2016 marks the 150th anniversary of the Anglo-German composer Percy Sherwood, who has become part of my life. He was born on 23 May 1866 and had a remarkable career in Dresden as a composer, teacher and pianist, but his life as a musician was cut short when he was stranded in England in the summer of 1914 by the outbreak of the Great War. A couple of years ago I recorded the complete surviving works for cello and piano with David Owen Norris (samples on my <a href=”http://josephspooner.net/?page_id=219″>Recordings page</a>). I had to undertake considerable primary research in order to be able to write the booklet accompanying the CD, and I have explored Percy’s life further since then, discovering more about the professional lives of his parents and his own life as a performer. This work is continuing, and the CD booklet itself is now already out of date! I am exploring how to make this biographical material available.
Sherwood was marked in 2016 with two very exciting projects. On 28 May 2016, there was the world premiere of the Double Concerto of 1907–1908 for violin, cello and orchestra at the English Music Festival, conducted by John Andrews with the English Symphony Orchestra. In June I recorded the concerto with the BBC Concert Orchestra, which has an enviable reputation for supporting such ventures, together with John Andrews and the violinist Rupert Marshall-Luck.
