William Sterndale Bennett 1816-1875

[giles.enders]

William Sterndale Bennett Born  13.4.1816 Sheffield, England - Died  1.2.1875 London, England

Orchestral Music which is extant

Symphony No.1  Wo.20    1832
Symphony No.2  Wo.23    1833
Symphony No.4  Wo.28    1838
Symphony No.5  Wo.31    1836
Symphony in G minor  Op.43  1864

Overtures

The Tempest  Wo.22  1832
Overture in D minor  Wo.24  1833
Merry Wives of Windsor  Wo.25  1834
Parisina Overture Op.3  1835
Dramatic Overture  Wo.?   1836
The Naiads Overture Op.15  1836
Die Waldnymphe (The Wood Nymph) Overture Op.20  1838
Marie du Bois  Wo.46 1844
Paridise and the Peri  Op.42  1862
Ajax  Wo.83 1872

Orchestral music that is now lost

Symphony No.3  1883
Symphony in B minor  1836
Symphony  1838/40

Piano and Orchestra

Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor  Op.1  1832
Piano Concerto No.2 in E flat  Op.4  1833
Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor  Op.9  1834
Piano Concerto No.4 in F minor  Op.19  1838
Piano Concerto No.5 in F minor  Wo.32  1836
Piano Concerto No.6 in A minor  Wo.48  1843-8 (concertstuck)
Piano Concerto for two pianos, one movement only.  1835.   Joint composition with George Macfarren 1813-1887
Adagio in G minor  Wo.27  1834
Caprice in E major  Op.22  1838
A Stroll Through the Meadows  Wo.37  1838

Chamber

String Quartet in G  1831
Sextet in F sharp for Piano, 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass  1835
Piano trio Op.26 1835
Sonata duo in A for piano and cello Op.32  1852

Piano

Capriccio in D
Three musical sketches  Op.10
Six studies  Op.11
Three impromptus  Op.12
Sonata  Op.13  1842
Three Romances  Op.14
Fantasia  Op.16  1842
Three diversions for piano duet  Op.17  1838
Allegro Grazioso  Op.18
Suite of pieces for piano  Op.2  1843
Rondo Piacevale  Op.25
Scherzo  Op.27
Rondino  Op.28  1853
Two Studies  Op.29
Theme and variations  Op.31
Sixty preludes and lessons  Op.33  1853
Rondo  Op.35
Toccata  Op.38
Sonata 'The Maid of Orleans'  Op.46

Song

Six songs  Op.23
Six songs  Op.35

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks Giles, I didn't realise that there was so much orchestral music. What happened to Symphony No.3?

[suffolkcoastal]

I have two different G minor symphonies in my collections, the later one listed and one dated 1836.

[Christopher]

He is a new discovery for me and I like what I have heard very much.  But I have one question: does he have a double-barrelled surname, or is Sterndale a middle name?

[Jimfin]

Sterndale was a middle name (as with 'Walford' in Walford Davies). Is the early G minor symphony (which is available on this site) numbered)

[giles.enders]

It is known that he wrote symphony No.3 however it would appear that it has been missing for over a century.
After his marriage in 1844, he almost gave up composing spending most of his time teaching and working at The Royal College of Music in London. He never regained his initial heights of composition that were much praised by Mendelssohn and Schumann.

[giles.enders]

William Sterndale Bennett had three children , two sons and a daughter. The second son, James changed his surname by deed poll from Bennett to Sterndale-Bennett.  WSB left his music archive and his correspondence to be divided equally between his three children, however shortly after his death the eldest son got into financial difficulty and James purchased his brother's share of his father'sarchive.

[Jimfin]

I always believed that his compositional powers declined as a result of academic work, but the late Symphony in G minor seems to belie that, a marvellous discovery it was for me. I wish I could hear some of the choral works, but I doubt there is much chance of them being revived. Yes, I also wonder about the numbering of the earlier G minor symphony

[eschiss1]

Symphonies:
No.1 in B-flat, WoO 20, 1832.
No.2 in D minor, WoO 23, 1832-33.
No.4 in A major, WoO 28, 1833-34.
No.5 in G minor, WoO 31, 1835-36.
No.6? in G minor, Op.43, 1863-64.
(From IMSLP and some other sources.) (Source as noted:  Williamson, Rosemary. William Sterndale Bennett: A Descriptive Thematic Catalogue. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.)

[giles.enders]

The Royal College in London might be prevailed to do one of his choral works.  After all he saved them from decline.  Several years ago they had a one day seminar about him with much of his music being played though none of the choral music. as far as I can recall.  This was followed by a series of evening lectures at London University, it seems he chose to dedicate himself to The Royal College and what by any standards would be an excessive amount of teaching, leaving little time for composition.

[pcc]

I think you mean the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) - Bennett was Principal there.

[semloh]

Well, he may have had little time for composition, as Giles said, but he nonethless managed to find time for 140 or so compositions before his incredibly busy life ended at age only 58. Composing, teaching, writing, editing major works, performing, running the Academy, having a family and staying sane and decent.... an amazing achievement! 

Perhaps someone here has read his biography, and could tell us a little more about what kind of man he was. 

[pcc]

His teaching schedules have survived - there was a presentation that covered Bennett's workload at the NAVSA conference at Yale two years ago - and they indicate a killing pace: something like sixteen piano lessons a day, six days a week, and travelling between most of them to the various houses. Sullivan's comments about Bennett's dislike of Schumann's music is telling, considering Schumann and Bennett's former friendship; I think Bennett was hurt by Schumann's critical disappointment of his later works and deliberately shut him out.  Harold Schonberg recorded a particularly acid comment of Bennett's concerning Costa's tempos when Costa was appointed as the Philharmonic's conductor -"the only advantage of having him is that we can have the whole of Beethoven's symphonies in one evening and still be home in time for supper."  He seems to have been sensitive, very supportive of his students and protective of the Royal Academy, but touchy and slow to forgive slights - signs of an easily hurt and definitely overworked/undercompensated man.

[giles.enders]

Yes, my mistake it was of course the RAM that he saved though he resigned from there in 1858.  It was however the Royal College that had the one day seminar.  I was there.

[FBerwald]

What about the Piano Concerto No. 6 in A minor, Wo 48.. I remember reading somewhere that the manuscript was in private hands or is it lost.