Who was Hubert Parry?
Hubert Parry does not enjoy the same level of fame as his best-known music – of all the millions who can happily sing the hymns Jerusalem and Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, how many can name who wrote the tune? Born in 1848 into a wealthy family, he forged a career as both a composer and scholar, whose pupils at the Royal College of Music included Vaughan Williams, Holst and Butterworth. As well as the above hymns, the latter of which comes from his 1888 oratorio Judith, his other works include four symphonies, the opera Guinevere and, shortly before his death in 1918, the haunting Songs of Farewell.
Parry's I Was Glad... a work for British Coronations
Charles III
If only Sir Hubert Parry could settle down on a sofa today and stick YouTube on his TV. If so, he would be able to watch the new King Charles III arrive at the west door of Westminster Abbey, pause for a few moments as his wife Camilla and her attendant bishops and pages precede him up the aisle, and then begin his own stately journey towards his Coronation.
Heralded by a short brass fanfare, the soundtrack for that huge theatrical procession on 6 May 2023 was Parry’s glorious anthem I Was Glad, a work composed in 1902 for the Coronation of Charles III’s great-great-grandfather, Edward VII, and performed at every British Coronation since.
Charles III loves Parry’s music – in 2011 he presented a substantial television documentary about the composer’s life and work, urging performers, recording companies and audiences to delve more deeply into his orchestral and choral music. Watching the film of his Coronation, you can see how he appreciates every nuance of the text of I Was Glad – which is slightly adapted from several verses of Psalm 122 – and the eloquent drama of its musical setting.
Edward VII
Poor Parry, alas, was given a very different early verdict on his piece at the 1902 Coronation, when the man standing next to him, the actor Sir Henry Irving, unwittingly turned to him and said: ‘Don’t think much of the music so far!’ ‘I did not enlighten him,’ Parry is reported to have admitted afterwards to Sir Frederick Bridge, organist of the Abbey and director of music for the Coronation, who had commissioned the piece for the arrival of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra – a new style of processional anthem for a new century, to complement the set by Handel that traditionally punctuated later stages of the ceremony.
Plans for a bold, dramatic work
The 1902 score for choir and organ reveals the composer’s dramatic original plan, with the Westminster Abbey choir singing the first section from the west end, answered by a ‘General Choir’ of additional singers at ‘Jerusalem is builded’. The King’s Scholars of Westminster School interjected their famous ‘Vivat!’ shouts, wishing long life to the King and Queen, joined by the Full Choir. The contemplative prayer for the peace of Jerusalem was marked for a semi-chorus or quartet, with the Full Choir bringing the anthem to a thrilling conclusion, complete with the two top B flats that have since been a badge of pride for generations of trebles and sopranos.
Edward VII’s Coronation was scheduled for 26 June, and Parry had completed the basic structure of I Was Glad by the end of May, embellishing it with lavish orchestration for huge forces over the next few weeks. After initial rehearsals revealed some of the potential logistical pitfalls, he also added an organ cadenza that could be performed to cover any delays in the ceremonial activity.
Less-than perfect execution
On 24 June, Parry arrived at the Abbey for the first full rehearsal to coordinate the music and the liturgy, just as the Bishop of London stepped forward to tell the assembled musicians, clergy and functionaries that the King had been taken ill with appendicitis and the Coronation was to be postponed. It was rescheduled for 9 August, and Parry set off for a sailing trip up the west coast of Ireland.
Returning for Take 2 of the Coronation and a rehearsal on 8 August, the compoesr was shocked by what he felt was a perfunctory scramble through I Was Glad that did not bode well for the ceremony the following day. His concern proved to be justified: the organ cadenza was not sufficient to disguise a hiatus in the King’s procession, and in those days before close-circuit TV in organ lofts, Bridge was unaware that all was not going as planned at the west end. ‘Bridge made a sad mistake in the processional music and seemed to lose his head,’ wrote Parry in his diary afterwards. ‘Finished the whole anthem before the King came in at all, and had to repeat all the latter part when he did.’
George V
Despite this inauspicious premiere, I Was Glad was generally well received, and another performance was scheduled for the Coronation of Edward VII’s successor, George V, in June 1911, together with a new setting of the Te Deum. Parry revised the orchestral prelude to I Was Glad, making it much grander and more elaborate by strengthening the brass parts and announcing the opening choral statement in a fanfare by the massed trumpets.
