Buried Near Purcell
Donald Macleod focuses on Bennett's successful final years, including his appointment to a music professorship in Cambridge and principal of the Royal Academy of Music.
Sterndale Bennett with appointments in Cambridge and London becomes a national treasure, presented by Donald Macleod.
Reckoned by some as the most distinguished English composer of the Romantic School, Sir William Sterndale Bennett first made a significant name for himself in Germany as a composer and concert pianist. He became close friends with Mendelssohn and Schumann, and once his career started to develop back in England, he rose to become one of the country's most eminent musicians teaching at Cambridge, Principal of the Royal Academy of Music, and a Director of the Philharmonic Society. Dr Peter Horton discusses the importance of Sterndale Bennett's piano music, whilst the composer's great-great-grandson Barry Sterndale Bennett introduces the listener to scores, letters and diaries held at the Bodleian Library.
William Sterndale Bennett had made it to the pinnacle of musical society in England. Appointed professor of music in Cambridge, he soon also found himself principal of the Royal Academy of Music. He still continued to compose in the last twenty years of his life, including a commission for his overture The May Queen, to celebrate the opening of Leeds Town Hall by Queen Victoria. Also, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Philharmonic Society Bennett wrote a programmatic work, his fantasy overture Paradise and the Peri. When Sir William Sterndale Bennett died in 1875, his status in the land was such that he was buried in Westminster Abbey, not far from Purcell.
The May Queen, Op 39 (Overture)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
James Feddeck, conductor
Paradise and the Peri Fantasy Overture, Op 42
BBC Symphony Orchestra
James Feddeck, conductor
God is a Spirit, Op 44 (The Woman of Samaria)
BBC Singers
Stephen Cleobury, conductor
Lord, to thee our song we raise, WoO 70
BBC Singers
Stephen Cleobury, conductor
The Maid of Orleans, Sonata in A flat major, Op 46 (1st and 2nd mvt)
Ian Hobson, piano
Symphony in G minor, Op 43 (4th mvt)
Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra
Douglas Bostock, conductor
Producer Luke Whitlock.
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William Sterndale Bennett
The May Queen Op 39
Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: James Feddeck.![]()
William Sterndale Bennett
Paradise and the Peri Op 42
Orchestra: BBC S O.. Conductor: James Feddeck.![]()
William Sterndale Bennett
The Woman of Samaria Op 44 (God is a Spirit)
Choir: BBC Singers. Conductor: Stephen Cleobury.![]()
William Sterndale Bennett
Lord to thee our song we raise
Choir: BBC Singers. Conductor: Stephen Cleobury.![]()
William Sterndale Bennett
The Main of Orleans, Sonata in A flat major Op 46 (Movement I & II)
Performer: Ian Hobson.- Arabesque Z6596.
- Arabesque.
- 15.
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William Sterndale Bennett
Symphony in G minor Op 43 (Intermezzo – Rondo Finale)
Orchestra: Česká Komorní Filharmonie. Conductor: Douglas Bostock.- classico classcd634.
- Classico.
- 4.
Broadcasts
- Fri 15 Apr 201612:00BBC Radio 3
- Fri 15 Apr 201618:30BBC Radio 3
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