A Piano Sketchbook

In his A Piano Sketchbook, Mike Cornick’s many inimitable styles shine through like a beacon. Several of the pieces were composed during the Covid lockdown and can only now be published. They are joined by two older compositions that he was delighted to find in some old files and the result is a delightful mixture of light musical fun.

The opening piece, “Valse Mystique” is particularly fascinating, with not a single bar of this Mystical Waltz in the usual 3/4 metre; Mike prefers to alternate 5/4 and 6/4 bars. The second piece evokes the gentle swinging of a trapeze artist before we hear a jazz number, some more swing and two delightful tangos. All the pieces are short, none more than two pages and can be enjoyed by players of intermediate level.