John Stainer

Educated at Oxford, Stainer offered as organist at Magdalen University after graduation. He structured the Oxford Philharmonic Culture and in 1872 became the organist for St Paul’s Cathedral. There he was in charge of hastening reforms that improved the circumstances for music artists. He soon shifted to become chapel musician, scholar and composer. Faltering eyesight triggered him to resign as St Paul’s organist and he came back to Oxford in 1889 to serve as a music teacher. The majority of Stainer’s compositions are cathedral functions, and although these were regarded as stylish and his selection of text messages reflected a complicated feeling for books, the functions are not unforgettable. He himself regretted ever posting his compositions, stating that he understood these were ‘rubbish’. He’s remembered more like a trailblazer in the region of British Musicology and was the 1st English scholar to analyze music before Palestrina. Together with his child Eliza and his child John, Stainer was a contributor to early editions of =Grove Dictionary of Music and Music artists=.