Robert Woodcock

Robert Woodcock (bap. 9 October 1690 – 10 April 1728) was an English marine painter, musician, and composer who lived during the Baroque period. He is notable for having published the earliest known flute and English oboe concertos. Life Robert Woodcock was baptised at Chelsea Old Church on 9 October 1690, the son of Robert Woodcock (1642–1710) and Deborah Littleton. In 1714, Robert junior married Ayliffe Stoaks, by whom he had several children. He resigned his government post around 1723 to become a professional artist. The engraver George Vertue, writing in 1725, called Woodcock “An ingenious gentleman lover of the arts of painting and music, and professor.” The three flute concertos in this set are the earliest known published for that instrument, and the three oboe concertos are the first known by an English composer. This performance is noteworthy in that it shows that at least one of the recorder concertos was written earlier than the publication date. There is other evidence of performances of Woodcock’s concerti from the 1720s through the 1750s, suggesting that his works quickly became part of the standard woodwind repertoire in England at that time. There has been some con