Jonathan Powell — a tribute
Humanity – and specifically that part of it passionately involved with music – has suffered an immeasurably cruel loss with the unanticipated departure from this life of the remarkable Jonathan Powell.
Jonathan was a pianist of astonishing and unique gifts. He had an extraordinary ability to assimilate complex and unfamiliar music and bring it to performance standard very rapidly. This greatly endeared him to a generation of contemporary composers, broadly speaking in the Finnissy – complexicist orbit. His scale playing and that of rapid-running figuration was legendary. Alistair Hinton paid tribute to this gift in the scintillating Toccata that he wrote for Jonathan: Icarus Powellii.
Jonathan had a longer association with the music of Sorabji than most pianists; beginning in the early 2000s, this led to achievements including a pioneering series of recitals in London, another such in France, which included what was, sadly, his only performance of Il Grido del Gallino d’Oro, and multiple performances of Opus Clavicembalisticum, as well as the historic series of recordings on Altarus. Aside from the (obvious!) transcendentally virtuosic demands, another aspect of Jonathan’s technique greatly contributed to the success of these performances; he had an uncanny ability to define, delineate and differentiate the multiple elements that make up these compositions and combine them into a cohesive whole. Whether actually in the form of variations or not, many of Sorabji’s works consist of agglomerations of character pieces, each with its own textual and coloristic nature. Jonathan’s success in navigating the undulating karst landscapes and harsh, glittering pyroclastic flows of Sorabji inspiration allows the lapidary peacock hues to emerge with full effect, in works including Il Grido del Gallino d’Oro, Rosario d’Arabeschi and, above all, Gulistān with its viny tropical vegetation limned in unearthly, impossible colours that entangle parapets and balustrades of intricately carved ancient stone.
The climax of Jonathan’s immense contribution to the Sorabji cause was his performances, broadcasts and recording of Sequentia Cyclica super Dies Iræ which the composer considered to be one of his most important piano works. Some 8½; hours in duration, this set of variations and a sextuple fugue imposes such fearsome demands upon the pianist that Jonathan decided to perform each of its three parts on separate occasions before finally premièring the work in complete form in 2010. Following several more performances, he made his recording of this monumental work; this received the prestigious Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik in 2020. Jonathan’s abilities were ideally suited to illuminating the crystal-pranked surfaces of the crenellated obsidian megalithic pylons of the work’s overall structure as though from within.
In 2011, Jonathan took the momentous decision to relocate permanently from England to Poland. In the same year he made a beautiful marriage to Irena Jakuboszczak. He doted on their two sons for the remainder of his life.
After the move Jonathan cultivated an impressive career in mainland Europe, with many concerto performances and recordings of challenging, historically significant repertoire. He became a fixture on the recital circuit, appearing in a multitude of concerts series and festivals, performing his customary eclectic choice of exhilarating and often unfamiliar music.