Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 1816 - 1 February 1875) was an English composer and pianist. William Bennett can refer to: William James Early Bennett (1804–1886), an Anglican priest Sir William Sterndale Bennett (1816–1875), a British composer William Andrew Cecil Bennett (1900–1979), a Canadian politician, premier of British Columbia William Humphrey Bennett (1859–1925), a Canadian Senator William John Bennett (1943– ), an American... is the 103rd day of the year (104th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1816 (MDCCCXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about the English as an ethnic group and nation. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... A pianist is a person who plays the piano. ...

Bennett was born at Sheffield, the son of Robert Bennett, an organist. Having lost his father at an early age, he was brought up at Cambridge by his grandfather, from whom he received his first musical education. He entered the choir of King's College chapel in 1824. In 1826 he entered the Royal Academy of Music, and remained a pupil of that institution for the next ten years, studying pianoforte under W. H. Holmes and Cipriani Potter, and composition under Charles Lucas and Dr Crotch. It was during this time that he wrote several of his most appreciated works, in which may be traced influences of the contemporary movement of music in Germany, which country he frequently visited during the years 1836-1842. At one of the Rhenish musical festivals in Düsseldorf he made the personal acquaintance of Mendelssohn, and soon afterwards renewed it at Leipzig, where the talented young Englishman was welcomed by the leading musicians of the rising generation. At one of the celebrated Gewandhaus concerts he played his third pianoforte concerto, which was received enthusiastically. A laudatory account of the event was written by Robert Schumann, who pronounced Bennett to be the most musikalisch of all Englishmen, and an angel of a musician (copying Pope Gregory I's pun on Angli and Angeli). For other uses, see Sheffield (disambiguation). ... Organ in Katharinenkirche, Frankfurt am Main, Germany The organ is a keyboard instrument played using one or more manuals and a pedalboard. ... This article is about the city in England. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Kings College. ... 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The oldest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, circa 1826 1826 (MDCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) is a constituent college of the University of London, and is one of the worlds leading music institutions. ... Philip Cipriani Hambly Potter (October 3, 1792 - September 26, 1871) was a British composer, pianist and educator. ... Charles Lucas (1808–March 23, 1869) was an English cellist and Principal of the Royal Academy of Music. ... William Crotch (1775 - 1847) was an English composer and organist. ... Year 1836 (MDCCCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Düsseldorf (IPA: ) is the capital city of the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and one of the economic and cultural centres of Germany and western Europe. ... Portrait of Mendelssohn by the English miniaturist James Warren Childe (1778-1862), 1839 Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and generally known as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847) is a German composer, pianist and conductor of the early Romantic period. ... Leipzig ( ; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk from the Sorbian word for Tilia) is, with a population of over 506,000, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. ... The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is a German orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. ... A short grand piano, with the lid up. ... The term Concerto (plural concertos or concerti) usually refers to a musical work in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra. ... For other persons named Robert Schumann, see Robert Schumann (disambiguation). ... “Saint Gregory” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Pun (disambiguation). ...

But it was Mendelssohn's influence that dominated Bennett's mode of utterance. A good example of this may be studied in Bennett's Capriccio in D minor. His great success on the continent established his position on his return to England. In 1834 he was elected organist of St Anne's Chapel (now church), Wandsworth. In this year he composed his Overture to Parisina, and his Concerto in C minor, modelled on Mozart. An unpublished Concerto in F minor, and the Overture to The Naiads, impressed the firm of Broadwood and Sons so favourably in 1836 that they offered the composer a year in Leipzig, where the Naiads Overture was performed at a Gewandhaus concert on 13 February 1837. Bennett visited Leipzig a second time in 1840-1841, when he composed his Caprice in E for pianoforte and orchestra and his overture Die Waldnymphe (The Wood Nymphs). , Wandsworth is a town on the south bank of the River Thames in south-west London. ... Overture (French ouverture, meaning opening) in music is the instrumental introduction to a dramatic, choral or, occasionally, instrumental composition. ... The term Concerto (plural concertos or concerti) usually refers to a musical work in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra. ... “Mozart” redirects here. ... Broadwood and Sons is the oldest and one of the most prestigious piano companies in the world, named after its founder John Broadwood. ... Year 1836 (MDCCCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Leipzig ( ; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk from the Sorbian word for Tilia) is, with a population of over 506,000, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. ... is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1837 - 1901) 1837 (MDCCCXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1841 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

He settled in London, devoting himself chiefly to practical teaching. In 1844 he married Mary Anne, daughter of Captain James Wood, R.N. He was made Professor of Music, Cambridge University in 1856, the year in which he was engaged as permanent conductor of the Philharmonic Society. This latter post he held until 1866, when he became principal of the Royal Academy of Music. Jan. ... The Professorship of Music was founded in 1684, one of the oldest professorships at the University of Cambridge. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... A conductor conducting at a ceremony A conductors score and batons Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. ... The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. ... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) is a constituent college of the University of London, and is one of the worlds leading music institutions. ...

