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The Parrys of the Golden Vale
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Sir Hubert Parry (1848-1918) was a great composer, a complex personality,
a radical, and not at all the establishment figure so often portrayed:
but he was also the pre-eminent son of a remarkable family which over
many generations had made distinguished and important contributions to
British national life. The Parrys were particularly influential in the
Tudor period, and several members of the family served Elizabeth I with
distinction. Sir Hubert Parry’s more immediate forebears were no
less distinguished than were his early ancestors. His father, Thomas Gambier
Parry, was an extraordinary figure: the Victorian counterpart to a Renaissance
man; a pioneer collector of Italian paintings of the trecento and quattrocento;
arboriculturalist; composer; ecclesiologist; philanthropist; water-colourist;
and inventor of the ‘spirit fresco’ technique of mural painting.
Anthony Boden’s book, richly illustrated, tells the saga of a remarkable
family with roots planted deeply in British earth; of their accomplishments
and failures; their joys and clashes; their triumphs, tragedies and loves;
and of the many inherent strands which impacted upon the mind and character
of Sir Hubert Parry: the strands which, when woven together in company
with his unique thread of genius, gave him a wholly individual voice —
a voice which would influence Elgar and a whole generation of British
composers, including Vaughan Williams, Holst, Howells and Finzi.
Format: Hardback, 250 pages (December 1998)
Publisher: Thames Publishing
Language: English
ISBN: 0905210727
Categories: Biography, Music, Art, History
Print: Out of print (available in all good libraries)
Purchase:
www.amazon.co.uk,
www.abebooks.co.uk
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'[A] superbly detailed study of the Parry family and particularly of Sir
Hubert Parry’s father Thomas Gambier Parry (1816-1888) not forgetting
Highnam Court their Gloucestershire country house…The range of sources
Boden uses is remarkable, many of them quoted at length. Whatever your
interest in nineteenth-century culture in the UK, this is an important
book, and is certain to be widely cited.'
'An exceptionally well-researched, well-written narrative of the ups and downs of a fascinating family.' 'Tony Boden tells this story with enthusiasm, and with love. It is a story which veers between being racy and ground-covering, but which never manages to lose that sense of pull over the reader which a good and well-researched book should.' |
All content © Anthony Boden 2005
