Conducted by EDWIN BENBOW
ROBERT LUCAS PEARSALL (the ' de ' was a middle-aged affectation) came of an old west country family, was trained for the bar and, like many another budding barrister, abandoned law for music, in 1825 at the age of thirty. Much of his life was spent on the continent, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (where he died in 1856), but it was English singing that attracted him to the madrigal, in the composition of which he came to excel. His other works are mainly for the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.
CIRO PINSUTI (1829-1888) came to England from Siena at the age of eleven, studied in London for five years, returned to Bologna as a private pupil of Rossini, took a degree and returned to England to teach singing at the R.A.M., and to compose songs, part songs, and a great number of charming pieces of that kind. Many of them survive and are great favourites with choral societies.
RICHARD JOHN SAMUEL STEVENS (1757-1837) was a celebrated composer of glees (particularly to the words of Shakespeare) in his day, was a great name at the Catch Club, became Organist of the Temple Church, of the Charter House, and attained to the Gresham Musical Professorship, a very distinguished chair of music which has been occupied by successive eminent musicians from Dr. John Bull in 1596 to Sir Walford Davies in our own day.