Musicians Sir Hubert Parry and Joseph Parry
Nineteenth Century Composers of Symphonies and Oratorios
May 16, 2009
The first, and more famous, of these two composers is Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, who was born on February 28,1848, at Bournemouth, England. He studied in London with William Sterndale Bennett and Eduard Dannreuther, famous pianists of the time.
Parry's Family
Parry married Lady Elizabeth Maude Herbert and they had two daughters, Dorothea and Gwendolen. Dorothea married Arthur Ponsonby, private secretary to Queen Victoria, in 1893, and Gwendolen married the famous Irish concert and oratorio baritone Harry Plunket Greene in 1899.
Parry's Teaching Career
Hubert (as he was known) Parry joined the music faculty of the Royal College of Music in 1884, and was made director ten years later. His students were led to compose in the British style which became so recognizable in the works of Ralph Vaughan-Williams and others. He was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1902 and became the first Baronet of Highnam.
Parry's Compositions
His compositions would fill many pages, but he was noted for his Second Symphony ( Cambridge) and the Third Symphony (English).In 1880 his Piano Concerto in F-Sharp Major was performed by Eduard Dannreuther at the Crystal Palace. In 1882, his oratorio, Prometheus Unbound was presented at the Gloucester Festival. In the same year he was the recipient of a honorary doctorate from Cambridge.
He wrote piano pieces,chamber music,orchestral works, incidental music, oratorios, and other choral works. But he is best known today for his religious song, Jerusalem, with words by William Blake.
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry contracted the Spanish influenza in 1918 and died at Knight's Croft, Sussex.
Joseph Parry
Joseph Parrry, while not as famous as Hubert, was, nevertheless, celebrated in his time. He was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, on May 21,1841, and in 1854, when he was fourteen, the family emigated to Danville, Pennsylvania, where he became an iron worker. While there he became interested in the Freemasons and apparently joined their organization.
Parry's Compositions.
After study in London and Cambridge, Parry began to compose and later taught at Aberystwyth, Cardiff, and at his own music school at Swansea, Wales. He composed the first Welsh opera, Blonden, and a very successful oratorio, Saul of Tarsus. He was the composer of operas, oratorios, cantatas, pianos pieces and hymn tunes. Dr.Joseph Parry died on February 17,1903 at Penarth, Wales.
Both Hubert and Joseph Parry wrote enormous amounts of music, yet each is remembered by a simple sacred song; Hubert by Jerusalem, and Joseph by the popular hymn tune Aberystwyth. Perhaps it would be interesting to explore their other music, some of which is available on recordings.
Source
The New Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians The MacMillan Company New York 1929
Privately printed memoir by Mme.Maria Vegara Toronto 1964
