Composed between 1906 and 1915, Parry's Songs of Farewell represent some of the profoundest a cappella literature of the late Romantic era. As their collective title implies, the six motets are essentially valedictory. While their contemplative, solemn mood may seem symptomatic of the appalling conflagration of World War I, the motets were ultimately a more personal statement by the composer as he approached the milestone of 70. Dying unexpectedly from septicaemia and the Spanish flu pandemic in October 1918, he did not survive to see the Armistice.