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STAINER – CRUCIFIXION:

As a boy, the English John Stainer (1840-1901) sang in the choir of St Paul’s Cathedral London, returning there as organist in 1872 having gained his Bachelor of Music Degree from Magdalen College Oxford in 1860 at the age of 19. His example at St Paul’s greatly raised the standard of church music throughout the whole of England. He left in 1889 to become Professor of Music at Oxford, carrying out valuable research into Early music and composing Oratorios of which The Crucifixion has had lasting popularity.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
1845: Irish potato famine forcing emigration to USA.
1849: Californian gold rush.
1862: Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables is a big hit in Paris.
1869: Suez canal opens.
1870: English author Charles Dickens dies.
1885: Daimler’s petrol driven horseless carriage appears in Germany.

Stainer described The Crucifixion as ‘A Meditation On The Sacred Passion of The Holy Redeemer’. Written to be...