Practise what you preach: Stanford's German songs

Abstract

Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) had an immense influence on the young composers who were his students at the Royal College of Music in London where he taught from 1883. Unlike many other composers, Stanford committed his views on composition to paper: they are to be found in his book Musical composition: a short treatise for students (1911) and in certain chapters (especially “The composition of music”) of his book Interludes, records and reflections (1922). The application of his strict ideas on composition to his own German songs (all eighteen on texts by Heine), reveals that he generally adheres to his own advice: he practises what he preaches. An analysis of the songs also shows them to be worthy of much wider recognition. With a few exceptions, the meaning of the text is very convincingly and movingly conveyed.