The score and parts to John Woolrich’s The iron cockerel sings

The iron cockerel sings premiered at the BBC Proms in 1998. The instrumentation of the 10-minute work is the same as Janáček’s Mladi (wind quintet plus bass clarinet). The flautist also takes both piccolo and alto flute, bassoon doubles contrabassoon, and oboe alternates with cor anglais. Like much of Woolrich’s music, The iron cockerel sings is a set of dynamic and extemporaneous inventions, characterised by brilliant, rapid passagework and toccata-like mechanisms. The piece’s energy – bright and colourful – reflects that of Adolf Wölfli, a figurehead of art brut whose writings give the piece its title. Woolrich’s collage channels the same raw immediacy and idiosyncrasy of those artists.