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Portrait of Gustav Holst

Gustav Holst

Late Romantic · 1874–1934

Gustav Holst made his living as a teacher. For nearly three decades he directed music at St Paul's Girls' School in London, composing mostly on weekends in a soundproof room the school built for him. Born in Cheltenham in 1874, he had started out playing trombone in theater and seaside orchestras after nerve trouble in his arm ended his hopes as a pianist.

He was a close friend of Ralph Vaughan Williams; the two spent decades showing each other drafts. His interests ranged from English folk song to Hindu scripture, and he learned some Sanskrit to read the texts he wanted to set. The Planets, seven orchestral portraits of the planets' astrological characters, made him suddenly famous after the First World War, a fame he found mostly a nuisance.

The Planets is the essential first listen. Then try the St Paul's Suite, written for his students' string orchestra.

79 works in the catalog, across 5 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.

Chamber

  • Duo Concertante, for trombone and organ
  • Quintet, for piano and winds in A minor, op. 3, H.11
  • Quintet, for winds in A flat major, op. 14, H. 67
  • Terzetto, for flute, oboe, and viola, H.158

Keyboard

  • Jig, for piano, H.179
  • Nocturne, for piano, H.179

Orchestral

  • Beni Mora, op. 29, no. 1, H.107
  • Egdon Heath, op. 47, H.172, "Homage to Hardy"
  • St. Paul's Suite, for strings, op. 29, no. 2, H.118
  • Suite no. 1, for Military Band in E flat major, op. 28, no. 1, H.105
  • The Planets, suite for orchestra and female chorus, op. 32, H.125
  • 2 Songs Without Words, op. 22, H.88
  • A Fugal Concerto, for flute, oboe, and string orchestra, op. 40, no. 2, H.152
  • A Fugal Overture, op. 40, no. 1, H.151
  • A Moorside Suite, for brass band, H.173
  • A Somerset Rhapsody, op. 21, no. 2, H.87
  • A Song of the Night, for violin and orchestra. Op.19, no. 1, H.74
  • A Winter Idyll, for orchestra
  • Brook Green Suite, for strings, H.190
  • Capriccio, H.185
  • Double Concerto, for 2 violins and orchestra, op. 49, H.175
  • Elegy In Memoriam William Morris, op. 8, H.47
  • Greeting, H.54
  • Hammersmith, op. 52, H.178
  • Hammersmith, op. 52, H.178
  • Indra, op. 13
  • Invocation, for cello and orchestra, op. 19, no. 2, H.75
  • Japanese Suite, op. 33, H.126
  • Lyric Movement, for viola and chamber orchestra, H.191
  • Pagaent of St. Martin-in-the-Field, incidental music
  • Pan's Anniversary, incidental music
  • Scherzo, H.192
  • Suite de ballet in E flat major, op. 10, H.43
  • Suite no. 2, for Military Band in F major, op. 28, no. 2, H.106
  • Walt Whitman Overture, op. 7, H.42

Stage

  • Sávitri, op. 25, H.96
  • The Perfect Fool, op. 39, H.150

Vocal

  • 2 Eastern Pictures, for chorus and harp
  • 2 Motets, op. 43, H.159-160
  • 2 Psalms, for chorus, strings and organ, H.117
  • 3 Carols, H.133
  • 4 Old English Carols, op. 20b, H.82
  • 4 Songs, for soprano and violin, op. 35, H.132
  • 4 Songs, op. 4. H.14
  • 6 Choral Folk Songs, op. 36b, H.136
  • 6 Songs, for soprano and piano, op. 16, H.69
  • 7 Partsongs, for soprano, female chorus and strings, op. 44, H.162
  • 12 Songs, op. 48, H.174
  • A Choral Fantasia, for soprano, chorus, organ, strings, brass, and percussion, op. 51, H.177
  • A Dirge for Two Veterans, for male chorus, brass, and percussion, H.121
  • Ave Maria, for female chorus, op. 9b, H.49
  • Bring us in Good Ale, op. 34, no. 4, H.131
  • Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, op. 26, H.97-100
  • Christmas Day, H.109
  • First Choral Symphony, op. 41
  • Hymns from the Rig Veda, op. 24, H.90
  • In the Bleak Midwinter, for chorus and organ, H.73
  • I Vow to Thee, My Country, H.148
  • Lullay My Liking, for soprano and chorus, op. 34, no. 2, H.129
  • My Sweetheart's Like Venus, arranged for chorus
  • Nunc dimittis, H.127
  • Ode to Death, op. 38, H.144
  • O Lady, Leave that Silken Thread, H.4/2
  • O Lady, Leave That Silken Thread, part-song for unaccompanied mixed chorus, H.4/1
  • Personent hodie
  • Short Partsongs, H.13
  • Sing Me the Men ere This, op. 43, no. 2, H.160
  • Songs from The Princess, for female chorus, op. 20a, H.80
  • The Autumn is Old, H.1
  • The Cloud Messenger, op. 30, H.111
  • The Evening-watch, op. 43, no. 1, H.159
  • The Heart Worships, H.95
  • The Hymn of Jesus, for 2 choruses, female semi-chorus, and orchestra, op. 37, H.140
  • The Mystic Trumpeter, for soprano and orchestra, op. 18, H.71
  • The Wandering Scholar, op. 50, H.176
  • This Have I Done for My True Love, op. 34, no. 1, H.128
  • Wassail Song, H.182
  • Winter and the Birds 2, App. 1/40:2
  • World In Union, for voice and orchestra

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