Jonathan Evans and Dr. Douglas Bush, School of Music
The initial goal of this project was to “:transcribe three versions of Hubert Parry’s Fantasia and Fugue in G Major, with the end goal being a scholarly edition that I hope to publish.” The project is still progressing towards completion.
Importance of Project
One of the foremost English composers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Hubert Parry’s compositions include works for choir, orchestra, violin, and organ. His music enjoyed considerable popularity and exerted significant influence on the next generation of British composers, with his students and musical inheritors including Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan-Williams. The Fantasia and Fugue in G Major remains one of the most important British organ works of the early 20th century.
Parry’s direct influence on the formation of modern English music makes a thorough understanding of his music and his creative process significant to the study of English music. A scholarly edition of a large work by Hubert Parry will help reveal Parry’s compositional methods by comparing the different sources and Parry’s revisions, most of which have not been generally available. Also, this will enable the other versions of Hubert Parry’s work to be performed.
Approach to Project
What began as my honors thesis on Hubert Parry’s revision process has expanded into an ORCA project. During the summer of 2010, I traveled to England and spent a week in Oxford studying Hubert Parry’s manuscripts in the Bodleian Library. I then spent two months in Cambridge writing my honors thesis with a Cambridge University faculty member. Following the summer abroad, Dr Bush and I decided there was enough data to warrant a scholarly edition, particularly since the only transcriptions of the various versions of the Fantasia and Fugue included errors and did not include notes detailing the compositional process. So, as I continued to edit my honors thesis (which would become the introductory material to this volume), I began the transcription process.
While poring over the manuscript images, I have discovered other revisions that I did not notice during my initial analysis; this has been a great benefit in the fine tuning of my honors thesis, and subsequently the edition’s introduction. I have also gained significant experience with the Sibelius music notation software, using both the Internet and a friend to learn new techniques.
As I have pursued this project, I have been surprised by the difficulty and amount of time such a project takes. Observing digital pictures of the manuscripts, my notes, and the previous transcriptions to determine my final product takes much more time than I expected.
The original completion date has now been moved to August 2012. To date, I have completed the three Fantasia transcriptions and one Fugue transcription. Also, the introductory material is in its second-to-last editorial phase. I will be defending my honors thesis in June or early July, and by this time the entire project will need to be completed. After my thesis defense, final revisions and editing will occur. As I graduate in August, the Honors Department will have a completed version published in the Harold B. Lee Library, and I will submit copies to the Cambridge University and Oxford University Libraries, as my research and much of my writing occurred at the two institutions.
Beyond the honors department published version, I still plan to publish a marketable version. Under Dr Bush’s guidance, I will seek out publishers, likely after finishing the final revisions. I have had permission to publish a scholarly edition from the Bodleian Library since late 2010 and still plan to exercise this privilege. In addition to a scholarly edition, I am considering seeking permission to publish a performance edition. The degree of difficulty in transforming my scholarly edition to a performance edition is minimal and would facilitate future performances of the work. As the project heads toward the publication process, I also hope to get articles published in music journals to raise awareness of the research and to promote the scholarly edition and serious study of Parry’s organ music.