C. Hubert H. Parry : his life and music

Sir Hubert Parry was one of Britain's most creative and influential musicians, and a key architect of the English Musical Renaissance.

This is a major reappraisal of Parry, both of his life and his vast legacy of compositions.

Well known for three enduringly popular works-Blest Pair of Sirens, I was Glad, and Jerusalem, almost an unofficial national anthem-Parry has long been presented as a paternal, establishment figure, an image reinforced by a number of popular photographs.

Yet Parry's personality was infinitely more complex, as Jeremy Dibble makes clear.

Drawing on a wealth of documentary evidence made available for the first time, he is able to draw a detailed portrait of a radical, energetic, yet hypersensitive and lonely man, locked in an unhappy marriage, and in fact a living contradiction of the stereotypical Victorian gentleman.

In the course of this, the composer's relationships and friendships, his beliefs, and interactions with other composers emerge with clarity.

Dibble also charts Parry's development as a composer, and presents a detailed examination of his works illustrated with a number of musical examples. The book contains a complete list of works and is illustrated with 33 plates.