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"If you were music, I would listen to you ceaselessly, and my low spirits would brighten up." - Anna Akhmatova

Gustav Holst

Gustav Holst is a composer nobody seems to know, evne though everyone knows The Planets. This lack of relative fame is a mystery, because the quality of his works for choir and orchestra (including some amazing works for brass orchestra) is often high. Perhaps this can be explained by his aversion to public appearance. After the succes of The Planets he focused on more introvert topics, which resulted among others in his beautiful Hymn of Jesus from 1917. This is typically a work which upon first listening makes you wonder why it's not better known (even though allegedly the work was quite succesful during its own time).  There is, however, also something up with the continuity of Holst as a composer, as if technical challenges stimulated him more than creating a consistent style. Grove music Online quoted Holst's daughter Imogen regarding this remarkable phenomenon: 'As soon as he made his point, he stopped'. 

Featured on

Cranbrook Christmas Jazz
Rodney Whitaker
Various composers
Fanfare for the Common Man
Dan Dean
The Planets: Reimagined
Jeremy Levy Jazz Orchestra
Various composers
Wind Quintets by Dubugnon & Taffanel & Holst & Françaix
Monet Quintett
Various composers
Lest we forgot
The Choir of Chichester Cathedral
Various composers
The Evening Hour
The Choir of Jesus College Cambridge
Gustav Holst, Joby Talbot
Universe of Sound - The Planets (Blu-ray)
Philharmonia Orchestra
Gustav Holst, Joby Talbot
Holst: The Planets
The Philharmonia Orchestra / Salonen, Esa-Pekka
Various composers
The English Oboe: Rediscovered
James Turnbull
Various composers
Allegri Miserere
Tenebrae
English Choral Music
Netherlands Chamber Choir