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NUI MAYNOOTH Ûllscôst la ttÉiîéann Mâ Üuad Charles Villiers Stanford’s Preludes for Piano op.163 and op.179: A Musicological Retrospective (3 Volumes) Volume 1 Adèle Commins Thesis Submitted to the National University of Ireland, Maynooth for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Music National University of Ireland, Maynooth Maynooth Co. Kildare 2012 Head of Department: Professor Fiona M. Palmer Supervisors: Dr Lorraine Byrne Bodley & Dr Patrick F. Devine Acknowledgements I would like to express my appreciation to a number of people who have helped me throughout my doctoral studies. Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to my supervisors and mentors, Dr Lorraine Byrne Bodley and Dr Patrick Devine, for their guidance, insight, advice, criticism and commitment over the course of my doctoral studies. They enabled me to develop my ideas and bring the project to completion. I am grateful to Professor Fiona Palmer and to Professor Gerard Gillen who encouraged and supported my studies during both my undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the Music Department at NUI Maynooth. It was Professor Gillen who introduced me to Stanford and his music, and for this, I am very grateful. I am grateful to the staff in many libraries and archives for assisting me with my many queries and furnishing me with research materials. In particular, the Stanford Collection at the Robinson Library, Newcastle University has been an invaluable resource during this research project and I would like to thank Melanie Wood, Elaine Archbold and Alan Callender and all the staff at the Robinson Library, for all of their help and for granting me access to the vast Stanford collection. Thanks are also due to the staff at the following libraries for their assistance in facilitating my research: the staff in John Paul II Library and the Russell Library, NUI Maynooth; Philip Shields in the Royal Irish Academy of Music Library; Peter Horton in the Royal College of Music Library; The National Library of Ireland, particularly in their manuscript section; Grainger Museum, University of Melbourne; Dundalk Institute of Technology; British Library; Hamilton Harty Collection, Queen’s University Belfast; Stainer & Bell Archive; The Grieg Archives, Bergen; Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Bournemouth; Leeds Local Studies Library; Archives at Wigmore Hall; Norfolk Historical Society and Museum, Norfolk, Connecticut and the John Danforth Herman Greenwood Collection, McMaster University Library. I would like to thank Dr Alison Hood and Dr Mark Fitzgerald for their analytical guidance in the early stages of this research. I am also indebted to the following individuals for advice and valuable comments at different stages of this work; Professor Harry White, Professor Jeremy Dibble, Dr Paul Rodmell and Jonathan White. The following individuals and institutions have also kindly assisted with queries relating to my project: Howard Freeman and Alan Gilsenan at the Feis Ceoil Association, Pat Mac Cafferty, Derry Feis, Banks Music Publications, Companies House, London, Boosey & Hawkes, Francis Smith and the Cheltenham Philharmonic Orchestra, Vicky Chapman at the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, Richard Barnes, Cathedral Music, Ken Shellard, Liam MacCoil, Chris Moulton and Alisa Avigdor at the Royal College of Music, Robert Pascall, Shiela Larchet Cuthbert, Ingrid Spiegl, Professor Barra Boydell, Professor Yo Tomita, Professor Seoirse Bodley, Professor Julian Horton, Professor Richard Chrisman, Dr Una Hunt, Dr Michael Allis, Dr David Rhodes, Dr Catherine Ferris, Dr Axel Klein, Philip Sear, Aaron Keebaugh, Declan Plummer and Finghin Collins. To my fellow doctoral students at NUI Maynooth who were my research companions throughout this project: in particular, Dr Jennifer O’Connor, Dr Lisa Parker, Edward Holden and Emer Nestor. Warm thanks to all in the Stanford society for their ongoing encouragement and promotion of Stanford’s music: in particular, John Covell, Michael and Melissa Webb and Chris Cope. I would also like to acknowledge my gratitude to Dr Eibhlis Farrell, Dr Gerard Bob McKiernan and Caroline O’Sullivan at Dundalk Institute of Technology for their ongoing support throughout my research. Additionally, I gratefully acknowledge the support of a Daniel O’Connell Fellowship from NUI Maynooth and Seed Funding from DklT. Additionally, I would like to thank my examiners, Dr Paul Rodmell and Dr Laura Watson for their interest in my work and for their constructive feedback on my thesis. Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my friends and family, my deepest thanks are due to my parents, Joe and Josephine and my brothers, Carl and Darren. Their unfailing support, patience and encouragement is greatly appreciated. Go raibh mile maith agaibh as an tacaiocht ar fad. Abstract Despite being credited as one of the leading figures of the British Musical Renaissance, Stanford’s piano music has remained hidden from serious musical scholarship and performance. In this dissertation an exploration of Stanford’s biography identifies changes in Stanford reception history which have affected the understanding of his piano music both during his career and posthumously. Stanford’s experiences as pianist and composer of piano music are explored to provide a contextual backdrop to the thesis. As the first composer to complete a set of twenty-four preludes in Ireland or England, and, as the preludes represent the pinnacle of his compositions for solo piano this provided the impetus to rediscover the music. In an aim to address misconceptions about Stanford’s piano music this thesis engages in a scholarly and critical examination of each prelude and contextualizes the pieces within the Baroque and Romantic prelude traditions. While analysis of the music highlights Stanford’s exemplary understanding of the piano, it also demonstrates how he merged ideas from both prelude traditions to make his own unique contribution to the genre. Traditionalistic tendencies in Stanford’s compositional writing are revealed through his rich and varied harmonic palette and his approach to structure and motivic development, while unifying compositional features are also noted. Stanford’s compositional intentions are considered, while issues of late style and nostalgia are raised. A revised edition of Stanford’s forty- eight preludes is also included along with a detailed editorial commentary. In response to the recent resurgence in scholarship on Stanford, this thesis raises an awareness of Stanford as a composer of piano music, re-evaluating the contribution he made to piano music in England and in Ireland. It will emphasise the value and importance of his collection of preludes and will reappraise Stanford as a significant composer of piano music in Irish musicological studies. Table of Contents Table of Contents Acknowledgements........................................................................................................3 Abstract .....................................................................................................................6 List of Figures............................................................................................................... iv List of T ables..................................................................................................................v List of Music Examples...............................................................................................vi Abbreviations............................................................................................................... vii Part 1: Reception of Stanford and his Piano Literature.................................viii Introduction................................................................................................................viii I Background to the Study.......................................................................................................viii II Aims of the S tu d y................................................................................................................... xv III Research Questions...............................................................................................................xvii IV Rationale for the Research.....................................................................................................xx V Delimitations of the Study................................................................................................. xxiv VI Methodology.........................................................................................................................xxvi Analytical Methodology..............................................................................................................xxix Editorial Methodology...............................................................................................................xxxii VII Literature Review.............................................................................................................. xxxiii Early Posthumous Stanford Scholarship............................................................................... xxxiii Recent Stanford Scholarship..................................................................................................... xxxv VIII Difficulties or Challenges Encountered During the Study......................................xxxvii IX Dissertation Audience...................................................................................................

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