William Sterndale Bennett
Encyclopedia
Biography
William Sterndale Bennett was born in SheffieldSheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, the son of Robert Bennett, the local Cathedral organist. Orphaned at the age of three, he was brought up in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
by his grandfather, from whom he received his first musical education. He entered the choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
of King's College
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
chapel in February 1824. In 1826 he was accepted as a child prodigy into the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, and remained a pupil of that institution for the next ten years, studying pianoforte under W. H. Holmes, violin under Spagnoletti and composition under William Crotch
William Crotch
William Crotch was an English composer, organist and artist.Born in Norwich to a master carpenter he showed early musical talent . The three and a half year old Master William Crotch was taken to London by his ambitious mother, where he not only played on the organ of the Chapel Royal in St....
and then Cipriani Potter
Cipriani Potter
Philip Cipriani Hambly Potter was a British composer, pianist and educator.-Life and career:Born in London, the son of a piano teacher named Richard Huddleston Potter, Cipriani was named after his godmother...
.
While there in April 1833 he was appointed Organist of St Anne's Church in Wandsworth. In that same year at the premiere of his first piano concerto in D minor, he met Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
, who was extremely impressed with him. The German master promptly invited Bennett to the Lower Rhine Music Festival in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, "not as my pupil but as my friend". From 1836 there followed four extended visits to work in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, where the young Englishman was welcomed and greatly admired by the leading musicians, notably Mendelssohn himself and Schumann, who later dedicated his Symphonic Studies to Bennett. He frequently played at the Gewandhaus
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is one of the the oldest symphony orchestras in the world...
.
Although well grounded in the works of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
and Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, some of his composition were clearly influenced by Mendelssohn. His output by this time included four overtures, six piano concertos, four symphonies, a chamber trio, sextet, several piano works, and two song cycles. Apart from being regarded as one of the most brilliant pianists in Europe, his music was particularly noted for its innovation, vitality and poetic beauty.
Bennett returned to London in 1842 and two years later he married Mary Anne Wood (1824–1862), the daughter of Commander James Wood RN. Composition gave way to a ceaseless round of teaching and musical administration. For fifteen years he produced the popular Chamber Music Concerts in the Queen's Concert Rooms, Hanover Square in London introducing several eminent soloists to the British public. In 1848 he became a founding Director of Queens College London and the following year of Bedford College now part of London University, such was his interest in securing quality education for women. Also in 1849 he formed the Bach Society (later to be re-formed as the Bach Choir) in London, to produce and conduct the first English performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion on 6 April 1854. He played a prominent part in the Great Exhibition of 1851
The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or The Great Exhibition, sometimes referred to as the Crystal Palace Exhibition in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held, was an international exhibition that took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October...
and the 1862 International Exhibition
1862 International Exhibition
The International of 1862, or Great London Exposition, was a world's fair. It was held from 1 May to 1 November 1862, beside the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, London, England, on a site that now houses museums including the Natural History Museum and the Science...
.
In 1853 he declined an invitation to become the Conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in favour of the Philharmonic Society, in which he succeeded Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
in 1856, and from whom he became the first recipient of their coveted Gold Medal. Later that year, having received an MA, Mus Doc and Life Fellowship of St John's College he was elected Professor of Music at Cambridge University, a post he held until his appointment as Principal of the Royal Academy of Music in 1866. Among his pupils were Sir Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
, Sir Hubert Parry
Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet was an English composer, teacher and historian of music.Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I was glad" and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words...
, Joseph Parry
Joseph Parry
Joseph Parry , was a Welsh composer and musician. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, he is best known as the composer of Myfanwy and Aberystwyth used in Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika the National anthem of South Africa.The cottage at 4 Chapel Row, Merthyr Tydfil, where Parry was born, is now open to the...
(no relation to Hubert), Francis Bache
Francis Edward Bache
Francis Edward Bache was an English organist and composer.Born at Birmingham as the eldest of seven children of Samuel Bache, a well-known Unitarian minister, he studied with James Stimpson, Birmingham City Organist, and with violinist Alfred Mellon while being educated at his father's school...
