Cobbett Competitions

In 1905, Walter Willson Cobbett (1847—1937) initiated a series of six chamber music competitions. The first two were carried out under the auspices of the Worshipful Company of Musicians.

1905 Cobbett Competition for Phantasy String Quartet

Carried out under the auspices of the Worshipful Company of Musicians (link).

Prize Awarded	Composer	Title	Publisher	Notes
First	William Yeates Hurlstone	Phantasie in A minor/major	Novello	50 Guineas prize
Second	Haydn Wood	Phantasy in F major	Novello	£10 prize
Special	Frank Bridge	Phantasie for String Quartet in F minor	Novello	£10 prize
Consolation	James Friskin	Phantasy in D major		5 Guineas
Consolation	Harry Waldo Warner	Phantasy in F major, Op.12		5 Guineas
Consolation	Joseph Holbrooke	String Quartet No.1 (Fantasie in D minor)	Chester	5 Guineas

1907 Cobbett Competition for Phantasy Piano Trio

Carried out under the auspices of the Worshipful Company of Musicians (link). Supplementary awards were presented to composers of works chosen by Cobbett.

Prize Awarded	Composer	Title	Publisher	Notes
First	Frank Bridge	Phantasie for Piano Trio in C minor	Augener	£50 prize. Submitted to the competition under the motto Spero Meliora
Second	James Friskin	Phantasie for Piano Trio in E minor	Novello	£10 prize. Submitted to the competition under the motto Viator
Third	John Ireland	Phantasie in A minor	Augener	£10 prize. Submitted to the competition under the motto Sub Umbra
Consolation	Alice Verne-Bredt	Phantasie Trio	Schott	£5 prize. Submitted to the competition under the motto "Under the light there is darkness"
Consolation	Susan Spain-Dunk	Phantasy in A minor		£5 prize. Submitted to the competition under the motto "Halez vous lentement et sans perdre courage"
Supplementary	Julius Harrison			2 Guineas
Supplementary	Hugh Blair			2 Guineas
Supplementary	Sidney Goldsmith			2 Guineas
Supplementary	Felix Harold White			2 Guineas
Supplementary	Ernest Halsey			2 Guineas

1909 Cobbett Competition for a Sonata for Violin and Piano

Competition announced in the May 1, 1909 issue of The Musical Times.

Prize Awarded	Composer	Title	Publisher	Notes
First	John Ireland	Violin Sonata No.1 in D minor	Augener	£40 prize
Second	Eric Gritton	?		£30 prize. Eric Gritton (1890-1981), student of Stanford at the RCM
Third	Geoffrey O'Connor Morris	?		£15 prize
Supplementary	Susan Spain-Dunk	Violin Sonata in B minor	Cramer	£5 5s prize. Cramer may have only published the Romance movement.

1914 Cobbett Competition for String Quartet (in Sonata, Suite, or Phantasy form)

Competition announced in the May 1, 1914 issue of The Musical Times.

Prize Awarded	Composer	Title	Publisher	Notes
First	Albert Sammons	Phantasy Quartet in B major	Hawkes & Son	£25 prize. Prize for phantasy form.
First	Frank Bridge	String Quartet No.2 in G minor	Novello	£25 prize. Prize for sonata form.
Second	William Henry Reed	String Quartet No.5 in A minor	Cary & Co.	Prize for sonata form.

1916 Cobbett Competition for a Folksong Phantasy

Competition announced in the August 1, 1916 issue of The Musical Times.

String Quartet

Prize Awarded	Composer	Title	Publisher	Notes
First	Harry Waldo Warner	Folk-Song Phantasy 'Dance to your daddy'	Ricordi	25 guineas prize. Also entitled Phantasy Quartet on a Berkshire Folk-Song
Second	Herbert Howells	Phantasy String Quartet in C major, Op.25	Curwen	10 guineas prize. Published in 1925.
Third	Edward Norman Hay	On Three Irish Tunes: Lisnagarvey, The banks of Clandy, Sally Kelly		5 guineas prize. Hay (Mus. Doc.) of Coleraine, Ireland. This is not his String Quartet in A major which won a Carnegie Trust Award in 1918 and was published by Stainer & Bell in 1920.

Piano Trio

Prize Awarded	Composer	Title	Publisher	Notes
First	James Cliffe Forrester	Folk Song Phantasy	Novello	25 guineas prize. Based on the tunes: The Rosebud in June and Twankydillo
Second	Arnold Trowell	Trio on Ancient Irish Folk-Tunes	Novello	10 guineas prize
Third	Geoffrey O'Connor Morris			5 guineas prize

1919 Cobbett Competition for a Dance Phantasy for Piano and Strings

Competition announced in the June 1, 1919 issue of The Musical Times. Eric Fogg's Dance Phantasy is claimed to have been a prize winner.

Prize Awarded	Composer	Title	Publisher	Notes
First	Cecil Armstrong Gibbs	The Enchanted Wood for piano, solo violin, and string quintet	Curwen	£50 prize
Second	Cecil Hazelhurst	The Red Plague		£15 prize
Supplementary	Maud Emily Marshall	Phantasy Piano Trio		Marshall (1868–1951)