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SIR CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD (1852-1924) was born in Dublin, Ireland, and studied in Cambridge, Leipzig and Berlin. At the age of 21 he became organist of Trinity College, Cambridge (a post he held for nearly 20 years) and also, shortly afterwards, conductor of the Cambridge University Music Society, with whom he gave the first British performances of several works by Brahms, who later became a good friend, and by whom he was greatly influenced. From 1883 he was Professor of Composition at the Royal College of Music, where his pupils included Vaughan Williams, Bliss, Howells, Ireland and Holst; four years later he became Professor of Music at Cambridge University (where he was also Organist of Trinity College 1874-93), and held both these appointments until his death. Together with Parry he was one of the principal figures in the "renaissance" of British music in the late 19th century, and his importance is recognised in the fact that he is buried next to Henry Purcell in Westminster Abbey.
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