Voluntary in C, Op. 5, No. 1

John Stanley was born in London on 17 January 1712. At about the age of two, he had the misfortune to fall on a marble hearth with a china basin in his hand, an accident which left him almost blind. He began studying music at the age of seven. Under the guidance of Maurice Greene, composer and organist at St. Paul's Cathedral, London. When he was fourteen "in preference to a great number of candidates" he was chosen as organist at St Andrew's, Holborn, and at the age of seventeen became the youngest person ever to obtain the Bachelor of Music degree (B.Mus.) at the University of Oxford.

In 1734 he was appointed organist to the Society of the Inner Temple, a position which he held until his death in 1786. It was at the ancient Temple Church that his brilliant playing upon the organ and harpsichord attracted the attention of many fine musicians including George Frideric Handel, who regularly visited the church to hear him. Stanley was also an outstanding violinist.

In 1779 Stanley succeeded William Boyce as Master of the King's Band of musicians. Stanley's works include the opera "Teraminta," the dramatic cantata "The Choice of Hercules," twelve other cantatas, the oratorios "Jephtha," "The Fall of Egypt and Zimri," and instrumental music, notably three volumes of voluntaries for organ (1748, 1752, and 1754). Nearly all of the voluntaries feature a short, slow introduction followed by either a solo-stop movement (such as the so-called trumpet voluntaries) or a fugue.

This will serve as another example of the versatility of the Schulze, as the work calls for "trumpet", "cornet," etc. While the sounds are not "classic 18th century" English, they work very well, as you'll hear!

The registrations are given in the first comment, and the score is attached below, as well as photos of two paintings of John Stanley, as well as two old drawings of the Temple Church.

Finally, I tip my hat to Wolfram Syre, who uploaded this same piece yesterday. :-)