Sir Stanley Robert Marchant (15 May 1883 – 28 February 1949) was an English church musician, teacher and composer. After more than 30 years as a church and cathedral organist he was appointed principal of the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

(RAM), and was professor of music at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

Life and career

Marchant was born in London. He had a good singing voice as a child and as a choirboy he decided to devote his life to music."Obituary: Sir Stanley Marchant", ''The Times'', 1 March 1949, p. 6 He won a scholarship to the

(RAM), where he won prizes for composition and organ playing.Colles, H.C. and John Scott
"Marchant, Sir Stanley"
''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 13 November 2017. From 1899 to 1936 Marchant was a church and cathedral organist, working successively at

Kemsing Kemsing is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Sevenoaks (district), Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The parish lies on the scarp face of the North Downs, 20 miles south east of Central London and north east of ...

Parish Church, Kent;

Christ Church, Newgate Street Christ Church Greyfriars, also known as Christ Church Newgate Street, was a church in Newgate Street, opposite St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. Established as a monastic church in the thirteenth century, it became a parish church afte ...

, London (from 1903), and St Peter's, Eaton Square ( from 1913). In 1903 he was appointed sub-organist at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

,"News in Brief", ''The Times'', 28 March 1916, p. 5 and in 1927 he was made organist in succession to Charles Macpherson. At that time the building was partially closed for restoration. ''

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and th ...

'' records that Marchant conducted the reopening ceremony in June 1930 and the thanksgiving service for the silver jubilee of King George V in 1935, composing for each occasion a ''

Te Deum The ( or , ; from its incipit, ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to a date before AD 500, but perhaps with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin ...

''. During his career as an organist he was made a Fellow of the

Royal College of Organists The Royal College of Organists (RCO) is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, with members worldwide. Its role is to promote and advance organ playing and choral music, and it offers music education, training and de ...

in 1902, and took a Doctorate of Music at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in 1914. In 1914 Marchant was appointed a professor at the RAM. He became warden there in 1934 and principal in 1936, at which point he resigned his post at St Paul's. In addition to his RAM duties he was appointed professor of music at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

in 1937). ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' said of his tenure at the RAM that he "breathed a new atmosphere into the conduct of affairs ... so that technical proficiency and a liberal outlook were happily combined". Marchant was appointed CVO in 1935 and

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1943. In 1946 he was elected an honorary fellow of

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England and VI of Scotland, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale ...

. From 1947 he was chairman of the council of the

Royal School of Church Music The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, tr ...

. He also chaired consultative panels for the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. As a composer, Marchant produced mainly church music, including anthems, canticles and other liturgical music, but he also composed secular works for chorus, organ and solo voice. ''Grove'' says of Marchant's music: "the finest ... inspired by ceremonial occasions at St Paul's, is well crafted, though conservative in idiom, and shows the influence of

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

and

Parry Parry may refer to: People * Parry (surname) * Parry (given name) Fictional characters * Parry, protagonist of the movie ''The Fisher King'', played by Robin Williams * Parry in the series '' Incarnations of Immortality'' by Piers Anthony * ...

." The choir library at St Paul's holds his complete choral works. Marchant married Hilda Constance Holyman; they had a son and a daughter. Marchant died in London, while still in post as principal of the RAM, at the age of 65.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchant, Stanley 1883 births 1949 deaths Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order English composers English male organists Knights Bachelor Musicians from London Principals of the Royal Academy of Music Fellows of the Royal Academy of Music 20th-century English organists 20th-century English male musicians Presidents of the Independent Society of Musicians