Charles Villiers Stanford
MASS IN G op.46
 

Score & Parts available to hire

Stanford's reputation as one of the great British composers of the 19th and 20th centuries is secure. However, his large-scale works for chorus and orchestra, which include a Requiem, Stabat Mater, and the ambitious Missa Via Victrix (the composer's personal response to the First World War) still deserve to be better known.

Composed in 1892 for the grand setting of the Brompton Oratory, and scored for SATB soloists and chorus (without divisi) Stanford's Mass in G major, Op. 46, is one of the composer's finest works. Its commissioner, the church's choirmaster Thomas Wingham, was a fine composer in his own right, who presided over an impressive tradition of orchestral masses at the Oratory (until their suppression by a papal motu proprio of 1903), and he was delighted with the work. On his untimely death in March 1893, it was his dying wish that the piece be heard at the earliest date. Its premiere was duly given on 26th May 1893, the feast day of St Philip Neri (Patron Saint of the Oratory).

Melodious and well-judged in length (a full performance lasts 36 minutes), this piece makes an attractive concert work, and choirs looking for an approachable companion piece for their programmes need look no further.

Although a piano reduction of the original opulent orchestration has been available for many years from Novello, only since 2024, though the meticulous work of James Speakman and George de Voil, has an edition of the orchestral score and parts been made available.

The work has been recorded by the Choir of Exeter College, Oxford, and is available to listen to on EM Records, available via Spotify or Youtube.

Please contact us to receive a quote for the score and parts.