Sir Hubert Parry was one of Britains most creative & influential musicians & a key architect of the English Musical Renaissance. This is a major reappraisal of Parry both of his life & his vast legacy of compositions. Well known for three enduringly popular works-Blest Pair of Sirens I was Glad & 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 Parrys 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 & lonely man locked in an unhappy marriage & in fact a living contradiction of the stereotypical Victorian gentleman. In the course of this the composers relationships & friendships his beliefs & interactions with other composers emerge with clarity. Dibble also charts Parrys development as a composer & presents a detailed examination of his works illustrated with a number of musical examples. The book contains a complete list of works & is illustrated with 33 plates.