John Stanley (1712-1786) - Concerto for the Organ (1775)

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Composer: John Stanley (1712-1786)
Work: Concerto (I) for the Organ, Opera X (1775)
Performers: Stеphen Fаrr (organ); London Bаch Consort

Painting: Karl Anton Hickel (1745-1798) - The House of Commons (c.1793)
Image in high resolution: https://flic.kr/p/2nm5o6a

Further info: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical...
Listen free: https://open.spotify.com/album/5KgxMO...

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John Stanley
(London, 17 January 1712 - London, 19 May 1786)

English composer and organist. At the age of 2 he had an accident that left him virtually blind, but nonetheless he studied organ with John Reading, and when that was unsatisfactory, with Maurice Greene. By 1726 he had been organist at All Hallows and was appointed at the age of 14 in a similar position at St. Andrews in Holbourne. In 1729 he received a bachelor’s degree in music from Oxford University, from where he returned to London to become a member of the Society of the Inner Temple in 1734. At the same time he performed as a violinist, arranging a series of public concerts at the Swan Tavern, Cornhill, and Castle Tavern on Paternoster Row. By 1742 he was employed at the royal court and soon became a friend of George Frederick Handel. After Handel’s death, in 1760 he continued to develop oratorio concerts in conjunction with John Christopher Smith Jr. In 1770 he was elected to the board of the Foundling Hospital, and in 1779 he succeeded William Boyce as master of the King’s Musick. Stanley was well regarded, both for his majestic performance and for his compositions. These include an opera, Teremintas; a large-scale cantata, The Choice of Hercules; and four oratorios (Jephthah, 1757; Arcadia, 1761; The Fall of Egypt, 1774; and Zimri). He also composed odes for the English court birthdays and other occasions; these have mostly been lost and their exact number is unknown. In addition, he regularly published his music, beginning in 1740 with the eight solos for the flute. These works, as Op. 1-10, include three sets of organ voluntaries (1748-1754), six organ concertos, 15 cantatas, and six “concertos” for solo keyboard. His style is similar to that of Thomas Arne or William Boyce.