high fever from blood poisoning a few days after the second surgery. There was a slight rally, but Parry continued to have relapses and grew steadily weaker. Parry, who had planned a tour of Australia and the US for 1904, lay in his sick bed when The Maid of Cefn Ydfa was signed for performances by three opera companies; he was never able to be told of the good news. Parry died at his Penarth home on 17 February 1903. His last composition was written during his final illness-a tribute to his wife, Jane, entitled Dear Wife. At least 7,000 people from all parts of the country gathered in Penarth for the funeral of Joseph Parry. They lined the route from Parry's home to Christ Church, where the family worshipped and to the churchyard at St Augustine's. His family and friends were joined by officials from the city of Cardiff, faculty and students from Cardiff University, representatives from the National Eisteddfod and many members of various choirs throughout Wales. Ministers of various denominations were also part of those gathered to pay respects to Parry. He was buried on the north side of St Augustine's Churchyard, Penarth. Parry's monument is a marble column topped by a lyre with seven strings, with the strings representing the members of Parry's family. Two of the seven strings of the lyre are broken to represent the deaths of his two sons, who died before Parry. Shortly after his death, a national fund was established in Parry's name. This was meant to provide support for his widow, Jane, through an annual annuity; any funds remaining after Jane's death were to be used to provide a national music scholarship named for Parry. Music Parry was a prolific composer; one of his early works, "My Childhood Dreams", was published while he was living in Danville. Despite his penchant for composing, most of his major works were not commercially successful. His oratorio, Saul of Tarsus, was commissioned for the National Eisteddfod at Rhyl in 1892, and was somewhat successful. Parry and others considered it to be his best work; the problem with the oratorio was that it was difficult to perform and that the score for the composition is 305 pages long. Parry is believed to have composed 27 complete works, among them ten operas, five cantatas and two oratorios, as well as countless songs and hymns. By the