ABSTRACT
The Ode on the Nativity is all the more extraordinary for being completely free of Victorian sentimentality and late romantic angst. To have the unique musical richness of those interlocking periods without their questionable attributes further enhances its artistic value. Hubert Parry had a spiritual experience, a vision or a dream; maybe the more contemporary transcendental view of the biblical story, as found in Robert Browning’s poem, led him to rethink – and partially surrender to – the idea of the Messiah’s appearance on Earth to lead man back to the source of creativity and light. The sheer fiery magnificence of the Ode on the Nativity and the exultant earnestness of Jerusalem point to this idea as a possibility. The Ode on the Nativity was premiered on 12 September 1912 during an afternoon concert in the Hereford Three Choirs Festival.
