THE STANFORD SOCIETY 

The Stanford Society is a new international society which is being formed to honor the life and music of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) and to encourage and support the increased performance and recording of his music both in the UK and internationally.

During the last quarter of the nineteenth century Stanford was one of Britain’s leading musicians.  He combined an active career as a composer and conductor with responsibilities as Professor of Composition at the Royal College of Music in London and Professor of Music at Cambridge University.  Together with Sir Charles Hubert Parry and Sir Alexander Mackenzie he is credited with being one of the founding fathers of the British musical renaissance of the late nineteenth century.

Stanford composed prolifically in all genres and completed seven symphonies, ten operas, eight string quartets, a number of concerti as well as several hundred songs and works for the organ and piano.  He also wrote a large amount of music for the Anglican Church.

Since his death in 1924, much of Stanford’s music has fallen into neglect, except for his church music which continues to be performed regularly .Today he is remembered best as the teacher of composers such as Vaughan Williams, Holst, Howells and Coleridge-Taylor.

During the past twenty years record companies such as Hyperion and Chandos have, together with some of the smaller labels, been exploring the legacy of music from the early years of the English musical renaissance. Stanford has been one of the beneficiaries of this trend and an increasing number of recordings allow listeners to judge the quality of his compositions for themselves.  While much progress has been achieved in releasing recordings of his music, much of his work, including the operas, remains to be recorded.

At the time of Stanford’s centenary in 1952, a proposal was made in a letter to the English publication, The Musical Times, to establish a Stanford Society. In the event nothing came of this proposal.  An Elgar Society was formed in 1951 and subsequently societies have been founded devoted to a number of other English composers including Bliss, Delius, Simpson and Vaughan Williams.  A Bantock Society was established as long ago as 1946.

In addition, Trusts have been established to support the performance of the music of Britten, Tippett, Walton and Howells amongst others.

In 2002, at the time of the 150^th anniversary of Stanford’s birth, the idea of establishing a Stanford Society was raised once again. During 2002, both professor Jeremy Dibble of Durham University and Dr Paul Rodmell of Birmingham University produced  substantial biographies of Stanford.  These were the first new biographies to appear since 1935 and both books added substantially to our knowledge of Stanford's life and music.  There were a number of concert performances of Stanford's music.  The revival of interest in Stanford's music, the increased appreciation of his contribution to the English renaissance of the late nineteenth century, and the wish of the City of Cambridge to honor one of its distinguished sons, were all factors which have led to the establishment of the Stanford Society at this time.

The Stanford Society plans to publish a bi-annual journal and to hold regular meetings and events to further interest in Stanford’s life and music.  We also plan to encourage and support performances and recordings of his music.  In addition, we will encourage the release of historic recordings of Stanford’s music including the recordings he made himself.

If you would like to become actively involved in the Society or would like more information on our plans and the Cambridge celebration weekend, please contact John Covell, the Society chairman at cvstanfordsociety@msn.com , you may also write to him at: 1301 North Sutton Place, Chicago IL 60610, USA.

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