This is the version usually performed today, whether the accompaniment is for organ alone or in arrangements for varying combinations of fully orchestral or brass ensembles. With the ‘Vivats’ omitted, or using texts from Psalm 150 provided by John Rutter for his 2017 edition published by Oxford University Press, the piece has become a much-loved choice for ceremonial occasions such as weddings and the dedications or patronal festivals of churches and cathedrals.
Parry I Was Glad: The best recording
Andrew Nethsingha (main conductor)
The Choir of Westminster Abbey et al; Fanfare Trumpeters of the Royal Air Force, Coronation Orchestra Decca 552 8383
One explanation given for the lapses in choreography that marred the opening music at Edward VII’s Coronation was that his predecessor, Queen Victoria, had reigned for so long – from 1837-1901 – that none of the officials had any experience of organising such an event. The same applied in 2023, of course, as Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne exceeded her great-great-grandmother’s reign by six years, yet the official recording captures an immaculate performance of I Was Glad that would surely have gladdened Parry’s heart.
Conductor Andrew Nethsingha had only been in post as organist and master of the choristers at Westminster Abbey for a few months when he had to take over directing the Coronation music – much of it planned over many years by his predecessor James O’Donnell in collaboration with the future King – but it is clear that he is in complete control of the massed choral and instrumental forces, working in effective partnership with fellow conductor Antonio Pappano, above him in the organ loft with the orchestra.
Perfectly paced, eloquent and expressive
Each section of the piece is perfectly paced, eloquent and expressive. The combination of the boy choristers of the Abbey Choir and the Chapel Royal with girls from Truro Cathedral and Methodist College, Belfast, brings a wonderful strength and freshness to the treble lines; the lower parts are all magnificently clear, strong and unforced, and the ‘Vivats’ from the Westminster School students sound both robust and enthusiastic. The string sound is utterly luscious yet the pedal notes from the organ are never overwhelmed, and the fanfare trumpets and timpani are thrilling.
I can’t be the only choral singer who knew this piece intimately through frequent performances in concerts and church services but still found their understanding of it deepened by hearing it in context for the first time in our lives. It hasn’t been easy to select just four outstanding recordings from the 115 listed as currently available by one of the main streaming services (though some of these turn out to be the same recording differently packaged). The overall standard of singing from both professional and collegiate or amateur choirs is incredibly high across the board, but the quality and significance of this performance at the most recent actual Coronation eclipsed all the others.
Three other great recordings
Paul McCreesh (conductor) Gabrieli SIGCD 569
Oboist Nicholas Daniel played on this 2019 recording in Ely Cathedral, and described the ‘huge wall of sound’ from the schoolchildren participating as part of Gabrieli Roar alongside the professional Gabrieli Consort and Players as ‘both exquisite and utterly thrilling, quite unlike anything I have ever heard’. McCreesh’s performance, as part of an imaginary programme celebrating all the 20th century Coronations, draws on both the 1902 and the ’11 scores, the use of instruments from the time giving the accompaniment a wonderfully Edwardian feel.
Christopher Robinson (conductor) Hyperion CDA66273
For an organ-only accompaniment, there are plenty of good performances, though many of them overwhelm the organ and the wonderful detail gets swamped. In this 1988 recording the balance is perfect, both between choir and organ and within the choir. I love the bright, youthful trebles and assertive lower voices of the Choir of St George’s Chapel, Windsor; organist Roger Judd establishes an appropriately magisterial tone and chooses gorgeous solo stops; and conductor Christopher Robinson ensures that each choral phrase grows organically and is never pushed.
David Hill (conductor) Decca 476 4412
If it’s grandeur you’re after, you will find it in spades in this performance recorded in Winchester Cathedral in 1991. Provided by Winchester Cathedral Choir, The Waynflete Singers and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the performing forces are large, yet every phrase is beautifully shaped, no detail of Parry’s music is lost and, at the hands of Timothy Byram-Wigfield, the mighty cathedral organ more than holds its own. A similar London Symphony Orchestra version under Richard Hickox is also impressive, but for me the stirring sounds of Winchester are even more captivating.
And one to avoid…
I really wanted to love the Huddersfield Choral Society’s 2016 recording under Aidan Oliver, and the component parts are thrilling, especially the combination of Thomas Trotter’s organ accompaniment with three trumpets and timpani. There is, however, a slight flatness and heaviness to the choral sound compared to other choirs, and the recording space in Rochdale Town Hall seems a little cramped for such large forces.