Gustav Holst
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Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK (1874 – 1934)
Gustav Holst (born September 21, 1874 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK - died May 25, 1934) was an English composer and a music teacher for over 20 years. Holst is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets. Having studied at the Royal College of Music in London, his early work was influenced by Ravel, Grieg, Richard Strauss, and Ralph Vaughan Williams, but most of his music is highly original, with influences from Hindu spiritualism and English folk tunes. Holst’s music is well known for unconventional use of metre and haunting melodies.
Gustav Holst wrote almost 200 catalogued compositions, including orchestral suites, operas, ballets, concertos, choral hymns, and songs. (See: selected works, below).
Holst became music master at St Paul’s Girls’ School in 1905 and also director of music at Morley College in 1907, continuing in both posts until retirement (as detailed below).
Holst died on May 25, 1934, after stomach surgery, at age 59. He was the brother of Hollywood actor Ernest Cossart, and father of the composer and conductor Imogen Holst, who wrote a biography of her father in 1938.
Name
He was originally named Gustavus Theodor von Holst but he dropped the von from his name in response to anti-German sentiment in Britain during World War I, making it official by deed poll in 1918.
Early life
He was born in 1874 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England to a family of Swedish extraction (by way of Latvia and Russia), and was educated at Cheltenham Grammar School for Boys.
Gustav Holst wrote almost 200 catalogued compositions, including orchestral suites, operas, ballets, concertos, choral hymns, and songs. (See: selected works, below).
Holst became music master at St Paul’s Girls’ School in 1905 and also director of music at Morley College in 1907, continuing in both posts until retirement (as detailed below).
Holst died on May 25, 1934, after stomach surgery, at age 59. He was the brother of Hollywood actor Ernest Cossart, and father of the composer and conductor Imogen Holst, who wrote a biography of her father in 1938.
Name
He was originally named Gustavus Theodor von Holst but he dropped the von from his name in response to anti-German sentiment in Britain during World War I, making it official by deed poll in 1918.
Early life
He was born in 1874 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England to a family of Swedish extraction (by way of Latvia and Russia), and was educated at Cheltenham Grammar School for Boys.
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Holst: The Planets, Op. 32
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The Planets, Op. 32
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The Planets
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Shoutbox
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Quack3nbush wrote:
@zaire2d Williams always stated that Holst is one of his biggest influences, he also took a lot of ideas for the Star Wars score from Mars and Venus, but it's great to hear the similarities between two of the world's greatest modern composers ^^
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Abello966 wrote:
Gustav Holst is not a romantic composer....
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MrRafaelBCK wrote:
I hear Jupiter in hords of places on the TV. Weird how it surpassed Mars in popularity, that used to be the hot shot back in the day.
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VK1990 wrote:
Mars, the Bringer of War
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EdgeofSting wrote:
Zapomniałem dodać, Ojciec Muzyki Filmowej !!!
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EdgeofSting wrote:
Geniusz tworzący krajobrazy przy pomocy muzyki !
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PP667 wrote:
super
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Goon_ wrote:
"First Suite in E Flat" is such a masterpiece.. Better than "Planets" for me...
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Biscuit1978 wrote:
Come along and join the group Orchestral Composer of the Week. Nominate your 5 favourite composers each week and see who gets into the Hall of Fame.
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Chard121 wrote:
Only this mentioning it because of the argument already going on here about classical and heavy metal. Anyways, some forms of metal have nothing in common with it. In other styles there are certain aesthetic similarities, primarily the grandiosity and bombast. Also, metal (next to electronic music) can be the most complex music I've ever heard, excluding classical of course. Classical is more complex primarily due to the vast number of musicians involved, and thus the amount of layers a single composition can take on. People seem to make it out like classical is untouchable in it's intelligence and complexity, but this is simply not true. Classical composers may be brilliant, but to say there is no way writers of other music can approach their brilliance is ignorant and closed-minded. Metal I can think of off the top of my head that is most similar to classical would be the first 25 minutes of Twilight of the Gods" by bathory and Blind Guardian's song "And Then There Was Silence"
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Biscuit1978 wrote:
Williams 'borrowed' heavily from Holst so yes I see a lot of similarities between the two.
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zaire2d wrote:
I see a parallel of "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity" and John Williams Jurassic Park theme. Anyone agree?
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el_borbah wrote:
Planety "pieszczą" me uszka.
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Sin-Rostro wrote:
oh, so epic. I'm happy to live in space.
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vivekananda66 wrote:
So it should be no surprise that a number of the posters on here are also fans of metal music. [2]
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jiveraptor wrote:
The metal/classical connection is very, very overstated by people looking to validate their taste, but metal is basically a Romanticist worship genre ideologically/musically. It's just not done very well a lot.
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MorbidWizard wrote:
So it should be no surprise that a number of the posters on here are also fans of metal music.
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MorbidWizard wrote:
You would be surprised how closely (the best) heavy metal music resembles powerful, epic classical music - sped up and with a guitar.
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Muravjed wrote:
Mars performed by King Crimson is f'n incredible.
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nekultura wrote:
mars the bringer of war- fucking brutal
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The Planets Op.32 Jupiter
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Recent Activity
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Inklings22, palmedmute, Safari0 and 10 other people added Gustav Holst to their libraries. yesterday morning
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outandabout93 added Gustav Holst to the lineup of Music at St Martin's at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Friday afternoon
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classicalbarry tagged Gustav Holst with ‘the planets’. last month
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