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Donald Macleod journey’s through Stanford’s final years, when the composer faced considerable financial hardship

Marking the centenary of his death, Composer of the Week explores the remarkable life and music of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. Stanford was one of the leading musicians of his generation and, along with Parry and Mackenzie, he was one of the main protagonists in Britain’s musical renaissance at the end of the 19th century. Born in Dublin, Stanford rose to the very top of the British music scene, as both a conductor and composer. He also maintained strong links to Germany, following his studies in Leipzig and Berlin. Stanford’s works were popular in Europe, as well as Britain, with conductors such as Hans Richter promoting his music. Today, Stanford is largely remembered for his sacred works, however his prolific output covers most genres and he had a particular passion for opera. He was an influential teacher at the Royal College of Music and Cambridge University; many future musical luminaries passed through his classes, including Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Rebecca Clarke and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Stanford was a tremendous force for good in British music, and in honour of his contribution to British culture, his ashes are interred in Westminster Abbey close to the remains of Henry Purcell.

The last fifteen years of Stanford’s life brought him hardship. Donald Macleod, in conversation with Professor Jeremy Dibble, discuss how his popularity as a composer dwindles, despite his continuing influence as a teacher. The outbreak of World War One led to many of Stanford's long-standing connections with German and Austrian musicians severed, to his great distress. His royalties from Germany and Austria also dried up which had a huge financial impact. Towards the very end of his life, he had to rely upon financial handouts from friends although his funeral was exceptionally grand, with the great and the good all in attendance at Westminster Abbey.

Six Songs from ‘The Glens of Antrim’, Op 174 No 2 (The sailor man)
Stephen Varcoe, baritone
Clifford Benson, piano

String Quartet No 7 in C minor, Op 166 (Allegro molto)
Dante Quartet

Irish Rhapsody No 4, Op 141 (The Fisherman of Loch Neagh and What he Saw)
Ulster Orchestra
Vernon Handley, conductor

An Irish Idyll in Six Miniatures, Op 77 No 2 (The Fairy Lough)
Morgan Pearse, baritone
Â鶹Éç Concert Orchestra
John Andrews, conductor

Mass Via Victrix, Op 173 (Agnus Dei)
Kiandra Howarth, soprano
Jess Dandy, contralto
Ruairi Bowen, tenor
Gareth Brynmor John, baritone
Â鶹Éç National Chorus of Wales
Â鶹Éç National Orchestra of Wales
Adrian Partington, conductor

How beauteous are their feet
Choir of New College Oxford,
Paul Plummer, organ
Edward Higginbottom, director

Produced by Luke Whitlock