The Resume

(February 27, 1848-October 7, 1918)
Born in Bournemouth, England, United Kingdom
Birth name was Charles Hubert Hastings Parry
Composer and music historian
Director of the Royal College of Music (1895-1918)
Heather Professor of Music at Oxford (1900-08)
Composed five symphonies
Other compositions include the ode ‘Blest Pair of Sirens’ (1887); the oratorios ‘Judith’ (1888), ‘Job’ (1892), and ‘King Saul’ (1894); the provincial anthem ‘Ode to Newfoundland’ (1904); the choral song ‘Jerusalem’ (1916); and the motets ‘Songs of Farewell’ (1918)
Knighted (1898)
Named a Baronet (1902)

Why he might be annoying:

Because his father and his prospective in-laws insisted he follow a conventional career, he worked as an insurance underwriter at Lloyd’s of London.
He tried to continue his musical studies with Johannes Brahms, but the German composer was unavailable.
His one attempt at an opera, ‘Guenever,’ was turned down by the company that had commissioned it.
One critic described his music as a ‘mix of mild inspiration, massive aspiration and decent craftsmanship, topped up with hot air.’
’Jerusalem’ overshadowed his other work.

Why he might not be annoying:

His mother died of tuberculosis twelve days after his birth.
He was the youngest person to pass the Bachelor of Music examination at Oxford.
He contributed 123 articles to the standard reference work Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
His students included Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams.
He wrote new music for ‘I Was Glad,’ which served as the coronation anthem for King Edward VII (1902).
He wrote ‘Jerusalem’ as an anthem for the women’s suffrage movement.
There are occasional suggestions that ‘Jerusalem’ should replace ‘God Save the Queen’ as the British national anthem.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 20 Most Requested Pieces of Music on 'Desert Island Discs' (Ranked: 18)
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 78]
• I am an Agnostic
• I Attended Eton
• I Attended Oxford
• I Died in 1918 (Ranked: 70)
• I Had Spanish Flu
• Knights
• Known By a Middle Name
• Look at Me, I Got My Arms Folded
• Opera Singers and Composers
• Profiles 47251-47500 (Ranked: 47448)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 90 Votes: 51.11% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 90.0% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 84 Votes: 55.95% Annoying