Conducted by Matthias Bamert with the London Philharmonic.
I. Con Fuoco - 00:00
II. Andante - 12:35
III. Presto - Meno Mosso - 23:33
IV. Allegretto - Molto Vivace - 33:09
The Symphony's composition occupied Parry throughout much of 1881. Hans Richter had agreed to produce the premiere and after several delays - welcomed by the composer. 'I felt l had a reprieve — it finally went into rehearsal on 13 lune 1882. Parry's biographer Charles L. Graves recounts that; "it was an unlucky day and number. Many of the band were absent and after a struggle, In Parry`s words `Richter couldn't make it go and it was given up`. Some of it sounded well but the men were tired and shirked their work."
In the event the premiere was delayed until the Birmingham Festival on 31 August when it proved a success. Parry, who conducted, ".. was especially moved by the approbation of old Sir iulius Benedict who after all was the pupil and familiar of Weber and often saw Beethoven and Schubert in the flesh." The best Germans in the band were equally kind; Gounod `buttered` him to the skies though not very acceptably. Stainer Heuffer (of The Times) and Prout (of the Atheneum) were all very encouraging and the great Mr. Joseph Bennett of the Telegraph came up and said `l didn't believe in you before but l do now you have converted me."
Parry dedicated the symphony to his 'dearest wife', Lady Maude Herbert. sister of Lord Pembroke whom he had married in 1872. The first movement, Con fuoco, opens with an exuberant extended theme. the first part strongly reminiscent of Schumann's Rhenish, the second already characteristic Parry. Historically it is a fascinating beginning for the English symphony which was to culminate twenty·eight years later in perhaps the greatest of all the pre-World War One symphonies, Elgar's Second. Elgar's enthusiasm for the Rhenish Symphony is well known and the opening ol his Second Symphony clearly betrays a strong relationship to the Schumann. though the influence has been totally subsumed, which is not the case with the Parry. This adds further weight to the conclusion that the genesis ofthe English symphonic tradition owes its inspiration to Schumann. For all its lively charm the first movement exposition is a loquacious affair so that Parry fails to achieve a proper contrast with the quite elaborate development section that follows.
Fortunately the tentativeness of this structure is not to be found in the second movement Andante (quasi adagio). Whilst Beethoven. Schumann and Mendelssohn again provide the formal models, the instrumentation shows how well Parry had digested early Wagner. But the movement is more than the sum of its influences; the melodic ideas, the cut of phrase and the way the music moves are Parry's own. That distinctive combination of intimate emotion and pastoral evocation which was to be a hallmark of English music a generation later makes one of its first appearances in this movement.
lf the scherzo (marked Presto) has touches of Dvorak and the early Russian nationalists, the trio with its subtle references to the first movement exposition and the slow movement captures an unequivocally English atmosphere. The finale. Allegretto. molto vivace, takes off with a vigorous tune again reminiscent initially of Dvorak though it is amusing to hear it become anglicized as Parry moulds it through a finely proportioned, motivically inventive movement. The broad second subject is the first successor to the great tune in the second movement of Parrys Piano Quartet, where the individual English voice made its first appearance since the death ol Henry Purcell. and the high-spirited coda is the first of Parry`s many skillful perorations.
