William Sterndale Bennett: A Descriptive Thematic Catalogue.

Jones, Peter Ward

"The most promising young musician 1 know" was Felix Mendelssohn's verdict on the twenty-year-old William Sterndale Bennett in 1836. An orphan who became a child prodigy and whose talents, both pianistic and compositional, were fostered at the Royal Academy of Music, Bennett first attracted Mendelssohn's attention in London in 1833, and three years later he made the first of several extended trips to Leipzig, where he established firm friendships with both Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann. His early piano concertos, chamber works, and piano pieces all contributed to a growing reputation both in England and Germany. But lacking the inclination to write for the stage or to pursue the career of a touring virtuoso, Bennett was soon forced by economic necessity to turn predominantly to teaching as a means of earning his living. He gradually climbed the ladder of the British music establishment, conducting the Philharmonic Society from 1855, occupying the chair of music at Cambridge from 1856, becoming principal of the Royal Academy of Music in 1866, and finally being rewarded with a knighthood in 1871. His compositional output dwindled dramatically from the early 1840s, and the major works from the latter part of his career were few, though they included the popular pastoral The May Queen and the oratorio The Woman of Samaria. Apart from the demands on his time, he may have realized that, individual though his compositional voice was, his conservative musical disposition was not destined to place him among the forefront composers of the day. Of his modest published output of about forty-three works with opus numbers, no fewer than thirty-six appeared in Leipzig as well as London, and his German popularity extended through to the end of his life. Although his music suffered eclipse after his death, a new interest in the best of it has arisen in recent decades through the efforts of Nicholas Temperley and Geoffrey Bush, among others.

It might appear a curious stroke of fate that Bennett should now have a comprehensive thematic catalog, while Mendelssohn and Schumann themselves still await similar treatment, but when the task is executed as thoroughly and expertly as here, it would be foolish to object. Rosemary Williamson's work was undertaken as a Leverhulme Research Fellow at Nottingham University, and it served also as part of her doctoral dissertation, which considered some of the wider aspects of nineteenth-century music publishing with particular reference to Bennett. Most unusual for a nineteenth-century composer, the great majority of Bennett's music manuscripts and related material still resides in private hands, being divided between two descendants. With much of it carefully ordered, thanks in part to the previous work of James Sterndale Bennett when compiling the biography of his father (The Life of William Sterndale Bennett [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1907]), such a concentration of material must certainly have provided a bonus for the compiler, given the willingness of the owners to allow her access to it.

As is evident from the introduction, Williamson has devoted much careful thought to the content and layout of the entries. It is particularly useful to have a summary of the circumstances of composition and publication before the detailed description of the sources. The source descriptions themselves are as meticulous as could be wished for, both for manuscripts and printed editions. The latter include quasi-facsimile transcriptions of the title pages for all principal editions. Reprintings with minor alterations are treated in more summary fashion, but are enough to indicate the continuing popularity of many works throughout his life. Williamson has cited at least one location (complete with shelfmark when available) for each edition, though the introduction should perhaps have made it clear that this is only a selection of copies, not a complete census. Copies in American libraries, incidentally, appear only to be cited when the edition has not been found in Europe.

Other documentation for each work includes lists of significant performances and of relevant letters. The latter include short summaries or quotations, which, though consuming considerable space, undoubtedly make for a far more useful tool than any unannotated list. Among the appendixes are ones of paper types. and plate numbers, which will be found useful beyond the confines of Bennett's own works, and anyone working on Victorian British music will find rewards here. One minor improvement in presentation might have been effected by incorporating opus numbers and the like into the running heads, especially considering that some of the longer entries occupy twenty pages or more. But all in all this catalog may be said to offer a model treatment of its subject, from which all future compilers of such works may benefit. Sullivan next?

PETER WARD JONES Bodleian Library, University of Oxford