Gustav Holst was an English composer, arranger and teacher
BIOGRAPHY
Gustav Holst was born in England in the city of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, on the 21st of September, 1874 in the family of Adolph and Clara von Holst. His father was a professional musician, a talented pianist. Gustav was a weak child and suffered from many diseases. After his father’s second marriage, he was sent to Cheltenham Grammar School (1.The Early Years).
Since his youth he has suffered from neuritis in hands, which brought him much pain and trouble. In 1893 he worked as an organist at Wick Rissington in a small Cotswold village. Later he became a choirmaster and an organist of the choral society at Bourton-on-the-Water. It has influenced Holst for all his life (1.The Early Years). His first operetta “Lansdown Castle” was a great success, which persuaded his father to send him to the Royal College of Music. Before going to college Gustav heard the composition of Richard Wagner called “Götterdämmerung” under Gustav Mahler at the Covent Garden, which made him an ardent Wagner enthusiast. Another great memory in Holst’s life was in 1893 when he heard the Bach “Mass in B Minor” at the Three Choirs Festival in Worchester (1.The Early Years). Because of his hand disease he couldn’t continue his piano practice any more. Thus he decided to start practicing playing the trombone (1.The Early Years).
In 1895 he won a scholarship for composition, the same year he met Ralph Vaughan Williams, who became his friend for a long time. Holst became the member of the Hammersmith Socialist Club and attended Bernard Shaw's lectures. There he met his first love, Isobel Harrison. In 1898 he started working as first trombone for Carl Rosa Opera Company, where he learnt the work of the orchestra from the inside (2.Falling in Love).
In 1895 Holst got interested in Hindu philosophy and Sanskrit literature, which encouraged him to study Sanskrit in order to translate some hymns from the Rig Vega and set them to music. He created an opera Sita in 1906, which was based on Ramayana, and a symphonic poem Indra, a portrait of the god and his battle with the drought (2.Falling in Love).
In 1905 Holst became a Director of Music at St. Paul's Girls School in Hammersmith and conducted his first a piece for soprano and orchestra called “The Mystic Trumpeter”, based on poetry by Walt Whitman. Later he was appointed Musical Director at the Morley College for Working Men and Women. After failing to win the Ricordi Prize he went to Algeria where he got inspired to create another major work, “Beni Mora” (2.Falling in Love).
In June 19111 Holst and his students from Morley College gave the performance of Purcell's “The Fairy-Queen”, for the first time since the 17th century, which had a success and praised by The Times (Imogen 30). Later Holst went to Spain where he got acquainted with astrology, which inspires him to his suite “The Planets” (Mitchell 118).
With the beginning of the First World War he tried to get enlisted but failed, so he continued to teach and compose, working on “The Planets” and preparing the opera “Savitri” for performance. In 1918 he received a job at the YMCA’s education department as a volunteer to work with British troops stationed in Europe. He had to change his surname from “von Holst” to just “Holst” in order not to sound too German. While Holst was in Salonica, “The Planets” were introduced to public in 1919 (Boult 33). On return he went on teaching and composing at universities and schools, and even tried to pioneer music education for women. In his 40s Holst turned out to be popular in many countries, including the USA. However, he never accepted honors or awards offered to him and didn’t give interviews. After spending some time in New York, he returned to England and spent there the last days of his life. Gustav Holst died in London on the 25th of May, 1934 of heart failure after an operation on his ulcer (Matthews).
MUSICAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In his early works Holst presented certain originality and flair and found his genuine voice in “The Mystic Trumpeter” employing bitonality. He was deeply interested in Indian philosophy and culture and created an opera “Sita”. His individual style is a combined the influence of Ravel, Hindu philosophy, and English folk tunes. He also experimented with Indian raga (Matthews).
His compositional collection also includes English folksongs, which appear in “A Somerset Rhapsody”, “Songs of the West”, which changed his orchestral writing. He also created compositions of different genres – minimalistic, military, psalm settings, etc. The suite “The Planets”, one of his most famous works, was created as a result of his interest in astrology. “The Hymn of Jesus” was the next major masterpiece, with the words from a Gnostic text translated from Greek. Closer to the end of his life Holst experimented with song settings and minor pieces with major works. “Egdon Health”, another major orchestral work, is characterized as elusive and unpredictable. In his final years Holst created “A Choral Fantasia”, “St Paul’s Suite”, and other works (Matthews).
LEGACY
The most prominent compositions of Gustav Holst include the works for choir, operas, some ballets, etc. Among them there are ballets, bands, chamber ensembles, choral works, hymns, incidental music, keyboard music, opera, full orchestra, solo instruments and voice. His most prominent masterpieces are “A Somerset Rhapsody”, “St Paul’s Suite”, “The Planets”, “Lyric Movement”, “Military Bands”, and many others (Boult).
Works Cited
Boult, Adrian. Music and Friends. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1979. Print.
"1. The Early Years." Gustav Holst (1874–1934). Web. 16 Apr. 2016.
"2. Falling in Love." Gustav Holst (1874–1934). Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
Holst, Imogen. The Great Composers: Holst. Second ed. London: Faber and Faber, 1981. Print.
Matthews, Colin. "Holst, Gustav." Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press, 22 Mar. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2016.
Mitchell, Jon C. A Comprehensive Biography of Composer Gustav Holst, with Correspondence and Diary Excerpts. Lewiston, N Y: E Mellen, 2001. Print.
