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John Stainer
- Birth: June 6, 1840, London, England
- Death: March 31, 1901, Verona, Italy
John Stainer was born in 1840 in London England. His father was a schoolmaster at St. Thomas’s School in Southwark. Although he came from relatively humble circumstances, he received encouragement for his life-long dedication to music. His father was a pianist, organist and flautist and his home had at least five pianos and one chamber organ. John learned to play the organ very young, mastering Bach’s Fugue in E major by the age of seven.
In 1848 Stainer became a probationer at St. Paul's Cathedral Choir School and the following year was admitted as a full chorister. Although a fine singer, he was also dedicated to other branches of musical education. He played the organ at St. Paul's occasionally and was appointed organist at the church of St. Benedict and St. Peter, St. Paul's Warf, London in 1854.
While he was there, Sir Frederick Ousley heard Stainer play the cathedral organ. He was impressed with Stainer's talent and offered him the post of organist at Tenbury College, Worchestershire, which was an institution created to improve church music. While there, he was examined successfully for the Oxford University Degree of Bachelor of Music.
In 1860, he was appointed organist at Magdalen College Oxford, followed a year later by becoming organist for the University. At that time he studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree, which he completed in 1864. In November 1865, he received his doctorate in music by composing the oratorio Gideon. In 1866 he received his M.A. from Oxford and went on to be the university examiner in music.
Stainer was organist at St. Paul's Cathedral from 1872 to 1888. Additionally, he accepted the post of government inspector of music at elementary school teacher training colleges. He traveled to colleges throughout the country and interviewed many hundreds of trainee teachers. Queen Victoria, recognizing his services to music, bestowed a knighthood on Stainer in 1888.
Stainer wrote four oratorios, Gideon (1865), The Daughter of Jairus (1878), St. Mary Magdalan (1887) and Crucifixion (1887). Stainer also wrote 42 anthems, many hymn-tunes, organ pieces, madrigals. In addition to composing, Stainer wrote several pedagogical books as well a book on church music still relevant to church musicians: The Music of the Bible:
Page numbers in Trinity Hymnal (1990) and The Worshiping Church (1990)
| Title | Trinity | Worshiping |
|---|---|---|
| All For Jesus | 565 | 570 |
| As Jacob With Travel Was Weary One Day | 245 | |
| Benediction | 730 | |
| Cross of Jesus, Cross of Sorrow | 214 | |
| Lord, We Bring to Your Our Children | 759 | |
| Sweet the Moments, Rich With Blessing | 258 | |
| The First Noel | 164 | |
| What Child Is This? | 150 |