Owing to his professional duties, his latter years were not creatively fertile, and what he then wrote was scarcely equal to the productions of his youth. The principal charm of Bennett's compositions (not to mention his absolute mastery of the musical form) consists in the tenderness of their conception, rising occasionally to sweetest lyrical intensity.

Except for opera, Bennett tried his hand at almost all the different forms of vocal and instrumental writing. His best works include piano music (his three sketches, The Lake, The Millstream and The Fountain, and his third piano concerto); orchestral music (his Symphony in G minor, and his overture The Naiads); and vocal music (his cantata The May Queen, written for the inaugural Leeds Festival in 1858). For the Golden Jubilee of the Philharmonic Society he wrote the overture Paradise and the Peri in 1862. He also wrote a sacred cantata, The Woman of Samaria, first performed at the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival in 1867. For other uses, see Opera (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A cantata (Italian, sung) is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment and generally containing more than one movement. ... Year 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about 1862 . ... A cantata (Italian, sung) is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment and generally containing more than one movement. ... The Birmingham Triennial Musical Festival is the longest-running classical music festival of its kind. ... Year 1867 (MDCCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

In 1870 the University of Oxford conferred upon him the honorary degree of D.C.L. A year later he was knighted, and in 1872 he received a public testimonial before a large audience at St James's Hall, London, the money subscribed being devoted to the foundation of a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music. Shortly before his death he produced a sonata called The Maid of Orleans, an elaborate piece of programme-music based on Schiller's tragedy. He died at his house in St John's Wood, London. 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University), located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... A degree is any of a wide range of status levels conferred by institutions of higher education, such as universities, normally as the result of successfully completing a program of study. ... The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals personal bravery, achievement or service to the United Kingdom. ... Year 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Sonata (From Latin and Italian sonare, to sound), in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to cantata (Latin cantare, to sing), a piece sung. ... Program music is music intended to evoke extra-musical ideas, images in the mind of the listener by musically representing a scene, image or mood [1]. By contrast, absolute music stands for itself and is intended to be appreciated without any particular reference to the outside world. ... Friedrich Schiller “Schiller” redirects here. ... St Johns Wood is a district of North London, England in the City of Westminster, near Regents Park. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

List of principal works

Orchestral:

Piano Concerto No.1, D minor, Op.1 (1832)

Piano Concerto No.2, E flat, Op.4 (1833)

Piano Concerto No.3, C minor, Op.9 (1834)

Piano Concerto, F minor (1836)

Piano Concerto No.4, F minor, Op.19 (1838)

Piano Concerto (Concert-Stuck), A minor (1841-3)

Parisina (Overture), Op.3 (1835)

The Naiads (Overture), Op. 15 (1836)

Die Waldnymphe (Overture), Op.20 (1838)

Paradise and the Peri (Fantasy Overture), Op.42 (1862)

Symphony, G minor, Op.43 (1864, revised 1867) (commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society^[1])

Piano:

Three Musical Sketches, Op.10 (1836)

Three Impromptus, Op.12 (1836)

Sonata no.1, F minor, Op.13 (1837)

Three Romances, Op.14 (1836-7)

Fantasie, A major, Op.16 (1837)

Suite de Pieces, Op.24 (1841)

Sonata, 'The Maid of Orleans', Op.46 (1869-73)

Chamber:

Sextet, piano & strings, F sharp minor, Op.8 (1835)

Chamber Trio, piano, violin & cello, Op.26 (1839)

Sonata Duo, cello & piano, Op.31 (1852)

Choral Works:

The May Queen (A Pastoral), Op.39 (1858)

The Woman of Samaria (Sacred Cantata), Op.44 (1867-8)

Songs:

Six Songs: First Set, Op.23 (1834-42)

Six Songs: Second Set, Op.35 (1837-44)

External links

• Sterndale Bennett
• William Sterndale Bennett was listed in the International Music Score Library Project
• Selected pieces for pianoforte (From the Sibley Music Library Digital Score Collection)

The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) is a project for the creation of a virtual library of public domain music scores, based on the wiki principle. ...

References

1. ^ Grim, William (2005). Online Publication of Preface to Score of Sterndale Bennett Symphony. Musikproduktion Juergen Hoeflich. Retrieved on 2007-11-28.

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• J.R. Sterndale Bennett: The Life of William Sterndale Bennett. Cambridge University Press (1907) - online at the Internet Archive