'Sir Charles Villiers Stanford' (
September 30,
1852 –
29 March 1924) was an
Irish composer.
Stanford was born in
Dublin, the only son of John Stanford, examiner in the
Court of Chancery (Dublin) and clerk of the Crown,
County Meath. Both parents were accomplished amateur musicians; his father sang
bass (and was also a
cellist [1] and his mother was a
pianist. Charles trained under R. M. Levey (violin), Miss Meeke, Mrs Joseph Robinson, Miss Flynn and Michael Quarry (piano); and Sir
Robert Stewart taught him composition and
organ. His precocious ability was recorded in an article in ''
The Musical Times'' in December 1898.
He came to
London as a pupil of Arthur O'Leary and
Ernst Pauer in 1862, and in 1870 won a scholarship to
Queens' College,
Cambridge, moving to
Trinity College in 1873, and succeeding J. L. Hopkins as college organist, a post he held until 1892. His appointment as
conductor of the
Cambridge University Musical Society gave him great opportunities, and the fame which the society soon obtained was in the main due to Stanford's energies.
At that time women were not allowed in the chorus, but during his tenure many interesting performances and revivals took place. From 1874 to 1877 he was given leave of absence for part of each year to complete his studies in
Germany, where he studied with
Carl Reinecke and
Friedrich Kiel. He took his BA
degree in 1874 and MA in 1878, and was given the honorary degree of
D.Mus. at
Oxford in 1883 and at
Cambridge in 1888.
He first became known as a composer with his
incidental music to
Tennyson's ''Queen Mary'' (Lyceum, 1876); and in 1881 his first
opera, ''The Veiled Prophet'', was given at
Hanover (revived at
Covent Garden, 1893); this was succeeded by ''Savonarola'' (
Hamburg, April, and Covent Garden, July 1884), and ''The Canterbury Pilgrims'' (Drury Lane, 1884). A long interval separates these from his later operas: ''Shamus O'Brien'', a delightful piece of Irish dramatic writing (''Opera Comique'', 1896) ''Much Ado About Nothing'' (Covent Garden, 1901), ''The Critic'' (Shaftesbury Theatre, London, 1916), and ''The Travelling Companion'' (David Lewis Theatre,
Liverpool, 1925).
He was appointed professor of composition at the
Royal College of Music in 1883; was conductor of the
Bach Choir from 1886 to 1902; was professor of music at
Cambridge, succeeding Sir
G. A. Macfarren from 1887; conductor of the
Leeds Philharmonic Society from 1897 to 1909, and of the
Leeds Festival from 1901 to 1910. He was
knighted in 1902.
Stanford was particularly known in his day for his choral works, chiefly commissioned for performances at the great English provincial festivals. These include two
oratorios, a
requiem (1897), a
Stabat Mater (1907), and many secular works, often with a nautical theme, including ''The Revenge'' (1886), ''The Voyage of Maeldune'' (1889), ''Songs of the Sea'' (1904), and ''Songs of the Fleet'' (1910). His
church music still holds a central place among
Anglican compositions; and his editions of Irish and other traditional songs were well known.
His instrumental works include seven
symphonies, six ''Irish Rhapsodies'' for orchestra, several works for
organ,
concertos for
violin,
clarinet, and
piano, and many
chamber compositions, including eight
string quartets. He also composed songs,
part-songs,
madrigals, and incidental music to the ''Eumenides'' and ''Oedipus Rex'' (as performed at Cambridge), as well as to Tennyson's ''Becket''. His music shows the influence of
Brahms and
Schumann, and to a lesser extent of
Irish folk music; he was generally unsympathetic to more modern developments. Although there has recently been a revival of interest in his larger works after a long period of neglect, his chief importance is often held to be as a teacher of many English composers of the next generation, including
Holst,
Vaughan Williams,
Frank Bridge,
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor,
Charles Wood (who succeeded him as music professor) and
Herbert Howells. He was notoriously irascible and quarrelled with many of his contemporaries, including
Elgar,
Sullivan and
Parry. He published several books, including an
autobiography, ''Pages from an Unwritten Diary'' (1914).
