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Born in Georgetown, Merthyr Tydfil, at the height of the Industrial Revolution, Joseph Parry became a pit-boy at the age of nine and an ironworker at twelve. He grew up amid strong musical traditions before emigrating to the USA in 1854, with his family, to settle in Danville, Pennsylvania. There he worked in the rolling mills and studied music with fellow Welsh emigrants. His success in eisteddfodau led to a scholarship from Welsh communities in America to study at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where he was awarded the premiere composition prize.

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Parry founded a music college in Danville, before becoming the first Professor of Music at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth (1874), going on to hold posts in Swansea and at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire (later to become University College, Cardiff).

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Parry created works that are of his era, including the first Welsh opera Blodwen (1878) and oratorios Emmanuel (1880) and Saul (1892). His enduring legacy lies in the hymn tune Aberystwyth and the popular song Myfanwy.