Craig Urquhart: ‘Renewal’

My first online chat with pianist and composer Craig Urquhart took place in 2022 and we discussed his album 'Dreams Remembered'. I was delighted hat our second conversation took place in Schweizes Cafe in Berlin at the end of July 2024, when we discussed his 2023 album 'Renewal', which was in composition at the time of our earlier call. You can hear a snippet of our conversation here.

Renewal is Craig’s response to the Covid19 pandemic and it conveys a sense of lyrical reflection alongside a sense of purpose as we move forward into a new existence. It continues the stream of compositions that one senses are his raison d'etre on this - album number 14.

One of the most delightful tracks that entranced me from its opening notes is The Old Rocking Chair. The sense of movement is hypnotic and is reminiscent of some of those moments during the various lockdowns that gave us time to pause - sometimes enforced time, when there was little else to do but sit in a chair and think.

Similarly, Daybreak concludes this lyrical album but this time with a real sense of moving forward and perhaps a sense of positivity that can come at the start of a new day. We all still hope for some positive changes in the world and the final chords of this track fade and leave a sense of purpose that we all need reminding of from time to time. 

The first composition of Craig's that I ever heard was his Lamentation for flute and string orchestra, as performed by award-winning flute genius Stathis Karapanos and the Berlin Academy of American Music on their album Transatlantic, and I was blown away by the lyricism of that composition. I have since discovered the solo piano version on Craig's album At Ease. I promise you, discovering this beautiful music is a rabbit hole you'll enjoy chasing down.