, Alice Mary Smith
Alice Mary Smith
Alice Mary Smith, married name Alice Mary Meadows White was an English composer.Smith was born in London, the third child of a relatively well-to-do family. She showed aptitude for music from her early years and took lessons privately from William Sterndale Bennett and George Macfarren, publishing...
, Bettina Walker, W. S. Rockstro (biographer of Mendelssohn), and Tobias Matthay
Tobias Matthay
Tobias Augustus Matthay was an English pianist, teacher, and composer.-Biography:Matthaw as born in London in 1858 to parents who had come from northern Germany and were naturalised British subjects...
(the last-named eventually becoming one of England's best-known piano teachers).
Not until the late 1850s did he return to composition. Works from his later years included a Piano Cello Duo, Op 32, for Alfredo Piatti
Carlo Alfredo Piatti
Carlo Alfredo Piatti was an Italian cellist. He was born at via Borgo Canale, in Bergamo and died in Mozzo, 4 miles from Bergamo....
; a cantata The May Queen Op 39, for the opening of the Leeds Town Hall in 1858; a Symphony in G minor Op 43; the oratorio The Woman of Samaria Op 44 for the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival of 1867; and finally a Piano Sonata Op 46. Although these works were well crafted and popular in their day, they are only now occasionally performed. He edited some of the piano works of Beethoven and Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
and co-edited the Chorale Book of England with Otto Goldschmidt
Otto Goldschmidt
Otto Moritz David Goldschmidt was a German composer, conductor and pianist, known for his piano concertos and other piano pieces...
(husband of Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...
). He also lectured at the London Institute and at Cambridge.
In 1870 the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
conferred upon Bennett the honorary degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
of D.C.L. A year later he was knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed, and in 1872 he received a public testimonial before a large audience at St James's Hall
St James's Hall
St. James's Hall was a concert hall in London that opened on 25 March 1858, designed by architect and artist Owen Jones, who had decorated the interior of the Crystal Palace. It was situated between the Quadrant in Regent Street and Piccadilly, and Vine Street and George Court. There was a...
, London, the money subscribed being devoted to the foundation of a scholarship and prize at the Royal Academy of Music which is still given to this day. He died aged 58 in 1875 at his house in St John's Wood
St John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district of north-west London, England, in the City of Westminster, and at the north-west end of Regent's Park. It is approximately 2.5 miles north-west of Charing Cross. Once part of the Great Middlesex Forest, it was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and is buried in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
.
A critic of the time wrote "Bennett holds a most honourable place on the mid slopes. He found English music a barren land, enriched its soil and developed its cultivation". An English Heritage blue plaque is to be found at his home 8 Queensborough Terrace London W2.
Of a total of some 80 published compositions. nearly a half are currently available on CD, the most popular being the overture The Naiades Op 15, the Chamber Trio Op 26, and the Piano Concerto No. 4, Op 19.
His son James Robert Sterndale Bennett (1847–1928) wrote a definitive biography of his father. Many of the composer's descendants became professional musicians, notably his grandsons Robert (1880–1963) Director of Music at Uppingham School Rutland; Tom (T.C.) (1882–1944), composer and singer, whose daughter Joan (1914–1996) was a well known West End actress, and Ernest (1884–1982), a distinguished theatre director in Canada. This continues today with Charlie Simpson
Charlie Simpson
Charles Robert Simpson , is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was the youngest member of multi BRIT Award-winning band Busted, and is the lead vocalist, guitarist and co-lyricist in alternative rock band Fightstar...
frontman for Fightstar
Fightstar
Fightstar are an English alternative rock band from London. They formed in 2003 and their lineup comprises lead vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Charlie Simpson, guitarist and vocalist Alex Westaway, bass guitarist Dan Haigh and drummer Omar Abidi...
formerly Busted and his brothers Edd Simpson frontman of Union Sound Set and Will Simpson who fronts British rock band Brigade.
Bennett left a substantial music library to what has become a well documented family. The custodian is his great great grandson Barry Sterndale Bennett (b. 1939) in collaboration with the Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. This continues to be available for research purposes.
External links
- Sterndale Bennett
- William Sterndale Bennett Piano Sextet Op.8 Soundbites and discussion of work
- Selected pieces for pianoforte (From the Sibley Music Library Digital Score Collection)