Mr. Stanley, I Presume!

Experience country house saloon soirees; the hunting horns, shepherd songs and birdsong of the English countryside; the trumpets of military marches; and London's opera houses and pleasure gardens, through the organ music of John Stanley (1712-1786).

Although blinded shortly after his birth, John Stanley became one of the most famous musicians of the 18th century. A church organist from the age of 11, he was organist at St Andrew's Holborn aged 14 and, at 17, was the youngest person ever to obtain the University of Oxford Bachelor of Music degree. He eventually became organist at The Temple Church, where many famous musicians, including Handel, would come to hear him play. He also frequently performed at the Vauxhall Gardens and Covent Garden. Stanley was a governor of the Foundling Hospital and directed the annual performances of Handel's Messiah in aid of the hospital funds. He succeeded William Boyce as Master of the King's Band of Musicians.

He is best known to organists for his three volumes of Voluntaries for Organ (1748, 1752, and 1754), but he also composed two sets of Organ Concertos (1745 and 1775) as well as several cantatas, oratorios and instrumental pieces. One of the two concertos to be performed during this concert was described as “probably the finest of all English organ concertos”.

The internationally renowned 1735 Richard Bridge organ in Christ Church Spitalfields was the largest in England for many decades. Following the magnificent William Drake 2015 restoration to its original specification, it now stands as one of the most important historic organs in the world. With its vast range of tonal colours, it is the only organ in the world that can authentically provide the complex tonal and registration requirements of the Stanley Organ Voluntaries. This concert celebrates the 10th anniversary of the restoration. The organ specification can be found here [Link] (https://npor.org.uk/survey/H00969).

Christ Church Spitalfields is one of Nicholas Hawksmoor’s early 18th-century architectural masterpieces and is also now restored to its original design.