Stanford
Posted by Michael Bullivant on August 17, 2024, 4:19 pm
Prompted by the latest of Christopher Howell’s ‘Stanfordian Thoughts’ (as usual fascinating in its exploration of the byways of Stanford’s career), I had one of my own! Was he not perhaps the most complete musician Britain has ever produced? His worth as a composer is gradually being reassessed through recordings if not live performances and his stature is now surely unarguable – not a giant such as Elgar or Vaughan Williams perhaps, but still a composer of the first rank. His output was prodigious with his opus numbers reaching 194 and there are a good many works in addition including at least three operas, two symphonies and three concertos, but beyond that he was teacher, conductor, performer, administrator – and, if not in the Berlioz class, his memoirs are nonetheless an entertaining read too. A truly remarkable man - and still, so far as live performance is concerned (except perhaps in cathedrals), something of a prophet without honour and all that!
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