ABSTRACT
The years 1902-16, from Charles Villiers Stanford's knighthood to his move to Lower Berkeley Street, cover both his pre-eminence and decline. Stanford's outburst was ludicrous although it did represent the position of a few others. During 1903 and 1904 there was some improvement in Stanford's relationship with Alice Elgar before its collapse in 1905. Stanford's uncharacteristically temperate tone shows a desire to find out what had happened, while not chiding Elgar. Stanford was not attempting a programmatic narrative, but apparently an illustration of the initial displacement of life by death and its eventual reconciliation with love; this idea weaves its way through the symphony, most prominently in the second and fourth movements. Stanford had engaged Joachim to play on countless occasions in Cambridge, London and Leeds, and helped to maintain his links with England. Stanford had some successes and remained in demand as a composer and conductor.
