- Marcel Dupre (1886-1971), Max Reger, Paul Hindemith, History and Criticism of Music, Hubert Parry, Richard Strauss, and 13 moreMusic Literature for the Pipe Organ, French Music, 1870 - 1945, Vincent d'Indy, Arthur Honegger, Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Charles Villiers Stanford, César Franck, Ernest Chausson, Charles-Marie Widor, Louis Vierne, Music of Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger, British Music of the Victorian and Edwardian Era, and Darius Milhaudedit
- Sydney-born Robert James Stove is the author of CÉSAR FRANCK: HIS LIFE AND TIMES (Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, ... moreSydney-born Robert James Stove is the author of CÉSAR FRANCK: HIS LIFE AND TIMES (Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, released in 2012). For the last decade, he has been an Adjunct Research Associate at the School of Music, Monash University, Melbourne; and he edited (2011-13) ORGAN AUSTRALIA.
In July 2018 he started his PhD candidacy at the Sydney Conservatorium, working on a dissertation that concerned Sir Charles Villiers Stanford's organ music. He had his PhD formally conferred in December 2021.
Articles by him have appeared in numerous magazines, some specialist music-related publications, some more generalist. These outlets include THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE (where he is a contributing editor), MODERN AGE, THE UNIVERSITY BOOKMAN, LIMELIGHT (Australia), SPECTATOR AUSTRALIA, the now sadly defunct ANNALS AUSTRALASIA, THE ORGAN (United Kingdom), and THE MUSICAL TIMES (United Kingdom).
His next planned book is a biography (which will be the first in English) of Alexandre Guilmant. Interest in the possibility of releasing this book has already been expressed by University of Rochester Press, New York State.
During July 2018 the first CD devoted to Robert James Stove's organ-playing - THE GATES OF VIENNA: BAROQUE ORGAN MUSIC FROM THE HABSBURG EMPIRE - was released on the Ars Organi label (www.arsorgani.com). His second CD, PAX BRITANNICA: ORGAN MUSIC BY VICTORIA AND EDWARDIAN COMPOSERS, emerged from the same label in August 2019; and his third, FRENCH ROMANTIC CHURCH MUSIC: ALEXANDRE GUILMANT AND HIS CIRCLE, appeared in February 2021. A fourth CD, entitled UNDERTONES OF WAR: BRITISH ORGAN AND VOCAL MUSIC AFTER 1918, was released in June 2022; the fifth and last, EMPIRE TO COMMONWEALTH: ORGAN AND VOCAL MUSIC AFTER 1939, was launched in December 2023. Currently he teaches piano at a Melbourne suburban school, the Caulfield Music Studio.edit
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A discussion of the recent symposium, edited by Nicolas Dufetel, which includes articles on the religious output of Liszt, Gounod, Saint-Saëns, and many other leading French (or, in Liszt's case, French-domiciled) composers from the long... more
A discussion of the recent symposium, edited by Nicolas Dufetel, which includes articles on the religious output of Liszt, Gounod, Saint-Saëns, and many other leading French (or, in Liszt's case, French-domiciled) composers from the long nineteenth century.
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A recent Compact Disc devoted to both choral and organ works by J.G. Rheinberger is discussed here.
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This is a slightly longer version of the article by me which had already appeared in MODERN AGE, and which dealt with British musical composition during the long 19th century.
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A discussion of British composition during the long nineteenth century, in connection with John Ling's recent book on the topic.
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My short article about the fifth and final volume in Priory Records' series of CDs devoted to Stanford's solo organ output; several of the pieces in this volume have never otherwise been recorded.
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Two reviews, one of them concerning a CD from Poland (THE RENAISSANCE ORGAN OF OLKUSZ) and the other concerning sheet music from Germany (a Stanford concertante organ piece).
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Review of the recent CD on Britain's Lyrita label, providing world premiere recordings of Stanford's VIA VICTRIX Mass and AT THE ABBEY GATE.
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A short and appreciative article about Michael Webb's new Respighi biography.
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Review of Michael Trott's HUBERT PARRY: A LIFE IN PHOTOGRAPHS (Brewin Books).
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Review of Timothy Olsen's CD anthology THE GERMAN MUSE, issued on the Raven label.
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Review of two recent Norwegian CDs
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This article in MUSICOLOGY AUSTRALIA discusses a monograph concerning Ernest Chausson's opera LE ROI ARTHUS, the monograph in question exploding the myth that Chausson was pointlessly and self-defeatingly indebted to Wagner in that work.
