Sir Charles Villiers Stanford

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford 1852-1924, English composer and teacher, b. Dublin, studied in Cambridge, and Leipzig. In 1883 he became professor of music at the Royal College of Music, and in 1887 at Cambridge; he held both positions until his death. His compositions include seven operas, of which the comic opera Shamus O'Brien (1896) was most popular; seven symphonies; choral works; and chamber music. Only his Anglican church services and anthems are still regularly performed. He edited and arranged collections of Irish songs and wrote a textbook of composition and several autobiographical works.

Bibliography: See biography by H. P. Greene (1935).

Stanford, Sir Charles Villiers (1852–1924), composer and teacher. From 1883 he was Professor of Composition at the Royal College of Music in London, and from 1887 also Professor of Music at Cambridge. His many settings of Anglican services gave Victorian Church music freshness. He also wrote the anthems ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ and ‘Ye choirs of new Jerusalem’.

Stanford, (Sir) Charles Villiers (b Dublin, 1852; d London, 1924). Irish composer, conductor, organist, and teacher. Org., Trinity College, Cambridge, 1873–92. Cond., Cambridge Univ. Mus. Soc. from 1873, winning it high reputation and giving f. Eng. ps. of works by Brahms. Tennyson asked him to write incidental mus. for his play Queen Mary, 1876. Prof. of comp., RCM, 1883–1924, pupils incl. Vaughan Williams, Bliss, Howells, Ireland, Holst, Gurney, etc. Prof. of mus., Cambridge Univ., 1887–1924. Cond., Bach Choir 1885–1902, also cond. of orch. concerts and opera at RCM. Cond. of several Leeds Fests. after 1901. Prolific composer, whose best work is to be found in his operas, choral mus., and songs rather than in his orch. and chamber mus., where his admiration for Brahms tended to become paramount. One of prin. figures in late 19th-cent. ‘renaissance’ of Brit. mus. Ed. and arr. colls. of Irish traditional tunes. Knighted 1901. Prin. works:

OPERAS: The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan (1877); Savonarola (1884); The Canterbury Pilgrims (1884); Lorenza (unpubd.); Shamus O'Brien (1896); Much Ado About Nothing (1900); The Critic (1915); The Travelling Companion (1919).ORCH.: syms.: No.1 in B♭ (1875), No.2 in D minor (Elegiac) (1882), No.3 in F minor (Irish) (1887), No.4 in F (1888), No.5 in D (L'Allegro ed il Pensieroso) (1894), No.6 in E♭ (1905), No.7 in D minor (1911); Overture in the Style of A Tragedy (1904); 6 Irish Rhapsodies; cl. conc. (1902); 3 pf. concs. (1895, 1915, 1919); 2 vn. concs. (1904, 1918); Irish Concerto, vn., vc., orch. (1919).CHORAL: oratorios: The Three Holy Children (1885), Eden (1891); Requiem (1897); Te Deum (1898); Stabat Mater (1907); Magnificat in G; The Revenge, choral ballad (1886); Phaudrig Crohoore (1896); The Last Post (1900); 5 Songs of the Sea, bar., male ch., orch. (1904); 5 Songs of the Fleet, bar., ch. (1910).CHAMBER MUSIC: 8 str. qts., 2 str. quintets, 2 pf. trios, 2 pf. qts., pf. quintet, 2 vn. sonatas, 2 vc. sonatas, cl. sonata.

Also organ preludes, songs, partsongs (incl. The Blue Bird), anthems, and church services (notably that in B♭, Op.10, 1879 with additions 1910).