Joseph Spooner - Cello
Joseph Spooner is increasingly being recognized as a passionate performer and discoverer of neglected gems of the cello and chamber music repertoire, particularly works by British and Russian composers.
His work as a soloist, recording artist and chamber musician has taken him across the UK, France, the Netherlands and Russia. Audiences have appreciated his novel programming as well as his performances of better known repertoire, and his recordings have been critically acclaimed. He also takes a particular interest in contemporary music, and his work with various ensembles (notably Continuum and New Music Players) has included performances at major festivals and broadcasts on BBC Radio and Channel 4.
February 2009 saw the release of Romantics in England: Music for Cello and Piano on Dutton Epoch, which includes premiere recordings of important works by Macfarren, Balfe, Coleridge-Taylor and Bainton.
Future plans include a second volume of Romantic English repertoire for cello and piano. Joseph plays a Nicholas Vuillaume cello of c.1865. He is proud to be the dedicatee of Alwynne Pritchard's Danaides and Errolyn Wallen's Spirit Symphony: Speed Dating for Two Orchestras.
More information about the artist:
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- “... Bush’s extraordinary Concert-Piece … all the expressive power needed ... the very English evocation of a Summer Valley, ravishingly played here …”
- “Better still is the almost-forgotten early Cello Sonata, which muses beautifully and ends with a striding finale. It is a classic fin-de-siècle piece, beguilingly played by Joseph Spooner.”
- “... a joy to listen to.”
- “The dedicated research and willingness to devote valuable time to mastering obscure repertoire deserve a rich reward … Macfarren’s E minor Cello Sonata is a captivating piece, rendered with vigour and conviction by Joseph Spooner.”
- Romantics in England: Music for Cello & PianoCello Sonatas by Walter Macfarren, Michael Balfe and Edgar Bainton; Variations by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor; A Reverie by Rosalind Ellicott; To Daisies by Roger Quilter
- Songs from the Ghetto: Music by Alexander Kreinincluding Mélodie (cello and piano), Élégie (piano trio), Poème-Quatuor, and Esquisses Hébraïques (clarinet quintet)
- Canticle of Man - Music of Alan Rawsthorneincluding the unpublished Alan Rawsthorne’s Oboe Quartet No. 1 and Studies on a Theme by Bach for string trio by Rawsthorne
Coming soon...