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The basis for this article was my recent talk to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. I have no idea why most of the book titles were turned from italics to roman, or why indents for the blockquotes were removed. Yet perhaps the result is... more
The basis for this article was my recent talk to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. I have no idea why most of the book titles were turned from italics to roman, or why indents for the blockquotes were removed. Yet perhaps the result is still readable anyhow.
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It would be a shame if the passing of Darius Milhaud were to be overlooked in this, the fifty-year anniversary of his death. This is a short tribute to his extraordinarily versatile gifts.
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Organiste, musicologue, journaliste et professeur de piano australien, qui a enregistré cinq CD de musique d'orgue-dont de nombreuses premières mondiales-et dont la biographie de César Franck a été publiée en 2012 par Scarecrow Press,... more
Organiste, musicologue, journaliste et professeur de piano australien, qui a enregistré cinq CD de musique d'orgue-dont de nombreuses premières mondiales-et dont la biographie de César Franck a été publiée en 2012 par Scarecrow Press, Maryland, États-Unis.
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An attempt to assess the damage done to the classical music sector by the ubiquity of streaming platforms, along with an allusion to Ted Gioia's proffered solution to the damage.
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This is the essay which accompanies the newest CD on the Ars Organi label: EMPIRE TO COMMONWEALTH: ORGAN AND VOCAL MUSIC AFTER 1939. The CD was formally released in November 2023.
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Similar to the published version which appeared in the November 2023 number of QUADRANT, but this contains full footnote references as well as various anecdotes in the main text which QUADRANT elided.
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A talk given on October 15, 2016 at the Musicological Society of Australia's Victorian Chapter conference, concerning the organ output of Samuel Sebastian Wesley, and concentrating above all on Wesley's CHORAL SONG AND FUGUE.
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A reworked version in the November 2023 QUADRANT - with, alas, footnotes editorially jettisoned - of a talk which I gave to the Musicological Society of Australia's 2022 conference.
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A combination (in QUADRANT's September 2023 edition) of brief autobiography with details of my forthcoming fifth CD, entitled EMPIRE TO COMMONWEALTH.
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Research Interests: Philosophy and Chesterton
Catholic Converts from Downunder ... And All Over Editor: Wanda Skowronska Publisher: Connor Court Publishing, 2015 ISBN: 978-1-025138-85-6 Paperback, 230 pages, Price: $29.95 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Post-Watergate, and particularly... more
Catholic Converts from Downunder ... And All Over Editor: Wanda Skowronska Publisher: Connor Court Publishing, 2015 ISBN: 978-1-025138-85-6 Paperback, 230 pages, Price: $29.95 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Post-Watergate, and particularly post-Iraq, the USA's journalism has abounded in explicit 'declarations of interest.' While on occasion these take self-defeatingly conscientious forms, one can welcome the basic sentiment involved. It renders impossible the fakeobjectivity disfiguring Britain's and Australia's respective Fourth Estates, wherein ex-husbands, ex-wives, ex-mistresses and extoyboys review each other's literary effusions with every appearance of disinterested expertise. So to Catholic Converts Down Under ... And All Over. I have known its editor Wanda Skowronska since she approached me with a request that I contribute material to the volume. Besides, I have known JACHS's James Franklin for almost 40 years. The book includes a short profile of recent...
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Traces the elements that Marcel Dupré's biggest organ work has in common with the better-known epics of Messiaen, one of his star pupils; but these features ultimately matter less than the stylistic differences separating the two men.... more
Traces the elements that Marcel Dupré's biggest organ work has in common with the better-known epics of Messiaen, one of his star pupils; but these features ultimately matter less than the stylistic differences separating the two men. This article is based on a talk originally given at Monash University during April 2018.
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Six of Stanford's late works are analyzed in detail here.
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Having spent much of my time since 2017 researching Sir Charles Villiers Stanford's organ music (the subject of my recently conferred doctorate), I now find myself regarding Stanford as in many ways more mysterious, rather than less... more
Having spent much of my time since 2017 researching Sir Charles Villiers Stanford's organ music (the subject of my recently conferred doctorate), I now find myself regarding Stanford as in many ways more mysterious, rather than less mysterious, than I had originally imagined. This article highlights several areas in which Stanford eludes chroniclers, notably his religious views, and the original motive for his detestation of Richard Strauss.
