Digital performance

Players’ Picks – Solo No. 5, John Stanley

Published Monday 23 August 2021

We wanted to create more music videos for you and also give our wind players a chance to shine. So, we asked them to choose their favourite pieces from the wind repertoire. The result is a selection  of short solos, duos and trios covering a range of composers and musical styles.

John Stanley became almost blind, aged 2, as a result of a domestic accident. Despite this he had a distinguished musical career. At 11 he was earning a salary (£20 a year) as an organist and at 17 he was the youngest person to be awarded a B.Mus from Oxford. He became organist of Temple Church in his early 20s and Handel regularly visited the church to hear him.