Orchestra of the Swan has been in the studio with Julian Lloyd Webber, to feature on Take a Bow, the brand new personally-selected retrospective collection from Julian Lloyd Webber, released by Decca Classics to mark the British cellist’s 75th birthday.
The celebratory double album features a new composition by Lloyd Webber for cello and orchestra, titled Jasmine, and named after his daughter, alongside recordings from his catalogue stretching back over 40 years.
Jasmine marks a return to the recording studio for the first time in 12 years.
The album and new music coincide with the release of his autobiography, Bows and Arrows (Biteback Publishing) and a return to the concert platform – again, for the first time in 12 years.
Lloyd Webber will host and is expected to perform in a special birthday concert on 14 April at London’s Wigmore Hall, in aid of music education charity, Music Masters.
Recording and performing in the concert hall once again follows Lloyd Webber’s forced retirement in April 2014 due to injury.
Jasmine, composed and performed by Lloyd Webber, accompanied by the award-winning Orchestra of the Swan, has strong personal
and emotional meaning for the cellist, and was the impetus needed for him to pick up the cello and confront the challenge of playing again.
“I wish I had seen you play, Dad’ declared my 14-year-old daughter during the summer of August 2025,” says the cellist. “Jasmine’s chance remark gave me the jolt I needed to complete a piece I had started to compose for her before she was born. At first my wife, and fellow cellist, Jiaxin was going to play it at a concert to celebrate my 75th birthday. But Jasmine’s wish kept preying on my mind. Although I hadn’t touched a cello for 12 years, I
became determined to record it myself and set about practising with a vengeance!”
Alongside the new work, Take a Bow features a wide variety of recordings exploring one of the most distinguished and prolific classical recording careers of the 20th and 21st century. From Elgar (the Brit Award-winning Cello Concerto with Yehudi Menuhin), Bach and Shostakovich, through to innovative arrangements of music written by his brother, Andrew,
and Oscar-winning composer Vangelis, as well as a unique duet with Eurovision Song Contest winners Secret Garden and a rare recording of ‘Your Song, with Elton John at the piano,
Take a Bow represents a remarkable journey through classical music, and beyond. The release of Take a Bow (Friday 10 April) and Jasmine (Friday 3 April) coincides with the release of his autobiography, Bows and Arrows, through Biteback Publishing (Tuesday 7 April), and the Wigmore Hall Birthday Concert (Tuesday 14 April).
