COBBETT Walter (C-68)

British businessman and amateur violinist, and editor/author of Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music. He also endowed the Cobbett Medal for services to chamber music. An innovative industrialist and astute businessman, Cobbett was cofounder of Scandinavia Belting Ltd, but his heart was in music. In 1905, Cobbett endowed a competition for chamber music composers. In 1920 he started granting annual prizes for chamber music performance for students of the Royal Academy of Music. The Cobbett Medal for services to chamber music was established in 1924 - the first recipient was Thomas Dunhill - and continues to be awarded annually by the Worshipful Company of Musicians. His two-volume encyclopedia of chamber music, published in 1929, is still considered the most comprehensive work on the subject today. His insightful, wry and occasionally caustic style makes for enlightening and delightful reading.