Gustav Holst sculpture in Cheltenham Photo: Philip Halling, CC BY-SA 2.0
Gustav Holst was an instrumentalist, a composer, teacher and conductor. Although his fame is as a composer and conductor, he seems to have been a particularly good teacher. As Kenneth Young describes, he particularly enjoyed being Director of Music at St Paul’s Girls’ School in Hammersmith, a job he held until his death.
He was a popular teacher too. Edmund Rubbra, who learnt from him commented that Holst never sought to impose his own ideas on his composition pupils. He would divine a student’s difficulties and gently guide them to finding the solution.
Kenneth Young introduces the life and works of Gustav Holst
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Music Details:
HOLST: Mars, from the Planets Suite - John Alldis Choir, London Phil/ Bernard Haitink (Philips 420 893)
HOLST: I Love my Love -8043 - Holst Singers/ Stephen Layton (Hyperion CDA 66705)
HOLST: The Mystic Trumpeter - Claire Rutter (sop), Royal Scottish National Orch/ David Lloyd-Jones (Naxos 8.555776)
HOLST: Hymn to Vena - BBC Chorus & SO/ Adrian Boult (Decca 444549)
HOLST: Somerset Rhapsody - London Phil/ Adrian Boult (Lyrita SRCD 222)
HOLST: St Paul's Suite, mvt 1 - ASMF/ Neville Marriner (EMI CDC 7 47842)
HOLST: Beni Mora, mvt 3 - London Phil/ Adrian Boult (Lyrita SRCD 222)
HOLST: Venus, from the Planets Suite - John Alldis Choir, London Phil/ Bernard Haitink (Philips 420 893)
HOLST: Hymn of Jesus - BBC Chorus & SO/ Adrian Boult (Decca 444549)
HOLST: Terzetto, mvt 1 - Matthew Featherstone (fl), James Turnbull (ob), Dan Shilladay (vla) (Champs Hill CHRCD 051)
HOLST: Hammersmith - University of Georgia Wind Ensemble/ John Lynch (Naxos 8.572231)
HOLST: Brook Green Suite, prelude - City of London Sinfonia/ Richard Hickox (Chandos CHAN 9270)