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>
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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>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
trainiac:
(informal) A railway enthusiast.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trainiac>
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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>
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