His chief compositions were the following oratorios and sacred cantatas : 'Gideon' (his exercise for the degree of doctor of music), 1865 ; 'The Daughter of Jairua ' (Worcester Festival, 1878) ; 'St. Mary Magdalen' (Gloucester Festival, 1887) ; 'Crucifixion' (first performed at St. Marylebone church. 24 Feb. 1887) ; ' The Story of the Cross' (1893), and about forty anthems, the best known of which are : 'I am Alpha and Omega' ; 'Lead, kindly Light ' ; 'What are these arrayed in white robes' ; 'Ye shall dwell in the land' ; 'Sing a song of praise' ; 'O clap your hands.' Stainer himself considered 'I saw the Lord' (eight parts) his most important effort in this form.
Other contributions to ecclesiastical music were services : No. 1 in E flat, No. 2 in A and D, and No. 3 in B flat. A sevenfold Amen has been in constant use throughout the world in the service of the Church. It was used at the coronation of King Edward VII and King George V.
He composed over 150 hymn tunes, many of which were contributed to 'Hymns, Ancient and Modern,' and to other hymnals. The whole collection was published in one volume in 1900 (Novello & Co.). Compositions for the organ are contained in 'Twelve Pieces' (two books), a 'Jubilant March,' 'The Village Organist' (of which he was for some time joint editor), and five numbers of organ arrangements.
His chief works in the category of secular music were a few madrigals and part songs, a book of seven songs, and another book of six Italian songs.
Of his twenty-nine Oxford professorial lectures only one, 'Music in relation to the Intellect and Emotions.' was published (1892). He edited with Rev. H. R. Bramley 'Christmas Carols, New and Old' (1884), and he wrote numerous articles for the 'Dictionary of Musical Terms,' which he compiled with W. A. Barrett (1876). Six essays read before the Musical Association are published in their 'Proceedings' (1874-1901), the first 'On the Principles of Musical Notation,' and the last 'On the Musical Introductions found in Certain Musical Psalters.'
'A Theory of Harmony' (1871) attracted much attention, from the boldness and unconventionality of its treatment. 'Music of the Bible,' a book displaying much knowledge and research, was published in 1879.
His most important contribution to musical history is the volume entitled 'Dufay and his Contemporaries' (1899), in which the evolution of harmony and counterpoint during a somewhat obscure period (the fifteenth century) is traced with great erudition. Another work devoted to early musical history was that on ’Early Bodleian Music' (2 vols. 1902). This was completed just before his death. He was the first editor of Novello's 'Music Primers,' and for this series he wrote his primers on the 'Organ' and 'Harmony,' which have had an immense sale, and others on 'Counterpoint,' and 'Choral Society Vocalisation.' He also edited the 'Church Hymnary' for the united Scotch churches. Stainer gathered a unique collection of old song books, especially of those published during the eighteenth century. In 1891 a catalogue enumerating about 750 volumes of this portion of his library was printed for private circulation. The whole collection of books is now (1912) in the possession of his eldest son.
A portrait of Stainer was painted by Sir Hubert von Herkomer, and is now in the possession of Lady Stainer, at her residence in Oxford. A replica is in the Music School, Oxford. A memorial window was placed in Holywell church in 1902 (reproduced in Musical Times, May 1902). A memorial marble panel was placed in St. Paul's Cathedral on the eastern wall of the north transept in December 1903. A mural tablet of brass is placed on the west wall of the ante-chapel of Magdalen College, Oxford, and another at St. Michael's, Tenbury.
Stainer' s sacred music has enjoyed great vogue, greater probably than that of any other English church musician. It is distinguished by melodiousness, and the harmonic texture is rich, and it is often deeply expressive. Stainer began his career as a composer at a period when the influence of Mendelssohn was great, and that of Spohr only less so. The style of both composers can be traced in the idiom adopted by Stainer, but there was also much that was individual. His knowledge of Bach's music, and his intimate acquaintance with that of the early English school of cathedral composers and the madrigal writers, were also formative influences,
[Personal knowledge ; Musical Times, May 1901 ; Grove's Dictionary ; private information.]
STAMER, Sir LOVELACE TOMLINSON, third baronet (1829–1908), bishop-suffragan of Shrewsbury, born at Ingram's Lodgings in the city of York on
