Gustav Holst was a part of the English composers prominent in the music world from the early 20th century starting with Edward Elgar. A revered teacher, Holst's interests varied from the esoteric and oriental mystical subjects to the English folk songs and dances. He was a close friend of Vaughan Williams.
Early Life
Gustavus Theodore von Holst was born on September 21, 1874, in Cheltenham. His father was a music teacher of Scandinavian descent and his mother, English. He studied at the Royal college of Music in London and met Ralph Vaughan Williams and they became lifelong best friends.
Although he suffered from Neuritis in one of his hands and had a very poor eyesight, these afflictions did not prevent him from pursuing his music career.
From 1905, he taught at St Paul’s Girls’ School in Hammersmith. There he also met the young soprano Isobel Harrison who he married.
English Folk Songs and Indian Culture
Like his close friend, compatriot and fellow composer Vaughan Williams, he was impressed by English folksongs and dances, but also important was his reading in Sanskrit literature and other exotic subjects, and his experience of the orchestral music of Igor Stravinsky and Richard Strauss.
In his orchestral suite The Planets, considered his most famous work, he produced a suite of seven highly character-represented movements depicting seven tone poems each associated with the planets in astrology.
Notable Works
Some of his most notable works include the exotic piece Beni Mora, inspired by a vacation in Algeria), his cantata The Hymn of Jesus for chorus and orchestra, A Fugal Overture, tone poem Egdon Heath, and from a passage out of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel The Return of the Native. He also composed a total of four operas with Savitri considered to be the most dramatic of the four. He died in London, aged 60.
Dedicated Teacher
Teaching was a major part of his professional life and in which he did with perfection and much devotion. So strong was his commitment to these teaching jobs that he often lacked the time to write music. His students adored him for his dedication and patience.
Works of Gustav Holst
- Savitri, opera 1908
- Suite No.1, for military band 1909
- Hymns from the Rig Veda, for chorus and orchestra 1910
- Oriental suite, Beni Mora 1912
- St. Paul's Suite, for strings 1913
- Orchestral suite, The Planets 1916
- The Hymn of Jesus, for chorus and orchestra 1917
- The Perfect Fool, opera 1922
- A Fugal Overture 1922
- At The Boar's Head, opera 1924
- Choral Symphony 1924
- Egdon Heath, tone poem 1927
- Choral Fantasia 1930
- Hammersmith, for orchestra 1931
- Brook Green suite, for strings 1933
Sources:
The Chronicle of Classical Music by Alan Kendall, thames & Hudson (2000)
The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd Edition, edited by Stanley Sadie (2000)
The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd Edition, edited by Michael Kennedy (1994)
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