(b Denbigh, 18 Feb 1776; d London, 8 April 1851). Welsh instrumentalist and composer. After studying the harp and the clarinet he joined the band of the Denbighshire militia in 1793 and became master of it in 1795. In this position he became proficient on a large number of instruments, and he exhibited his talents at Covent Garden in 1805. He settled in London in 1807, as a teacher of the flageolet. In 1809 he was engaged to provide some music for Vauxhall Gardens; in 1814 he began composing and arranging music for various operatic farces and other stage productions. In several cases he was responsible for the libretto as well as the music. At least five dramatizations of Scott's Ivanhoe were presented in London in 1820: the one at Covent Garden was the most successful, partly because of Parry's song ‘The Lullaby’. He was particularly skilled at composing ballads with a Celtic flavour, which he often sang himself. At his farewell concert in June 1837 he sang his own popular ballad Jenny Jones accompanied on the harp by his son, John Orlando Parry. The duet Flow gently Deva was also for many years a favourite.
Parry maintained his Welsh links, conducting the cymrodorion and eisteddfods held in various places in Wales. He was one of the promoters of the Cambrian Society, and at the Powys Eisteddfod of 1820 he received the title of ‘Bardd Alaw’ (Master of Song). He was treasurer of the Royal Society of Musicians from 1831 to 1849, and secretary of the Royal Musical Festival held at Westminster Abbey in 1834. He wrote several books on musical subjects and was an assiduous collector and arranger of Welsh melodies. From 1834 to 1849 he was music critic of The Morning Post.
all performed in London; music lost by the composer unless otherwise stated
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LCG |
Covent Garden |
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LDL |
Drury Lane Theatre |
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Fair Cheating, or The Wise Ones Outwitted (operatic farce), LDL, 15 June 1814, vs pubd |
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Harlequin Hoax, or A Pantomine Proposed (extravaganza, T. Dibdin), Lyceum, 16 Aug 1814, vs pubd |
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Oberon's Oath, or The Paladin and the Princess (musical drama, B. Thompson), LDL, 21 May 1816 |
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High Notions, or A Trip to Exmouth (operatic farce), LCG, 11 Feb 1819, 2 songs pubd |
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Helpless Animals, or Bachelor's Fare (operatic farce), LCG, 17 Nov 1819, vs pubd |
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Ivanhoe, or The Knight Templar (musical drama, S. Beazley, after W. Scott), LCG, 2 March 1820, ov. pubd |
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Two Wives, or A Hint to Husbands (operatic farce), LDL, 2 June 1824 |
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My Uncle Gabriel (operatic farce), LDL, 10 Dec 1824, 2 songs pubd |
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A Trip to Wales (operatic farce), LDL, 11 Nov 1826 |
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Caswallon, or The Briton Chief (tragedy, C.E. Walker), LDL, 12 Jan 1829 |
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The Sham Prince (burletta), St James's, 29 Sept 1836 |
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Music in: The Merry Wives of Windsor (1824) |
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6 collections of Welsh airs (1804–48) |
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Numerous songs, ballads, catches, etc., pubd singly and in contemporary anthologies |
Articles in Cambro-Britain (1819–22)
Il puntello, or The Supporter (London, 1832) [incl. rudiments of music]
An Account of the Rise and Progress of the Harp (London, 1834)
An Account of the Royal Musical Festival held in Westminster Abbey, 1834 (London, 1834)
DNB (J.C. Hadden)
MGG1 (C. Lloyd Davies)
NicollH
PETER CROSSLEY-HOLLAND/NICHOLAS TEMPERLEY