Hubert Parry

Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918) was a British composer of the late Romantic period, of comparable status and musical style to his contemporary, Charles Villiers Stanford. Educated at Eton and Oxford, Parry initially pursued composition alongside a career in insurance before devoting himself fully to music, studying with Edward Dannreuther and absorbing the influence of the European, particularly German, tradition. He had his first major public success with his Piano Concerto in F-sharp Major, though his reputation grew substantially with the acclaim given to his large-scale choral works. This included the oratorios Job and Judith (from which the hymn tune Repton was later extracted), and later works such as Blest Pair of Sirens, a setting of Milton widely regarded (including by Vaughan Williams) as one of the finest English choral compositions of the era. His output also encompassed symphonies, chamber music and a significant body of songs, part-songs and motets—most notably his magnificent final cycle, Songs of Farewell. He also composed a number of service settings and canticles that found a place, if a more modest one than Stanford’s, in the Anglican choral tradition. Parry influenced generations of composers through his long tenure as director of the Royal College of Music, a post he held from 1895, having already taught there since its founding in 1883. His students included Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Frank Bridge and John Ireland, many of whom also studied under Stanford, making Parry and Stanford jointly responsible for nurturing the English musical renaissance. In his later years he was honoured with a knighthood, and in 1902 was created a baronet in recognition of his contributions to British musical and academic life. His most famous piece of music remains Jerusalem, a hymn setting of poetry by William Blake, composed in 1916 and regarded today as the unofficial national anthem of England, performed at events ranging from the Last Night of the Proms to state occasions. Though his reputation has sometimes been overshadowed by that of his pupils, Parry’s championing of a distinctly English musical idiom, combined with his gifts as an educator and administrator, secured his lasting place as one of the founding figures of modern British music.