Illustrated Organ Recital – Stanford 100 – Dr Anthony Gritten

Dr Anthony Gritten, Royal Academy of Music
Queens’ College Cambridge, 12 July 2024

Programme

Music by Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) to celebrate his centenary

Prelude and Fugue in C major op. 193/1 (1923)
Prelude and Fugue in E minor (c.1875)
Fantasia (In Festo Omnium Sanctorum) op. 121/1 (1911)
Fantasia upon the hymn tune ‘Intercessor’ op. 187 (1922)
Sonata no. 4 in C minor ‘Celtica’ op. 153 (1920)
– I     Allegro molto moderato
– II    Tema con Variazioni, Allegretto
– III   Allegro Maestoso (St Patrick’s Breastplate)

This illustrated recital will span Stanford’s entire compositional life, from an early work of c.1875 through to his final works of the 1920s. At the centre of the recital is one of his large-scale masterpieces for organ, the Sonata no. 4 in C minor ‘Celtica’ op. 153, written at the end of the First World War. In addition to complete performances of these five pieces, the event will discuss aspects of Stanford’s compositional language, including his use of hymn tunes, the impact of his Irish heritage, the shape of his sonata thinking, and the influence of other composers on his music.

Biography

Anthony is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, and studied with Harry Gabb, David Sanger, and Anne Page. He gave the first complete performance of Daniel Roth’s magnum opus, Livre d’Orgue pour le Magnificat, and has performed four times in St. Sulpice, Paris, including a recital for Roth’s 70th birthday. He has also premiered various works, including Richard Francis’ four-movement symphony on themes by Lefébure-Wély, Laurence Caldecote’s Variations on Victimae Paschali Laudes, and David Loxley-Blount’s Toccata ar St Denio. Projects have included anniversary performances of the complete works of Tunder, Buxtehude (a 6½ hour recital), Homilius (2½ hours), Brahms, and Mendelssohn, and an ongoing series resurrecting forgotten French music from the early 20th century.

Anthony was an organ scholar and research student at Cambridge University, writing a doctorate on Stravinsky. He has worked at the University of East Anglia, the Royal Northern College of Music, and Middlesex University, and is currently Head of Undergraduate Programmes at the Royal Academy of Music. His publications include books on Music and Gesture, essays on Balakirev, Cage, Debussy, Delius, Goehr, Holloway, Roth, and Stravinsky, and numerous articles on issues in Performance Studies. Many publications can be downloaded from ram.academia.edu/AnthonyGritten