The Voluntary in D by John Stanley (1712-1786) may well have begun its life as an improvisation at the Temple Church, as Stanley held the post of Organist there from the age of 26 until his death. A musical prodigy who had been blinded at the age of two in an accident, Stanley was a prolific instrumental and vocal composer, but it is his keyboard music—and particularly the sets of organ voluntaries—that is most often performed today. Stanley was one of the great keyboard virtuosi of his generation, and his performances at the Temple drew listeners from far and wide; Handel is said to have been among those who came. Like most voluntaries of this period, this is in two sections, with a slow opening in three voices and then an Allegro in two, the melodic line alternating between a trumpet stop and a stopped diapason.

from notes by Ann Elise Smoot © 2010