Just a spot of Parry, from St John the Divine 😎
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Bart (1848-1918) was a composer who I certainly heard a lot about, when I was privileged to be the Director of Music at Gloucester Cathedral from 1994-2002. His family was very wealthy, and he grew up in Highnam Court, an opulent manor house two miles west of Gloucester. In the grounds of the house, Hubert's father, Thomas Gambier Garry, had a stunning church built, in which he indulged his passion for all things artistic (especially early-Italian pieces), and himself painted the world-famous 'Spirit Fresco' murals, which are well worth a visit. Hubert was a brilliant Etonian, and famously gained his B.Mus degree from Oxford while still a schoolboy - the youngest person ever to do so. He was a very prolific composer, even though (rather like his student, Ralph Vaughan Williams) this was all through passion and skill, rather than financial necessity. He later became the distinguished Director of the Royal College of Music in London.
Perhaps his most famous composition was his setting of Blake's 'Jerusalem', that most epic and quintessentially British masterpiece. Parry was also a fine organist, with a long-lasting passion for Bach. The Chorale Prelude on 'Croft's 136th' perhaps shows this indebtedness, especially in its inventive counterpoint and bold resolution.
This piece always reminds me of one of the greatest organists I have encountered in my life, Roy Massey, who used to play it a lot as a voluntary after Evensong, when I was privileged to be his Assistant at Hereford. Thirty years previously, my grandfather had taught him the organ at St Jude's Church, Birmingham and from 1970-73 I merrily squawked away, trying my best to be a good chorister in his choir at Birmingham Cathedral. From 1985-1988 I had the distinct joy to be his Assistant at Hereford (a wonderful mixture of high-level music making and riotous British humor - he was a truly great teacher) and then a much-valued Three Choirs colleague. Very happily, Roy is still flourishing in Tewkesbury, taking the dog for walks and, no-doubt, eating alarmingly healthily. At the end of this marvelous Parry piece, he always coupled the Tuba on the last chord, and his chin would rise almost in parallel to the end of his nose, as he positively gleamed at the nobility of Father Willis' magnificent solo reed, gargantuantly peeling forth after a quiet, mid-week Evensong..
Today's performance is on the Walker Technical Company Organ we are currently enjoying at St John the Divine, while our famous Aeolian-Skinner is awaiting its cleaning, following the fire on Palm Sunday 2019. I hope it will come back and that the pandemic will disappear, at the same time. That will be a huge cause for celebration... 🙂
WATCH TO THE END for maximum enjoyment and a little twist in the tail... 🙂
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