Sterndale Bennett

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 An unpublished concerto in F minor, and the overture to the ''Naiads'', impressed the firm of Broadwood And Sons so favourably in 1836 that they offered the composer a year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 the 13th of 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'').

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 .

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 .

In 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 .

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)

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:

Songs:
:Six Songs: First Set, Op.23 (1834-42)
:Six Songs: Second Set, Op.35 (1837-44)


EXTERNAL LINKS

• Sterndale Bennett

• ---The Life of William Sterndale Bennett, J.R. Sterndale Bennett, Cambridge University Press (1907)