John Stanley (composer)

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Charles John Stanley (January 17, 1712 – May 19, 1786) was an English composer and organist.

Stanley, who was blind from an early age, studied music with Maurice Greene and held a number of organist appointments in London. He was a friend of George Frideric Handel, and following Handel's death, Stanley joined first with John Christopher Smith and later with Thomas Linley to continue the series of oratorio concerts Handel had established.

In 1779, Stanley succeeded William Boyce as Master of the King's Musick.

Stanley's works include the opera Teraminta, the dramatic cantata The Choice of Hercules, twelve other cantatas with texts by John Hawkins, the oratorios Jephtha, The Fall of Egypt and Zimri, and instrumental music, notably three volumes of Trumpet Voluntaries (1748, 1752, and 1754). As with all trumpet voluntaries, this was written for organ utilizing the trumpet stop, hence the name; arrangements for string chamber orchestra and trumpet are modern.