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National Library of Wales
Dr Joseph Parry Manuscripts
Reference code(s): GB 0210 MSJOSEPHP
Held at:
Title: Dr Joseph Parry Manuscripts
Short title: Parry, Joseph, manuscripts
Dates of creation: [1860x1900]
Level of description: Fonds
Extent and medium: 17 volumes
Name of creator(s): Dr Joseph Parry (1841-1903).
CONTEXT
Administrative and biographical history: Joseph Parry, musician and composer, was born in Merthyr Tydfil within a musical and choral environment. In 1854 the family moved to Pennsylvania, where Parry worked in iron rolling-mills while studying music in his spare time. His successes in composition competitions at the National Eisteddfod of Wales during 1863-1864 led to the establishment of a fund which enabled Parry to study at the Royal Academy of Music from 1868 to 1871. Having gained his degree, Parry returned to the United States, where he established a private music school before, in 1874, being appointed professor and head of the new department of music at University College, Aberystwyth, a post he held for the following six years. In 1878 he gained a Mus. Doc. (Cantab.) degree. From 1881 to 1888 Parry served as organist of Ebenezer Chapel, Swansea and as head of a musical college which he founded, and from 1888 until his death in 1903 he was lecturer in music at University College, Cardiff. Parry was a prolific composer of songs, choruses, anthems, hymns, and some instrumental works. He wrote several operas, of which 'Blodwen' (1880) enjoyed some five hundred performances by 1896. Among Parry's other major works are the oratorios 'Emmanuel' (1880 ) and 'Saul' (1892), and the cantata 'Nebuchadnezzar' (1884). His hymn-tune 'Aberystwyth' has become a classic.
CONTENT
Scope and content: Music manuscripts of Dr Joseph Parry, which include orchestral suites, overtures and symphonies; piano sonatas; and preludes and fugues for the organ.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/script: Musical notation, Welsh, English.
System of arrangement: Arranged according to NLW reference numbers: NLW MSS 9281-9297.
Finding aids: Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume III (Aberystwyth, 1961), pp. 132-133.
Detailed catalogue
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Immediate source of acquisition: Purchased from Messrs Snell & Sons of Swansea in October 1934.
ALLIED MATERIALS
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note: Title based on contents. Formerly Dr Joseph Parry MSS 1-17.
Archivist's note: Description compiled by Bethan Ifan for the retrospective conversion project of NLW MSS. The following source was used in the compilation of this description: Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume III (Aberystwyth, 1961),
Rules or conventions: Description follows ANW guidelines based on ISAD(G) second edition; AACR2; and LCSH.
Date(s) of description: May 2011
INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Parry, Joseph | 1841-1903 | Archives
