Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst (21 September 1874 - 25 May 1934) was a famous English composer.[1][2] He was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He studied composition at the Royal College of Music in London.[2] He also learned to play the trombone. He became Director of Music at St Paul’s Girls’ School, Hammersmith, (London).[2] Some of his music was written for the pupils at this school: for example, the popular St Paul’s Suite (1912-1913) for string orchestra.
His most famous work of all is The Planets (1918). This is a suite of seven movements for orchestra, each about a different planet (the Earth is not included, and Pluto had not yet been discovered). The music does not really describe the planets, it describes the Roman gods after which the planets are named. Mars, for example, is the “Bringer of War”. It has a very exciting rhythm with five beats in a bar. Jupiter has a tune which has become famous as the hymn “I Vow to Thee, My Country”. He died of heart failure in London.
Gustav Holst Media
Holst family tree (simplified) 
Statue of Holst at his birthplace, Cheltenham. He is shown with the baton in his left hand, his frequent practice because of the neuritis in his right arm.
Blue plaque at St Paul's Girls' School, London
The house in Barnes where Holst lived between 1908 and 1913. A commemorative blue plaque is fixed to the front
The Manse in Thaxted where Holst lived from 1917 to 1925
Holst's inscription on Adrian Boult's score of The Planets
References
- ↑ "ConcBritannica-GHolst Britannica Concise, "Gustav Holst", 2006, webpage". Archived from the original on 2007-12-31. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 B-GH Encyclopædia Britannica Online, "Gustav Holst", 2006
Other websites
- www.GustavHolst.info
- List of compositions
- Gustav Holst: The Lost Films (Discovered 2009) Archived 2013-10-15 at the Wayback Machine
- Holst Birthplace Museum, Cheltenham Archived 2010-03-05 at the Wayback Machine