What is William Sterndale Bennett?
[[Image:SirWilliamSterndaleBennett.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Sir William Sterndale Bennett]] '''Sir William Sterndale Bennett''' (born [[Sheffield]], 13 April 1816; died [[London]], 1 February 1875) was a distinguished English composer of the Romantic period. ==Early life== Bennett's father Robert Bennett, was [[pipe organ|organist]] of what is now Sheffield Cathedral. At the age of three he was an [[orphan]], so he was brought up by his [[grandfather]] in [[Cambridge]]. At the age of seven he became a [[chorister]] at [[King's College Chapel Choir]]. In 1826, he entered the [[Royal Academy of Music]], where he spent ten years studying. His piano teachers were W. H. Holmes, Dr [[William Crotch]] and later Cipriani Potter In 1833, he was made organist of St Anne's Church, Wandsworth and in that same year met [[Felix Mendelssohn]] who invited him to Germany. He went there four times, making long tours. He was welcomed and admired by famous musicians including Mendelssohn and [[Robert Schumann]]. Schumann later [[dedication|dedicated]] his ''Symphonic Studies'' to Bennett. He also often performed at the [[Leipzig Gewandhaus]]. ==Music== Although he knew the works of Bach and Mozart very well, many of his compositions were clearly [[influence]]d by Mendelssohn. As well as being known as one of Europe's most brilliant pianists, his music was well known for its new ideas, excitement and poetic beauty. His compositions include four [[overture]]s, six piano [[concerto]]s, four [[symphony|symphonies]], a chamber [[Trio (music)|trio]], [[sextet]], several piano works and two [[song cycle]]s to be followed later in life by a cello duo, a late Symphony in G minor, a Cantata The May Queen for the opening of Leeds Town Hall in 1858, and an oratorio The Woman of Samaria for the 1867 [[Birmingham Triennial Music Festival]]. Of his 80 published compositions, nearly half are now available on CD, the most popular being the Overture ''The Naiades Op 15'', the ''Chamber Trio Op 26'' and the ''Piano concerto No 4 in F mino