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Bringing the music of great composers back to life
Our extraordinary music research has helped to bring back the forgotten music of two great classical composers to modern audiences. Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir Hubert Parry were major figures of the British musical world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Some of their works had been lost to time, but Professor Jeremy Dibble in our Department of Music, has used his research to give them new life.
Reviving the classical tunes
Professor Dibble used Stanford’s and Parry’s original manuscripts to edit and prepare the orchestral scores for multiple pieces so they can be performed and recorded.
Works include Parry’s unpublished Piano Trio No. 3 and Stanford’s Mass Via Victrix 1914-1918.
Other Stanford and Parry pieces have also been revived including a recreation of the score for Parry’s oratorio Judith, based upon the original manuscript housed in the Royal College of Music, and performed in London in 2019 for the first time since the late 1800s.
Professor Dibble’s research led to a performance of Stanford’s first opera, The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan, and the first ever recording of his last opera, The Travelling Companion.
British musical heritage
Stanford is famous for his songs and religious music and was a huge influence on a number of composers at the Royal College of Music, where he taught, including Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst and Herbert Howells.
Parry was also a prolific composer and is perhaps best known for his choral song Jerusalem.
Through his research Professor Dibble has helped to increase public understanding and appreciation of this important era in British musical heritage.
He hopes to encourage the performance of Parry’s and Stanford’s lesser-known works by making them available to amateur orchestras and choirs.
Through recordings and performances, Professor Dibble has helped to increase public understanding and appreciation of this important era in British musical heritage.
Find out more
- Learn more about the work of Professor Jeremy Dibble and watch him talk about his research below
- Professor Dibble has collaborated with a number of record companies including Hyperion Records, Chandos Records, SOMM Recordings and Lyrita Recorded Edition
- Other collaborators and performers include The Ulster Orchestra, New Sussex Opera, the Wexford Opera; the Arts Council of Ireland; and the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales
- Read Professor Dibble’s book: British Musical Criticism and Intellectual Thought, and The Music of Frederick Delius
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