List of works
Orchestral works
Symphonies
★ No. 1 in B flat major
★ No. 2 in D minor, "Elegiac"
★ No. 3 in F minor, "Irish" (Op. 28)
★ No. 4 in F major (Op. 31) (1888)
[2]
★ No. 5 in D major, "L'allegro ed il penseroso" (Op. 56)
★ No. 6 in E flat major, "In honour of the life-work of a great artist:
George Frederick Watts" (Op. 94) (1905)
★ No. 7 in D minor (Op. 124)
Concertos
★ Piano Concerto (early- no. "0") (1874)
[3]
★ Violin Concerto (early, 1875)
3
★ Cello Concerto in D minor (1879-1880)
3
★ Piano Concerto No.1 in G minor (Opus 59)
★ Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor (Op. 126)
★ Piano Concerto No.3 in E flat major (Op. 171, unfinished, orchestrated by Geoffrey Bush) (1919)
★ Concert Variations upon an English Theme "Down Among the Dead Men" for piano & orchestra in C Minor, Op 71
★ Suite for violin & orchestra, Op. 32
★ Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 74
★ Clarinet Concerto in A minor, Op. 80
★ Concert Piece for organ & orchestra, Op 181
Irish Rhapsodies
★ Irish Rhapsody for orchestra No 1 in D Minor, Op 78
★ Irish Rhapsody for orchestra No 2 in F Minor, Op 84 ("The Lament for the Son of Ossian")
★ Irish Rhapsody for orchestra No 3, Op 137
★ Irish Rhapsody for orchestra No 4 in A Minor, Op 141 ("Fisherman of Loch Neagh")
★ Irish Rhapsody for orchestra No 5 in G Minor, Op 147
★ Irish Rhapsody No. 6 for violin & orchestra, Op. 191
Other orchestral works
★ Funeral March 'The Martyrdom'
★ Oedipus Rex, incidental music, Op 29
Choral works
Anthems and
motets
★ ''And I saw another Angel'' (Op. 37 No. 1)
★ ''For lo, I raise up'' (Op. 145)
★ ''If thou shalt confess'' (Op. 37 No. 2)
★ ''The Lord is my Shepherd'' (composed 1886)
★ ''Three Latin Motets'' (Op. 38)
★
★ Justorum animae
★
★ Coelos ascendit hodie
★
★ Beati quorum via
Services
★ Morning, Evening, and Communion services:
★
★ B flat major (Op. 10)
★
★ A major (Op. 12)
★
★ F major (Op. 36)
★
★ G major (Op. 81)
★
★ C major (Op. 115)
★
★ D major for Unison Choir (1923)
★
Magnificat and
Nunc dimittis settings:
★
★ E flat major (1873; publ. Cathedral Music 1996)
★
★ F major (
Queens' Service) (1872; publ. S&B 1995)
★
★ on the 2nd and 3rd
Gregorian Modes (1907)
Works for choir and orchestra
★ Heraclitus (Op. 110)
★
Requiem, Op. 63 (1896)
Chamber Music
★
String quartets
★
★ No. 1 in G major, Op.44 (1891)
★
★ No. 2 in A minor, Op.45 (1891)
★
★ No. 3 in D minor, Op.64 (1897)
★
★ No. 4 in G minor, Op.99 (1907)
★
★ No. 5 in B flat major, Op.104 (1908)
★
★ No. 6 in A minor, Op.122 (1910)
★
★ No. 7 in C minor, Op.166 (1919)
★
★ No. 8 in E minor, Op.167 (1919)
★ Other works for string ensemble
★
★
String quintet No. 1 in F major, Op.85 for two
violins, two
violas &
violoncello (1903)
★
★ String quintet No. 2 in C minor, Op.86 (1903)
★
Piano trios
★
★ No. 1 in E flat major, Op.35 (1889)
★
★ No. 2 in G minor, Op.73 (1899)
★
★ No. 3 in A major, Op.158 (1918)
★ Works for violin and
piano
★
★
Sonata No. 1 in D major, Op.11 (1880)
★
★ Sonata No. 2 in G major, Op.70 (1898)
★
★ Sonata No. 3, Op.165 (1919)
★
★ Legend,
WoO (1893)
★
★ Irish Fantasies, Op.54 (1894)
★
★ Five Characteristic Pieces, Op.93 (1905)
★
★ Six Irish Sketches, Op.154 (1917)
★
★ Six Easy Pieces, Op.155 (1917)
★
★ Five Bagatelles, Op.183 (1921)
★ Other works for solo instrument and piano
★
★ Sonata No. 1 in A major for violoncello & piano, Op.9 (1878)
★
★ Sonata No. 2 in D minor for violoncello & piano, Op.39 (1893)
★
★ Three Intermezzi for
clarinet & piano, Op.13 (1880)
★
★ Sonata for clarinet (or viola) & piano, Op.129 (1912)
★ Other works for strings and piano
★
★
Piano quartet No. 1 in F major, Op.15 (1879)
★
★ Piano quartet No. 2, Op.133 (1912)
★
★
Piano quintet in D minor, Op.25 (1887)
★ Serenade in F major for Nonet, Op.95 (1906)
★ Fantasy No. 1 in G minor for clarinet & string quartet WoO (1921)
★ Fantasy No. 2 in F major for clarinet & string quartet WoO (1922)
★ Phantasy for
horn & string quartet in A minor WoO (1922)
Miscellaneous
★ ''The Blue Bird'', on words by
Mary Coleridge
★ Magnificat in B flat major for unaccompanied double choir
★
Pater Noster (1874)
Bibliography
★ Jeremy Dibble - ''Charles Villiers Stanford: man and musician'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)
★ Paul J. Rodmell - ''Charles Villiers Stanford'' (Aldershot, Hampshire: Scolar Press, 2002)
Recordings
See also
★
List of people on stamps of Ireland
★
Rutland Boughton
External links
1. Charles Villiers Stanford, , , , The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular,
2. Stanford and Musical Quotation
3. STANFORD Cello Concerto, Piano Concerto No. 3 SRCD321: Classical CD Reviews
★
Article on the Third Symphony
★
Article on the String Quartets
★
Charles Villiers Stanford Piano Quartet No.1, Op.15 & Piano Trio No.1 sound-bites and short biography
★
★
★
Stanford Family Tree
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