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R. J. Stove s "A Student s Guide to Music History" is a concise account, written for the intelligent lay reader, of classical music s development from the early Middle Ages onwards. Beginning with a discussion of Hildegard von... more
R. J. Stove s "A Student s Guide to Music History" is a concise account, written for the intelligent lay reader, of classical music s development from the early Middle Ages onwards. Beginning with a discussion of Hildegard von Bingen, a twelfth-century German nun and composer, and the origins of plainchant, Stove s narrative recounts the rise (and ever-increasing complexity) of harmony during the medieval world, the differences between secular and sacred music, the glories of the contrapuntal style, and the origins of opera. Stove then relates the achievements of the high baroque period, the very different idioms that prevailed during the late eighteenth century, and the emergence of Romanticism, with its emphasis upon the artist-hero. With the late nineteenth century came a growing emphasis on musical patriotism, writes Stove, especially in Spain, Hungary, Russia, Bohemia, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and the United States.A final section discusses the trends that have characterized music since 1945.Stove s guide also singles out eminent composers for special coverage, including Palestrina, Monteverdi, Handel, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Wagner, Verdi, Brahms, Debussy, Richard Strauss, Sibelius, and Messiaen. As a brief orientation to the history and countours of classical music, "A Student s Guide to Music History" is an unparalleled resource."
An analysis of the structure and historical background concerning Charles Villiers Stanford's third organ sonata.
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... of Melbourne, whose mastery of Sibelius software proved invaluable, as did his more general expertise in organ music; Ms. Joann Woy, without whose sustained assiduity and proficiency the book's index would have been a... more
... of Melbourne, whose mastery of Sibelius software proved invaluable, as did his more general expertise in organ music; Ms. Joann Woy, without whose sustained assiduity and proficiency the book's index would have been a poor thing indeed; Miss Eleanor McKeown, Lebrecht ...
A newly published extract from my recently completed doctoral thesis on Stanford's organ works. This extract deals with the circumstances behind, and the thematic structure of, the first of the five organ sonatas which Stanford wrote late... more
A newly published extract from my recently completed doctoral thesis on Stanford's organ works. This extract deals with the circumstances behind, and the thematic structure of, the first of the five organ sonatas which Stanford wrote late in life.
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A generalist overview of Stanford for LIMELIGHT's 'Composer of the Month' series. Includes biographical information and summaries of Stanford's idiom.
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Traces the elements that Marcel Dupré's biggest organ work has in common with the better-known epics of Messiaen, one of his star pupils; but these features ultimately matter less than the stylistic differences separating the two men.... more
Traces the elements that Marcel Dupré's biggest organ work has in common with the better-known epics of Messiaen, one of his star pupils; but these features ultimately matter less than the stylistic differences separating the two men. This article is based on a talk originally given at Monash University during April 2018.
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A slightly revised (and amply footnoted) version of a lecture given both at Monash University during 2017 and at Melbourne University during 2018. It deals with Sir Charles Villiers Stanford's attitudes towards Irish Home Rule and the... more
A slightly revised (and amply footnoted) version of a lecture given both at Monash University during 2017 and at Melbourne University during 2018. It deals with Sir Charles Villiers Stanford's attitudes towards Irish Home Rule and the Great War. The discussion concentrates on Stanford's wartime SONATA CELTICA for organ, and conjectures that the Easter Rising (though not formally mentioned by Stanford) could well have left an impact on the work.
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Deals with Samuel Sebastian Wesley's life and career, with a particular emphasis on the CHORAL SONG AND FUGUE among his organ works.
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Brief generalist account of Hindemith's career and most important works.
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Examines the issue of just how sympathetic Paul Hindemith was to the Orgelbewegung (Organ Reform Movement) which emerged during the Weimar Republic, and finds that most previous writers on the subject have tended to assume a closer... more
Examines the issue of just how sympathetic Paul Hindemith was to the Orgelbewegung (Organ Reform Movement) which emerged during the Weimar Republic, and finds that most previous writers on the subject have tended to assume a closer relationship between the composer and the doctrine than actually existed.
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This piece in Britain's MUSICAL TIMES deals with the vicissitudes of Franck's reputation (not only in his birthplace, Belgium, and in his adopted France) during the years since his death in 1890.
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A brief, generalist guide to the life and achievements of this tragically short-lived French composer, along with a selection of CD recordings devoted to his music.
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Based on a 2015 Monash University talk, this article discusses Bruckner's relationship to the King of Instruments, a relationship that led to little solo music of stature, but that had a profound impact on the composer's whole way of... more
Based on a 2015 Monash University talk, this article discusses Bruckner's relationship to the King of Instruments, a relationship that led to little solo music of stature, but that had a profound impact on the composer's whole way of musical thinking.
