Introduction

Biography

Son of a law­yer, Stan­ford at­tend­ed Cam­bridge Uni­ver­si­ty in 1870, earn­ing his ba­che­lor’s de­gree in 1874. He stu­died in Leip­zig and Ber­lin, Ger­ma­ny (1874–76), and earned his mas­ter’s de­gree in 1877.

He was or­gan­ist at Tri­ni­ty Col­lege (1873–82), and com­posed and con­duct­ed mu­sic­al so­cie­ties. He con­duct­ed the Lon­don Bach Choir (1885–1902), and the Leeds Fes­ti­val (1901–10).

In 1883, he be­came the first pro­fess­or of com­po­si­tion and or­ches­tra at the Roy­al Col­lege of Mu­sic. From 1887–1924, he taught at Cam­bridge Uni­ver­si­ty. He was knight­ed in 1902.

In ad­di­tion to a bo­dy of church and cham­ber mu­sic, Stan­ford’s works in­clude:

• Piano Suite op. 2, 1875
• Piano Toc­ca­ta op. 3, 1875
• Music for Ten­ny­son’s Queen Ma­ry in Lon­don, 1876
• The Veiled Pro­phet of Kho­ros­san, an op­era, 1877
• Philip Dodd­ridge, D.D. (New York: A. C. Arm­strong & Son, 1881)
• Irish Sym­pho­ny op. 28, 1887
• Shamus O’Bri­en, an op­era, 1896
• Pages from an Un­writ­ten Dia­ry, 1914
• Musical Com­po­si­tion, 1911