Squire Cello Solo Collection
Eight Classic Solos for the Student Cellist Sheet Music Book
By William Squire

Item Number: CF.BF47

ISBN 9780825867262. 9 X 12 inches.

William Henry Squire (1871–1963) was an English composer and virtuosocellist, whose playing was greatly respected in his own day. Squire composedin a variety of genres during his long and celebrated career, yet he is bestremembered today for his compositions and arrangements for cello andpiano. These were pieces that Squire used as vehicles for self-promotionon his concert tours, and many of them have since become staples in thecellist’s repertoire. The most popular and remembered of these works arefeatured in this collection.
William Henry Squire was an English composer and virtuoso cellist, whoseplaying was greatly respected in his own day. Squire composed in a variety ofgenres, but is best remembered today for his compositions and arrangements forcello and piano, many of which have become staples in the cellist’s repertoire.Squire was born in 1871 in Ross-on-Wye, a small market town in southeastHerefordshire, England. He displayed a precocious aptitude for music, and hisfather, who recognized this aptitude, instructed him on the cello. He continuedhis studies at age thirteen as a foundation scholar at the Royal College of Musicin London. There, he studied cello with Edward Howell and composition withSir Hubert Parry and the Irish composer Charles Stanford. At the tender age ofnineteen, Squire made his concert debut in London’s St. James’ Hall in a concertorganized by the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz. Four years later, he presentedthe premiere English performance of the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto in A minorat London’s Crystal Palace.By the age of twenty-three, Squire was critically acclaimed as a virtuosocellist, and was in great demand in England and elsewhere in Europe. He directedthe cello section in the Covent Garden Orchestra from 1894–1897 and wassubsequently engaged to perform in the Queen’s Hall Orchestra from 1897–1901.He toured widely and with great success with the vocalist Clara Butt, an Englishcontralto who was likewise in great demand. Gabriel Fauré was enchanted by thewarm and full tone of Squire’s cello playing, for which reason Fauré dedicatedhis famous Sicilienne to Squire. An aged and established Edward Elgar requestedSquire to prepare the first recording of his Cello Concerto in E minor in 1930. Hislast concert appearance was in 1941 at age seventy in Exeter Cathedral. Squiredied in 1963 at the age of ninety-one, following a life rich in achievement andcelebration.Squire was less acclaimed in his own day as a composer, though his outputwas respected by many. He composed a cello concerto, two operettas and variousworks for orchestra. His numerous instrumental miniatures are primarily for celloand piano accompaniment, pieces which he used as vehicles for self-promotionon his concert tours. The most popular and remembered of these works, such asthe jaunty At Morn, the picturesque Cradle Song and the impetuous Tarentella,are featured in this collection.