What is Charles Villiers Stanford?
[[Image:Stanford Charles Villiers.jpg|thumb|right|Charles Villiers Stanford - caricature by [[Leslie Ward]]]] '''Sir Charles Villiers Stanford''' (born [[Dublin]], 30 September 1852; died [[London]], 29 March 1924) was an [[Ireland|Irish]] [[composer]] who lived in [[England]] for most of his life. == Life == Stanford was born in [[Dublin]]. His father was a very successful [[lawyer]] who was also interested in [[music]]. He played the [[cello]] and [[singing|sang]]. Stanford’s mother played the [[piano]]. The young boy heard a lot of music at his home as there were often visitors who came to make music. Charles studied the [[piano]], [[pipe organ|organ]] and [[Composition (music)|composition]] and was composing and performing at [[concert]]s when he was still very young. His parents had wanted their son to be a lawyer, but it was obvious that music was to be his profession. He won a [[scholarship]] to [[Queens' College, Cambridge]] in 1870 where he was a [[choral scholar]]. He learned very quickly and in 1873, while he was still a student, he was made [[pipe organ|organist]] of [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]] and [[conducting|conductor]] of two [[choir]]s. While he had these jobs he was given time to make visits to [[Germany]] where he studied with [[Carl Reinecke]] and Friedrich Kiel. He met several famous composers including [[Brahms]] and [[Offenbach]]. He went to the opening of the [[Bayreuth Festival Theatre]] where the music of [[Richard Wagner]] was performed. Stanford took his [[Degree (school)|BA degree]] in 1874 and [[Degree (school)|MA]] in 1878, and was given the honorary degree of [[Degree (school)|D.Mus.]] at [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] in 1883 and at [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] in 1888. He had a lot of energy and was known for working very hard. When the [[Royal College of Music]] opened in London in 1883 Stanford was made [[professor]] there. He became [[conducting|conductor]] of the [[Bach Choir]] and then he was made professor of music at Cambrid