at the 1934 Promenade Concerts and the Griller Quartet premiered his String Quartet No. 1 in 1935. In 1936 Havergal Brian
William Havergal Brian (29 January 187628 November 1972) was an English composer, librettist, and church organist.
He is best known for having composed 32 symphonies—an unusually high number amongst his contemporaries—25 of them ...
singled out for praise a cantata, ''Holderneth'', a setting of a text by the American poet Edward Sweeney.[
]Louis Kentner
Louis Philip Kentner (19 July 190523 September 1987) was a Hungarian, later British, pianist who excelled in the works of Chopin and Liszt, as well as the Hungarian repertoire.
Life and career
He was born Lajos Kentner in Karwin, Austrian S ...
and the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult premiered his Piano Concerto in 1943, which he had completed just before his call-up in 1941. The concerto had been commissioned by the South African pianist Adolph Hallis in 1939 but the outbreak of WWII meant that Hallis had to return to South Africa. Kentner gave the first performance in a BBC studio broadcast on 11 November 1943. The work received subsequent broadcast performances from Franz Reizenstein with the BBC Northern Orchestra under Clarence Raybould in 1952 and Eric Parkin with the BBC Northern Orchestra under Brian Priestman in 1972.
During the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he served in the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
, first in the aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
HMS ''Victorious'', and subsequently as a liaison officer in a Norwegian escort vessel and a Dutch tug that took part in the D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
Landings. After demobilisation he returned to London in 1946, becoming a founder member of the Composers' Guild of Great Britain. From 1947 until his retirement in 1978, he was Professor of Harmony and Composition at Trinity College of Music
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...
in London. After a stroke in 1993, he virtually ceased to compose, but lived to the age of 98, dying at his nursing home in Five Oak Green
Five Oak Green is a village near Tonbridge, Kent in the Civil Parish of Capel.
The village was a centre for hop growing. In the 19th century, The Rose and Crown public house was converted to a hospital
A hospital is a healthcare instit ...
in Kent in 2005.[
]
Music
As a composer Cooke was highly productive and tended to work in traditional genres. His early music follows an English tradition with traces of Elgar, John Ireland and others, but this changes drastically from the time of his study with Hindemith. The music of the 1930s is far more stark, overtly contrapuntal and dissonant, but by 1937 is settling into a style which would essentially remain with him for most of his life. If the mature music shows the influence of Hindemith, Bartók and Shostakovich, it is also leavened with a more English sense of lyricism, whilst the shadow of Brahms is also present.[
Cooke wrote two operas – ''Mary Barton'' (completed 1954) after the novel by Mrs. Gaskell and ''The Invisible Duke'' (1976). Neither has yet received a performance. The ballet ''Jabez and the Devil'' (1961) was a commission from the Royal Ballet. A suite from the ballet has been recorded. He composed six symphonies and several concertos, including two Clarinet Concertos (1956 and 1982), the first recorded.][ There are also recordings of four of the six symphonies (Nos 1, 3, 4 and 5), along with other orchestral works mostly issued on the Lyrita label. The sixth symphony finally received its first broadcast performance at the BBC studios in Salford on 7 September 2016, 32 years after it was completed.
His output of chamber music is copious, including a clarinet quintet, five string quartets, many instrumental sonatas, and some important vocal music. The Clarinet Quintet is available on Hyperion.]['Arnold Cooke', Hyperion Records]
/ref> The Pleyel Ensemble and MPR Records have issued a series of four CDs of chamber music recordings, the fourth of which was released in September 2020. Most of the works are recorded for the first time. The Bridge Quartet is in the process of recording all five quartets.[Cooke. ''String Quartets Volume 1'', Toccata TOCC0696 (2023)]
/ref> The organ music has been recorded by Tom Winpenny on Toccata.
Selected works
Opera
* ''Mary Barton'', op.27 (1949–1954)
* ''The Invisible Duke'' (1976)
Ballet
* ''Jabez and the Devil'', op.50 (1959) (Concert Suite: 1961)[
]
Vocal and choral works
* ''Holderneth'', Cantata (1933–34)
* ''Nocturnes'', 5 Songs for soprano, horn and piano (1956)[
* ''Songs of Innocence'' for soprano, clarinet and piano (1957)][
* ''O Men from the Fields'' for unison voices (1961)
* ''Ode on St Cecilia’s Day'' for soli, chorus and orchestra, op.57 (1964)
* ''The Seamew'' for voice, flute, oboe and string quartet (1980)
* ''Five Songs of William Blake'' for baritone, treble recorder and piano (1987)
]
Orchestral music
* Concert Overture No. 1 (1934)
* ''Passacaglia, Scherzo and Finale'' for string orchestra (1937)
* Piano Concerto, op.11 (1940)
* Four Shakespeare Sonnets for Soprano and string orchestra (1941)
* Song for Tenor and small orchestra (1945)
* Concert Overture No. 2, ''Processional'' (1945)
* Symphony No. 1 (1947)[Lyrita SRCD 203]
/ref>
* Concerto in D major for string orchestra (1948)[
* ''Prelude and Interlude'' from ''Mary Barton'' (1954?)
