Percy Sherwood was born in Dresden, Germany of English parents
and was a pupil of Felix Draeseke. Sherwood was in London when
the Great War began and return to Germany proved impracticable.
When the war ended he opted to stay in England where he died
just short of the second 20th century war with Germany.
His works for cello and piano appear to have been written for
the Dutch cellist Johannes Smith. They are in late-romantic
language. Those who enjoy the Rachmaninov and John Foulds cello
sonatas will have no difficulty and much pleasure in encountering
them. They are fluently written and while recalling Rachmaninov
there are Brahmsian moments along the way. Romantic torrents
are one thing but the tranced end of the second movement (Adagio)
of the First Sonata with its moonlit glimmer is unforgettable.
The Second Sonata is in much the same floridly confident idiom.
It's all rather suggestive of a late-nineteenth century
Vittorio Giannini (try the recent MSR CD
of his Piano Quintet) or of Nicolas Flagello or, again, Samuel
Barber in his ripest vintage. The finale of Second Sonata is
a victorious sunburst of uplands confidence that pauses for
discursive reflection across its ambitious eight-minute span.
The Three Pieces op. 14 are by turns sentimental, jaunty-charming
and stormily Beethovenian - the latter a sonata-finale in its
mien. The ear-pleasing Five Little Pieces are soulful, gawky-grotesque,
rounded and serenade-joyous.
Toccata take meticulous pains over their productions. There
is nothing here for those of the critical community who belabour
companies for inadequate or absent documentation. On the contrary,
this and the other Toccata discs stand as exemplars. Martin
Anderson would not have it any other way. The booklet runs to
24 pages in English only and that includes four photographs.
It amounts to an extended encyclopaedia entry for Sherwood.
The research done by cellist Joseph Spooner seems to have been
original. I have never seen such an extensive essay on Sherwood.
It's rich in footnotes and the style is fluent and uncongealed.
The playing is all you might hope for with both Spooner and
Owen Norris in assured and exultant form.
Among his other works is an 1889 Requiem which drew
a Mendelssohn Prize in Berlin. There are also many piano pieces
and an 1895 Piano Concerto as well as an orchestral Serenade
(1910). A Second Piano Concerto was completed 1931-34. There
is a 1902 Violin Concerto dedicated to Marie Hall and perhaps
three sonatas for the instrument. Of the six string quartets
the last was finished in about 1930. Let’s trust that Toccata
will let us hear this music and that Em Marshall-Luck will include
it in forthcoming English Music Festivals.
Two lanky late-romantic cello sonatas make an unmistakably confident
first entry for Anglo-German composer Percy Sherwood.
Rob Barnett
Support
us financially by purchasing this disc
through
MusicWeb
for £10.50 postage paid
World-wide.
Joseph Spooner (cello); David Owen Norris (piano)