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Edgar Kendall Taylor rediscovered song - do you know of his grandchildren?
Posted by Patrick Waller on November 17, 2022, 2:19 pm
The name of Edgar Kendall Taylor (1905-1999) will be known to many readers who may recall that he was well-known as a pianist in his youth before spending over 60 years as a professor at the Royal College of Music.
As far as I can tell, he was not known as a composer but my wife Jean and I have in our possession the original (and likely only copy) of the manuscript of a song called To Daffodils, a setting of a poem by Robert Herrick, written by him in the 1920s for her grandparents. Jean's grandfather was a GP in Sheffield where Kendall Taylor was born and the MS is inscribed "To my dear friends Dr. and Mrs. Damms". Jean's parents mislaid the work decades ago but she recently found the lost MS in her mother's papers after her death.
Kendall Taylor's Wikipedia page states that he had a daughter and step-daughter, and that his two grandchildren are both professional musicians. We therefore we feel we ought to try to trace someone in the family and let them know of the existence of the piece. It seems unlikely that their surname will be Kendall Taylor and so if anyone knows who they are and could put us in touch we would be most grateful. Feel free to respond to this post in the normal way but if you have contact details please don't include them but send them to: patrick.waller@btinternet.com