544 Sir Alexander C. Mackenzie [May 23, 



enough in Parry's poetically conceived work ; and that a young 

 British composer should express himself in so debatable a style was 

 perhaps resented. But just those sections, in the second part, which 

 foretell the coming of the Parry we now know, were selected for 

 praise by the more discriminating. Maybe this failure was another 

 providential " happening " ; for, following the sequence of events, 

 may we not assume that " Prometheus Unbound " Parry, released him 

 from some early stifling influences, and caused him to find himself 

 with characteristic instinct and energy ? The conjecture is con- 

 firmed by the subsequent rapid development of that noble musical 

 speech which remained peculiarly his own. 



The " Glories of our Blood and State " Avas the precursor of a 

 work exhibiting every quality which goes to the making of a master- 

 piece, for the Miltonic grandeur of " Blest Pair of Syrens " is not 

 likely to be surpassed. Here indeed is " immortal verse " wedded to 

 music which none but an English musician of highest attainments 

 could have produced. And the same purely native spirit pervades 

 the settings of some of the choicest examples of our literature, 

 such as Pope's " St. Cecilia's Day " and Milton's " L'Allegro ed il 

 Penserioso." Some composers think in orchestral, others in pianistic 

 terms, according to the promptings and chances of their early 

 training. 



If one may so put it. Parry thought "chorally" — loving big 

 strokes on large canvases — and these fitting vehicles for his gifts, 

 with their descriptive episodes and picturesquely varying moods, 

 afforded that spaciousness which his chosen medium demanded. 



To quote his own printed words, " There is hardly any nation 

 worse supplied with music which represents its true characteristics 

 than the English," and the elevation of British choral music became 

 his quest and mission. 



This idiomatic consistence is nowhere more apparent than in his 

 only two oratorios of full dimensions. We admire the pictures of 

 the old masters none the less because Biblical personages are repre- 

 sented in the costumes of the period and the country in which they 

 were painted. 



Similarly, there is something almost quaintly characteristic about 

 " Judith," and the even more dramatically-inspired " King Saul," in 

 which no attempt is made to tinge the old Eastern stories with 

 so-called " local colour." 



Judith is a British heroine, and ^leshullameth's delightful 

 children — saved from the priests of Moloch— are Gloucester-born 

 and bred. 



I say this with all admiration for a work of which 1 had the 

 honour of conducting the first two performances in London (1888), 

 when I never quite succeeded in taking the tempi fast enough to 

 satisfy the impulsive composer. That perhaps was the Welsh part 

 of him ! 



