Born in the modern era of music, Gustavus Theodore von Holst composed music from several different genres such as orchestra, choral, opera, and even for ballet’s. Largely known for his orchestral suite The Planets, Holst wrote many other works that have been shadowed by The Planets’ success. He was a strong supporter of the English folk song movement, with a few arrangements he wrote himself. Such arrangements include Songs of the West as well as sixteen folk songs for George Gardiner’s Hampshire Novello series Folk Songs of England. With influences of some of the world’s greatest composers such as Richard Wagner, Felix Mendelssohn, and Edvard Grieg, Holst was one of the most important composers at the turn of the twentieth century and the Modernism Era.
Growing up in Cheltenham, …show more content…
With his father determined to make a good musician out of his son, Holst learned to play the piano and violin at a young age. However, Holst suffered from neuritis, an inflammation of the nerves(1) that caused him a great deal of pain in his hands. Due to this, he decided to take up the trombone. Choral music is one of Holst’s most composed genre, and by becoming the organist and choirmaster of a choral society at Bourton-on-the-Water at a young age, Holst was able to understand the workings of a choir from a composers point of view(2). Eventually, Holst would get into the Royal College of Music with money his father borrowed since Holst could not get scholarships to enter. At the Royal College of Music, Holst studied composition. It was here that he picked up the trombone so he could still participate in orchestras despite his neuritis and asthma(2). Holst met lifelong friend Ralph Vaughan Williams whom he would play compositions he was still working on for. Williams would do the same, and they would critique each other’s works. This practice was unorthodox to say the least.