Classikon
*about performance at Music, She Wrote Festival 2023*
"This work was a substantive, narrative led work over 7 movements and for me was the clear musical highlight of the evening. Underneath what felt a very free ad lib performance, it’s clear McCooey has a great and thoughtful compositional craft underpinning her work. This piece avoided all the traps of stasis and meandering one might associate with loop pedal works in the wrong hands; each movement had clever ideas and intrinsically interesting looped material, and despite being the longest work on the whole program felt incredibly concise. It was poignant and compelling storytelling and from a performer still at the very beginning of her career and it’ll be interesting to observe the evolution of her artistic practice in the years to come."
Full review
Mes Enceintes Font Défaut
"Australian cellist Ceridwen McCooey has a unique touch and handles her instrument like few people do. Without words, her music still seems to communicate something powerful to us, like a message that lies somewhere between joy and uproar. The eight short compositions bearing the names of birds pass quickly before our eyes and make sure to leave us speechless. The musician manages to portray each of these animals in sound and it is simply magnificent."
*about performance at Music, She Wrote Festival 2023*
"This work was a substantive, narrative led work over 7 movements and for me was the clear musical highlight of the evening. Underneath what felt a very free ad lib performance, it’s clear McCooey has a great and thoughtful compositional craft underpinning her work. This piece avoided all the traps of stasis and meandering one might associate with loop pedal works in the wrong hands; each movement had clever ideas and intrinsically interesting looped material, and despite being the longest work on the whole program felt incredibly concise. It was poignant and compelling storytelling and from a performer still at the very beginning of her career and it’ll be interesting to observe the evolution of her artistic practice in the years to come."
Full review
Mes Enceintes Font Défaut
"Australian cellist Ceridwen McCooey has a unique touch and handles her instrument like few people do. Without words, her music still seems to communicate something powerful to us, like a message that lies somewhere between joy and uproar. The eight short compositions bearing the names of birds pass quickly before our eyes and make sure to leave us speechless. The musician manages to portray each of these animals in sound and it is simply magnificent."
On The Fringes Of Sound
"The Conference of the Birds is the debut album from Australian composer and cellist Ceridwen McCooey and it is an impressive feat of music from this young artist. Comprised of only eight compositions, McCooey tells quite a story and creates an impressive variety of sounds using (presumably) only her cello.
The first seven tracks introduce the cast of characters which is a variety of birds including "The Nightengale," "The Peacock," and "The Sea Heron." Each of them is introduced in their own composition which includes some impressively bird-like sounds created by the strings of a cello. What is most impressive is that each bird seems to be given their own personality in its corresponding composition with "The Nightengale" sounding emotive yet somewhat aloof and "The Peacock" sounding somewhat elegant while also a bit pompous. This character building culminates in the final track, "The Conference of Birds," in which a bit of each bird can be heard in a talkative meeting that is reminiscent of the classic Watership Down. With this, McCooey's well-crafted story comes to a satisfying conclusion."
"The Conference of the Birds is the debut album from Australian composer and cellist Ceridwen McCooey and it is an impressive feat of music from this young artist. Comprised of only eight compositions, McCooey tells quite a story and creates an impressive variety of sounds using (presumably) only her cello.
The first seven tracks introduce the cast of characters which is a variety of birds including "The Nightengale," "The Peacock," and "The Sea Heron." Each of them is introduced in their own composition which includes some impressively bird-like sounds created by the strings of a cello. What is most impressive is that each bird seems to be given their own personality in its corresponding composition with "The Nightengale" sounding emotive yet somewhat aloof and "The Peacock" sounding somewhat elegant while also a bit pompous. This character building culminates in the final track, "The Conference of Birds," in which a bit of each bird can be heard in a talkative meeting that is reminiscent of the classic Watership Down. With this, McCooey's well-crafted story comes to a satisfying conclusion."
Radioaktiv
"In music, man feels very close to the essence of nature. The fact that it can speak to everyone, as a sort of universal language, and acts from early childhood, means that the divine being of the cosmos moves within it, it represents the active life of God.
When the musician creates he cannot copy anything, taking it from the external physical nature, (except the song of the birds) from where he draws the material of his creations, it must be sought in the sphere of his soul, in the spiritual worlds ». (the Essence of Music)
It is with the words of Rudolf Steiner that we introduce The Conference of the Birds, the album by Australian composer Ceridwen McCooey.
Chamber music based on an ancient poem by Farid Ud-Din Attar, a 12th century Persian Sufi poet. The poem describes a journey in which a bird, the Hoopoe, invites its fellow birds to join him on a journey in search of the Great Simorg (the most powerful bird of all, the superior being).
The Conference of the Birds is McCooey's musical interpretation of those birds who refuse to undertake this journey and the reason for this decline.
McCooey represents outsiders, her music is out of the box, an intertwining of improvisation and looping that sees her main instrument as the protagonist, the cello.
The debut album, released on April 30, 2021 by Rhodium, combines the purity of contemporary classical music with the free essence of improvisation, capturing lightness, joy and love.
The eight compositions of the disc are a succession of tremulous harmonies, layers upon layers of melodic lines and plucked notes, light drones and electronic loops for a modern and exciting language. The backbone is an articulated narrative form that results in short compositions with a strong emotional impact.
The disc's summary is to be found in the final track, Conference, composed of fragments of each of the previous seven tracks in which McCooey effortlessly combines all the thematic material into a beautiful ending.
With The Conference of the Birds Ceridwen McCooey contaminates classical music with electronic loops emphasizing the organic sounds of the cello, free to soar like birds."
"In music, man feels very close to the essence of nature. The fact that it can speak to everyone, as a sort of universal language, and acts from early childhood, means that the divine being of the cosmos moves within it, it represents the active life of God.
When the musician creates he cannot copy anything, taking it from the external physical nature, (except the song of the birds) from where he draws the material of his creations, it must be sought in the sphere of his soul, in the spiritual worlds ». (the Essence of Music)
It is with the words of Rudolf Steiner that we introduce The Conference of the Birds, the album by Australian composer Ceridwen McCooey.
Chamber music based on an ancient poem by Farid Ud-Din Attar, a 12th century Persian Sufi poet. The poem describes a journey in which a bird, the Hoopoe, invites its fellow birds to join him on a journey in search of the Great Simorg (the most powerful bird of all, the superior being).
The Conference of the Birds is McCooey's musical interpretation of those birds who refuse to undertake this journey and the reason for this decline.
McCooey represents outsiders, her music is out of the box, an intertwining of improvisation and looping that sees her main instrument as the protagonist, the cello.
The debut album, released on April 30, 2021 by Rhodium, combines the purity of contemporary classical music with the free essence of improvisation, capturing lightness, joy and love.
The eight compositions of the disc are a succession of tremulous harmonies, layers upon layers of melodic lines and plucked notes, light drones and electronic loops for a modern and exciting language. The backbone is an articulated narrative form that results in short compositions with a strong emotional impact.
The disc's summary is to be found in the final track, Conference, composed of fragments of each of the previous seven tracks in which McCooey effortlessly combines all the thematic material into a beautiful ending.
With The Conference of the Birds Ceridwen McCooey contaminates classical music with electronic loops emphasizing the organic sounds of the cello, free to soar like birds."