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An essay for ORGAN AUSTRALIA (based on a talk given at Monash University) concerning how Max Reger reacted to the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914; he died two and a half years before the Armistice.
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Earlier chapters of this thesis have concentrated on supplying the background to Stanford's life, and on explaining more general developments (both within Britain and elsewhere) in the history of organ manufacture during the late... more
Earlier chapters of this thesis have concentrated on supplying the background to Stanford's life, and on explaining more general developments (both within Britain and elsewhere) in the history of organ manufacture during the late nineteenth century. The present chapter takes a different approach, by attempting to view Stanford's output in relation to several larger themes.
There is, first, the whole topic of musical nationalism, a topic impossible to omit in any discussion of Stanford's music. We need to explore what sort of role nationalist considerations had in Stanford's thought. Similarly, we cannot avoid the issue of how much nationalist assumptions by later historians (assumptions often enough taken for granted rather than explicitly acknowledged) have affected criticisms of Stanford.
Second, there is the subject of Stanford's complex relationship to past music. How much of a historicist was Stanford in his creative outlook? He certainly knew at first hand-particularly through his functions as organist and conductor-a great deal of music from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as well as from the eighteenth and nineteenth; so how did the 'anxiety of influence' (to borrow Harold Bloom's useful phrase) affect him? Was it, in his case, anxiety at all?
There is, first, the whole topic of musical nationalism, a topic impossible to omit in any discussion of Stanford's music. We need to explore what sort of role nationalist considerations had in Stanford's thought. Similarly, we cannot avoid the issue of how much nationalist assumptions by later historians (assumptions often enough taken for granted rather than explicitly acknowledged) have affected criticisms of Stanford.
Second, there is the subject of Stanford's complex relationship to past music. How much of a historicist was Stanford in his creative outlook? He certainly knew at first hand-particularly through his functions as organist and conductor-a great deal of music from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as well as from the eighteenth and nineteenth; so how did the 'anxiety of influence' (to borrow Harold Bloom's useful phrase) affect him? Was it, in his case, anxiety at all?
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An extract from my forthcoming doctoral thesis (Sydney Conservatorium) on Sir Charles Villiers Stanford's organ works. This chapter attempts to view Stanford's output in relation to several broad themes. There is, first, the whole topic... more
An extract from my forthcoming doctoral thesis (Sydney Conservatorium) on Sir Charles Villiers Stanford's organ works. This chapter attempts to view Stanford's output in relation to several broad themes.
There is, first, the whole topic of musical nationalism, a topic impossible to omit in any discussion of Stanford's music. We need to explore what sort of role nationalist considerations had in Stanford's thought. Similarly, we cannot avoid the issue of how much nationalist assumptions by later historians (assumptions often enough taken for granted rather than explicitly acknowledged) have affected criticisms of Stanford.
Second, there is the subject of Stanford's complex relationship to past music. How much of a historicist was Stanford in his creative outlook? He certainly knew at first hand-particularly through his functions as organist and conductor-a great deal of music from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as well as from the eighteenth and nineteenth; so how did the 'anxiety of influence' (to borrow Harold Bloom's useful phrase) affect him? Was it, in his case, anxiety at all?
First, nevertheless, some more general issues should be considered. These issues will be analyzed separately in what follows, albeit the separation is somewhat artificial, given that Stanford's relationship to music of the past involved the crisscrossing of national boundaries.
There is, first, the whole topic of musical nationalism, a topic impossible to omit in any discussion of Stanford's music. We need to explore what sort of role nationalist considerations had in Stanford's thought. Similarly, we cannot avoid the issue of how much nationalist assumptions by later historians (assumptions often enough taken for granted rather than explicitly acknowledged) have affected criticisms of Stanford.
Second, there is the subject of Stanford's complex relationship to past music. How much of a historicist was Stanford in his creative outlook? He certainly knew at first hand-particularly through his functions as organist and conductor-a great deal of music from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as well as from the eighteenth and nineteenth; so how did the 'anxiety of influence' (to borrow Harold Bloom's useful phrase) affect him? Was it, in his case, anxiety at all?
First, nevertheless, some more general issues should be considered. These issues will be analyzed separately in what follows, albeit the separation is somewhat artificial, given that Stanford's relationship to music of the past involved the crisscrossing of national boundaries.