Dr. Joseph Parry
1841-1903

"Now from this date onward, I am music's willing servant."
(Danville, PA, 1858)

(Most of the following short biography of Joseph Parry was written by Dr. Dulais Rhys, Welsh musician and scholar, and sent to us by Fiona Powell.)

Dr. Joseph Parry, Welsh-American musician and composer of 'Myfanwy', 'Aberystwyth', and 'Blodwen', the first opera with Welsh words, was born in Merthyr Tudful, Wales, in 1841. When he was 12, his father immigrated to Danville, Pennsylvania, to seek a better life. The rest of the family followed in 1854.

Joseph and his family lived a 'Welsh' life in Danville, attending the chapel and the Sunday School, competing in the eisteddfod, and working hard in the iron works....just as in the Old Country.

By his teens, Joseph's musical talents were becoming so well known that money was raised in Wales and America to send him for three years to the Royal Academy of Music in London to further his studies. Joseph returned to Danville in 1871--with a proud Bachelor of Music degree--to work as a professional musician and set up his 'Danville Musical Institute'. He was invited to return to Wales as the first Chair of Music at the new University of Wales at Aberystwyth. He stayed as the Professor of Music from 1874 to 1881, a controversial period when his extrovert whims clashed with the University Council's conservatism!

Under a cloud of controversy, he left for Abertawe (Swansea) where he stayed until 1888. There he further developed his multi-faceted music skills before moving to Caerdydd (Cardiff). As 'Lecturer in Music' at the University of Wales at Cardiff, he finished his life's commitment to music with many and varied contriubtuions to music in Wales and beyond.

Joseph had married Jane Thomas, a woman of Welsh ancestry whom he met in Danville when he was working in the Rough and Ready Rolling Mill and developing his musical talents. They had five children, Joseph Haydn, Daniel Mendelssohn, William Sterndale, Annie Edna, and Dilys Joseph. Joseph died in 1903 at the relatively young age of 61, but his music has stayed on as part of Wales's rich tradition, and 2003 sees the commemoration of the centenary of this death as an occasion to recall his life and legacy.

To view a short slide show about his life, click here.

To take a quiz about Joseph Parry's life and work, click here.

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Last updated 22-Jan-2003 | Questions? contact Mary Williams-Norton