Sunday 20th January 2019 Epiphany 3

Benedictus in C   C V Stanford



The Benedictus was composed in 1909 as part of Stanford's Morning and Evening Service together with the Office of Holy Communion Op 115.  Stanford was given the choice to hear one of his services sung at Matins at York Minster in 1923 when he was a guest of the organist, Edward . "He chose the one in C", Bairstow recalled, "for he said he had never heard it!"


Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) thought to be one of our great British composers was actually Irish, born in Dublin, although educated at The University of Cambridge and then studied music in Leipzig and Berlin.


Whilst an undergraduate, he was appointed organist of Trinity College, Cambridge and was one of the founding professors of the Royal College of Music, where he taught composition for the rest of his life.  He was also Professor of Music at Cambridge.  His pupils included Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams whose fame went on to surpass his own.


He is best remembered for his sacred choral compositions for church performance in the Anglican tradition. Along with Hubert Parry and Alexander Mackenzie, he was thought responsible for the renaissance of music in the British Isles.

C V Stanford from Wikipedia

O Holy Spirit, Lord of Grace.  Christopher Tye (1505-?1572)  Charles Coffin (1676-1749) Translated by John Chandler  Edited by Gerald H Knight


This is an anthem using music from Christopher Tye's "The Actes of the Apostles".

Christopher Tye was a Renaissance English composer and organist.  It is thought he was born in Cambridgeshire and became master of the choir at Ely Cathedral.  He was Edward VI's music teacher and his choral music is held in high esteem, along with many chamber works.  The only work published in his lifetime was his "The Actes of the Apostles" and it is surmised that much of his work has not survived through the centuries.

Charles Coffin wrote many hymns which have been translated into English. He was Rector of the University of Paris.  His many poems and hymns were published in his life time.

From Wikipedia

John Chandler was born near Godalming in 1806.  He is one of the first and most successful of modern translators o Latin hymns. From his many translations, some 30-40 are still in common usage, eg On Jordan's Banks The Baptist's Cry.  He died in 1876. A full list of his translations can be found at Hymnary.org