Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924) was an Irish composer, teacher and conductor. He was instrumental in raising the status of the Cambridge University Musical Society, attracting international stars to perform with it. While still an undergraduate, Stanford was appointed organist of Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1882, aged 29, he was one of the founding professors of the Royal College of Music, where he taught composition for the rest of his life. From 1887 he was also the professor of music at Cambridge. As a teacher, Stanford was sceptical about modernism, and based his instruction chiefly on classical principles as exemplified in the music of Brahms. Among his pupils were rising composers whose fame went on to surpass his own, such as Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams. As a conductor, Stanford held posts with the Bach Choir and the Leeds triennial music festival. He composed a substantial number of concert works, including seven symphonies, but his best-remembered pieces are his choral works for church performance, chiefly composed in the Anglican tradition. Some critics regarded Stanford, together with Hubert Parry and Alexander Mackenzie, as responsible for a renaissance in English music.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Villiers_Stanford
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1501:
Cardinal Cesare Borgia held an infamous feast in the Papal Palace where fifty prostitutes or courtesans were in attendance for the sexual entertainment of the guests. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banquet_of_Chestnuts
1806:
War of the Fourth Coalition: Believing they were massively outnumbered, the 5,300-man German garrison at Stettin, Prussia (now Szczecin, Poland), surrendered to a much smaller French force without a fight. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitulation_of_Stettin
1942:
Second World War: British sailors boarded German submarine U-559 as it was sinking and retrieved cryptographic materials that proved crucial to breaking the Enigma code. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-559
1983:
Raúl Alfonsín became President of Argentina after the country's first democratic election following the end of the military dictatorship. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_general_election,_1983
1993:
The Troubles: Three members of the Ulster Defence Association opened fire in a crowded pub during a Halloween party, killing eight civilians and wounding thirteen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greysteel_massacre
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
trainiac: (informal) A railway enthusiast. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trainiac
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere, is almost certain to be false. --Paul Valéry https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Val%C3%A9ry