The Cook Waltz by Adrian Cook (1986) (for 4 hands) (transcribed by John Bladen)

One school afternoon during our A levels this piece was born. And if I remember correctly, a small but nevertheless significant amount of alcohol was involved. The piece was created by Adrian Cook almost in entirety. However, I contributed the ghastly D major section in the middle in an attempt to return to a world I recognized - and promptly had my hands pushed clear of the piano!

The piece is said to be an acquired taste – one that clearly hadn’t been acquired by Mr Andrew Parnell (organist at St Alban’s cathedral at the time) when he informed us that the music department was for music so just what did we think we were doing? He also showed distaste for the impact this piece had on the new school piano. Nevertheless he tolerated the piece, and in the course of a year it matured and became a regular feature of the music department at St Alban’s School.

This score is an attempt to capture one of the more coherent renditions. Please note that in order to make the score readable, many (in fact most) of the notes present in the original have been omitted.

mp3: The Cook Waltz

Score: The Cook Waltz

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