Hubert Parry and Charles Stanford

When I'm in a cultural depression, I often turn to The Edwardians. The Edwardian Era is home to England’s most accomplished composers, save Georg Frederik Handel. The era lasted from 1901 to the death of King Edward in 1910. Some historians allow the Edwardian to stretch out until the start of World War I. The names of the young Edwardians will be familiar. There’s Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams along with Gustav Holst. Other names such as George Butterworth, Gerald Finzi, and Frank Bridge will only be known to Agnlophiles.

There were two other names that crossed over from the Victorian Era to the Edwardian. They are Hubert Parry and Charles Villiers Stanford.

Of the two, Hubert Parry is the more famous, His setting of “I was glad” was used for the coronation of King Edward. Beyond that, his 1916 setting of an 1804 poem by William Blake has become the de facto national anthem of Great Britain. The poem, “And did those feet in ancient times,” is known as “Jerusalem”. The song was appropriated by the suffragist movement and was sung nonstop by women seeking the right to vote.

I decided to explore some of Parry’s symphonies and found his fifth and final symphony from 1912 to be an enjoyable experience. It is melodic and has the pastoral tone of the Edwardian Age.

Stanford was the leading composer in the last two decades of Victoria’s reign. When Edward became king, Stanford found his music sitting on the side while Edward Elgar rose to prominence. Stanford wrote some wonderful music during this time but was largely ignored.

Two Stanford pieces I absolutely adore are Songs of the Sea from 1904 and Songs of the Fleet from 1910. If we compare Song of the Fleet to Ralph Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony, which was also premiered in 1910, we can hear an obvious gap in tone and scale. I find Songs of the Fleet to be enchanting but A Sea Symphony is a religious experience.

In one way, Stanford had a hand in his decline. Both Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst studied with him.

World War I marks the beginning of the First Modern Era for England and both Parry and Stanford were troubled by the war. Two of Stanford’s students were injured during the war and another, George Butterworth, was killed. Parry died of Spanish Flu in 1918. The flu was brought to England by returning Word War I soldiers. Stanford lived until 1922.