572104bk Parry US 8/5/09 16:32 Page 12 Here God made holy Zion’s name, And did the countenance divine And here he gave them rest. Shine forth upon our clouded hills? Oh, may we ne’er forget what he hath done, And was Jerusalem builded here PARRY Nor prove unmindful of his love, Among these dark satanic mills? That, like the constant sun, On Israel hath shone, Bring me my bow of burning gold! Choral Masterpieces And sent down blessings from above. Bring me my arrows of desire! Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold! Songs of Farewell C.H. Parry (from Judith) Bring me my chariot of fire! I will not cease from mental fight, @ Jerusalem Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand, Manchester Cathedral Choir And did those feet in ancient time Till we have built Jerusalem Walk upon England’s mountains green? In England’s green and pleasant land. Christopher Stokes And was the Holy Lamb of God On England’s pleasant pastures seen? William Blake (1757-1827) 8.572104 12 572104bk Parry US 8/5/09 16:32 Page 2 Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848–1918) for He is our help and our shield. His grace from above. Songs of Farewell Praise Him who hath taught you He delivered the poor in his affliction, To sing of His love. Sir Hubert Parry came from a family of some which remained dominant. Above all, in London he the fatherless and him that hath none to help him. O praise ye the Lord! distinction. He was the second son and third surviving made the acquaintance of the pianist and Wagnerian He shall bind up the broken-hearted Thanksgiving and song child of Thomas Gambier Parry by his first wife. His Edward Dannreuther, who became his friend, teacher and proclaim liberty to the captives To Him be outpoured father’s maternal great-uncle was Lord Gambier, and adviser. and comfort to those that mourn. All ages along: Admiral of the Fleet, whose name he had taken, while In 1877, after a winter spent impatiently in Cannes He shall give them beauty for ashes; For Love in creation, Thomas Parry himself inherited a fortune from his own on account of his wife’s ill-health, Parry wound up his the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. For Heaven restored, father, a director of the East India Company. Hubert affairs with Lloyd’s. In addition to the income settled For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, For grace of salvation, Parry was educated at Eton, where he was able to on his wife by her family, he had earned payment for and as the garden causeth things O praise ye the Lord. distinguish himself in music, not so much in the the contribution of articles to Grove’s new dictionary that are sown to spring forth, Amen. desultory musical atmosphere that then obtained at the of music and musicians. In 1880 Dannreuther played so the Lord God will cause righteousness College, but through association with George Elvey at Parry’s Piano Concerto in F sharp major, a choice of and peace Job. Isaiah. Psalms. St George’s Chapel, Windsor, and from Elvey, a key that did not endear him to the orchestra, at the to spring forth before all nations. Psalm CL (adapted by H.W. Baker) musician of conservative tendencies, knighted in 1871, Crystal Palace and success here was followed by a he was at least able to have sound enough technical cantata based on Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound for The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. ! Long since in Egypt’s plenteous land instruction and compose music for the choir. While at the Gloucester Festival, where it was performed in He hath not dealt with us after our sins, Long since in Egypt’s plenteous land school he took the Oxford Bachelor of Music degree, 1882. At the end of the same year he was invited by nor rewarded us according to our wickedness, Our fathers were oppressed; the requirements of which, it must be said, have Grove to join the new Royal College of Music as for look how high the heaven is But God, whose chosen folk they were, changed considerably since Parry’s time. At Oxford he Professor of Musical History and shortly afterwards in comparison of the earth, Smote those who long enslaved them there, made the most of the musical opportunities on offer, was offered an Honorary Doctorate in Music at so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. And all their woes redressed. continuing, as at school, to compose music, Cambridge, where Prometheus Unbound had been Look how wide also the east is from the west, particularly songs and sacred music, and to enjoy performed in 1881 under Stanford. His First so far hath He set our sins from us. The Red Sea stayed them not at all, informal musical gatherings, although his university Symphony, for which Richter had eventually found no Nor depths of liquid green; studies were in law and history. During this period he time in his London concert season, was given with O praise ye the Lord, On either hand a mighty wall was able to study, in a long vacation, with Henry Hugo some success in Birmingham. Praise Him in the height. Of waters clear rose at his call, Pierson in Stuttgart. The connection with Stanford and Cambridge led Rejoice in His word And they passed through between. Parry enjoyed an association with the Herbert to the suggestion of incidental music for the Ye angels of Light; family, notably with his school-friend George Herbert, Cambridge Greek play, The Birds of Aristophanes, and Ye Heavens adore Him In deserts wild they wandered long, 13th Earl of Pembroke. His marriage to Herbert’s sister in later years Parry provided incidental music for By whom ye were made, They sinned and went astray; Maude, an alliance that met with the disapproval of his Oxford performances of The Frogs, The Clouds, and And worship before Him But yet his arm to help was strong, mother-in-law, Lady Herbert, had various The Acharnians, with music for Cambridge In brightness arrayed. He pardoned them tho’ they did wrong, consequences. In the first place Parry was obliged to performances of the Agamemnon of Aeschylus in 1900. O praise ye the Lord, And brought them on their way. earn a living and this he attempted with his father’s An even closer connection with Cambridge came with Praise Him upon earth, help by joining Lloyd’s of London. His wife’s variable the composition of a Second Symphony. In tuneful accord, At last to this good land they came, state of health was to cause continuing worry and In 1894 Parry became director of the Royal Ye sons of new birth. With fruitful plenty blest; difficulties that seemed to impede his musical interests, College of Music and further honours were to follow, Praise Him who hath brought you Here glorious men won endless fame, 8.572104 2 11 8.572104 572104bk Parry US 8/5/09 16:32 Page 10 For, if above all these, my sins abound, O spare me a little that I may recover my strength with a knighthood in 1898, the chair of music at acclamations. The work starts with an introduction, ’Tis late to ask abundance of Thy grace, before I go hence and be no more seen. Oxford in 1900 and a baronetcy in 1903. He wrote his originally entrusted to the large orchestra employed for When we are there. Here on this lowly ground, last orchestral work, a Symphonic Fantasia, in 1912. the occasion, leading to the entry of the six-part choir Teach me how to repent, for that’s as good Psalms XXXIX vv.5-15 Two years later war brought sorrows and difficulties, with the opening words. In the original coronation As if Thou’dst sealed my pardon with Thy blood. with the number of male students at the Royal College version fanfares lead to cries of Vivat from the King’s of Music seriously depleted, German friends interned Scholars of Westminster School, here omitted, with a John Donne (1572-1631) 0 Hear my words, ye people and some conflict between a patriotism that was never shift of key and mood for the semi-chorus O pray for Hear my words, ye people, for a moment in doubt and his loyalty to German the peace of Jerusalem, before the march rhythm 9 Lord, let me know mine end give ear unto me all ye that have knowledge. music, musicians, philosophers and thinkers, by whom resumes and the full choir sings Peace be within thy Lord, let me know mine end Let us choose to us judgement. he had always been heavily influenced. He died in walls and plenteousness within thy palaces. and the number of my days, let us know among ourselves what is good. October 1918, a month before the armistice. Parry’s settings of the canticles for Evensong, the that I may be certified how long I have to live. Behold, God is mighty and despiseth not any, From his schooldays Parry had always composed a Magnificat and Nunc dimittis, the Great Service, were Thou hast made my days as it were a span long; He is mighty in strength and in wisdom. great deal of choral and vocal music, influenced first written in 1881 for Trinity College, Cambridge, at the and mine age is as nothing, in respect of Thee, Behold He is great, and we know Him not, by his teacher at St George’s, Windsor.