Sir Hubert Parry (1848-1918) is known chiefly through his stirring Jerusalem and his great coronation anthem, I Was Glad, but it would be a mistake to judge his music through the formality of those national symbols. He was a creature of the pre-Raphaelite world caught up in the movements of his time (Jerusalem, for instance, was written for the suffragettes), a composer determined to establish English as a lyric language to rival the dominance of German lied and French mélodie. Now, for the first time, his wonderfully sinuous and attractive songs are to be collected into three volumes. This initial disc showcases 31 examples sympathetically interpreted by a stellar trio of soloists. Definitely worth exploring.
