From one artistic peak to another. Young, in this part of Electric Eden, in a remarkable feat of cultural and literary anthropology, is excavating and itemising the classical legacy and foundations for Twentieth Century Folk Music. Jerusalem, and its resetting of William Blake's mission statement, a hundred years or more after its original creation is at the heart of this.
This is a much misunderstood and abused poem and anthem. It seems to stand now as a justification for the British class system and its refusal to countenance change and growth. But there is something deeply stirring and inxplicable about Parry's glorious arrangement of it nevertheless. It never, every fails to move me. Deeply.
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