* Concerto for Oboe and string orchestra (1954)
* Clarinet Concerto No. 1 (1956)
* Concerto for Treble Recorder and string orchestra (1957)
* Violin Concerto (1958)
* ''Divertimento'' for Treble Recorder and string orchestra (1959)
* Concerto for small orchestra, op.48 (1960)
* Concert Suite from ''Jabez and the Devil'' (1961)
* Symphony No. 2 (1963)
* ''Variations on a Theme of Dufay'', ''Ce Moi de May''(1966)
* Symphony No. 3 (1967)
* ''York Suite'' for Recorders, string orchestra, timpani and percussion (1972)
* Cello Concerto (1973)
* Symphony No. 4 (1974)
* Symphony No. 5 (1979)
* Clarinet Concerto No. 2 (1982)
* Symphony No. 6 (1983–1984)
* ''Repton Fantasia'' (1984)
* Concerto for Orchestra (1986)
]
Chamber music
* Octet for string quartet and woodwind, op.1 (1931)
* Suite for brass sextet (1931)
* Harp Quintet, op.2 (1932)
* String Quartet No. 1 (1933)[
* Duo for Violin and Viola (1935, published A-AMP)][
* Flute Quartet (1936)][
* Sonata for Viola and Piano (1936–1937)]
/ref>
* Sonata for Two Pianos (1937, published OUP)[
* Sonata No. 1 in G for Violin and Piano (1939, published OUP)]
Complete Violin Sonatas
', MPR103
Piano Trio, Quartet and Quintet
', MPR105[
* String Quartet No. 2 (1947)
* Quartet for Oboe and String Trio (1948, published Novello)][
* Quartet for Piano and String Trio (1948–1949)][
* String Trio (1950)
* Rondo in B flat for Horn and Piano (1950)][
* Sonata No. 2 in A for Violin and Piano (1951, published Novello)][
* ''Sinfonietta'' for 11 Instruments, op.31 (1954)
* ''Arioso and Scherzo'' for Horn and Strings (1955)
* Sonatina for flute and Piano (1956 rev. 1961)
* Sonata for Oboe and Piano (1957, published Novello)]
Complete music for oboe and Sonata for Two Pianos
', MPR108
Hyperion CDH55105
* Sonata for Oboe and Harpsichord (1962)[
* Quartet for Flute, Clarinet, Cello and Piano, D93 (1964)][
* ''Quartet-Sonata'' for Recorder, Violin, Cello and Harpsichord (1964–1965)
* Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, D98 (1965)]
Chamber music for flute, clarinet, violoncello and piano
', MPR109[
* ''Pavane'' for Flute and Piano, D112 (1969)][
* Quintet for Piano and String Quartet (1969)][
* Sonata for Solo Violin (1969, published Edition Peters)][
* Quartet for Recorders (1970)
* Trio for Recorders (1970)
* Sonata for Harmonica and Piano (1970)
* Septet for Clarinets (1971)
* Septet for Wind and Strings (alternative to the above) (1971)
* ''Suite in C'' for Recorder Trio and Harpsichord (1972)
* Sonatina for Recorder Trio (1972)
* ''Divertimento'' for Flute, Oboe, Violin, Cello and Piano (1974)
* ''Divertimento'' for Descant Recorder, Treble Recorder, Violin, Cello and Harpsichord (alternative to the above) (1974)
* ''Variations on Two Christmas Carols'' for Recorder Trio (1975)
* String Quartet No. 4 (1976)
* ''Six Pieces'' for Treble and Tenor Recorders (1976)
* ''Concertante Quartet'' for Clarinets (1977)
* Quartet No. 2 for Recorders (1977)
* String Quartet No. 5 in one movement (1978)][
* ''Suite'' for three Viols (1978–1979)
* Prelude and Dance for Clarinet and Piano, D142 (1979)][
* Sonata No. 2 for Cello and Piano (1980)][
* ''Pieces'' for three Recorders (1981)
* ''Suite No. 2'' for Recorder Quartet (1983)
* Trio for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon (1984)
* ''Capriccio'' for Recorder and Piano (1985)
* Sonatina for Alto Flute and Piano, D156 (1985)][
* ''Arietta'' for Soprano Recorder and Piano (1986)
* Sonata for Bassoon and Piano (1987)
* ''Intermezzo'' for Oboe and Piano (1987)
* Sonata for Flute and Harp (1988)
]
Piano, Organ and Harpsichord music
* ''Three Pieces'' for Piano (Ostinato, Intermezzo and Capriccio) (1935)
* Sonata for 2 Pianos, op.8 (1936–37)
* Piano Sonata No. 1 (1938)[''Arnold Cooke: Chamber Music'']
Dutton CDLX7247
* ''Suite'' in C major for Piano (1943, rev. 1963)
* ''Scherzo'' for Piano (1957)
* ''Dance of the Puppets'' and ''Pastorale'' for Piano (1957)
* ''Prelude, Intermezzo and Finale'' for Organ (1962)
* ''Postlude'' for Organ (1962–1964)
* ''Fantasia'' for Organ (1964)
* ''Toccata and Aria'' for Organ (1966)
* ''Impromptu for Organ'' (1966)
* ''Fugal Adventures'' for Organ (1967)
* Piano Sonata No. 2 (1965)[
* ''Intermezzo and Capriccio'' for Harpsichord (1970–1971)
* Sonata No. 1 in G for Organ (1971)
* ''Suite No. 2'' for Piano (1975)
* ''Interlude'' for Organ manual (1976)
* Sonata No. 2 for Organ (1980)
* ''Suite No. 3'' for Piano (1982)
* ''Arietta'' for Piano (1986)
* ''Tudeley Prelude'' for Organ (1989)
* ''Suite in G'' for Organ (1989)
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Arnold
1906 births
2005 deaths
20th-century British classical composers
English classical composers
English opera composers
English male opera composers
British ballet composers
Musicians from West Yorkshire
Neoclassical composers
People from Gomersal
People educated at Repton School
Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Royal Navy personnel of World War II
Pupils of Paul Hindemith
English male classical composers
20th-century English composers
20th-century British male musicians
Berlin University of the Arts alumni