A quiet introvert and dedicated teacher, Gustav Holst combined English folksong and Hindu mysticism in an intriguing fashion, producing a marvellous array of compositions that go far beyond his well-loved Planets.

Encouraged by his father, the young Gustav Holst made early musical forays on the piano, violin and trombone. Although plagued by illness, the young Holst kept an active interest in music and began composing in his early teens. He studied briefly with Frederick Simms at Merton College, Oxford before returning to Cheltenham to work as an organist and choirmaster. Holst left his childhood home in 1893 for the Royal College of Music, studying counterpoint with Stanford and taking classes with Parry.

In 1895, he met Vaughan Williams who would prove to be a profound musical influence and close friend for the remainder of his life. Another encounter took place the following year while conducting the Hammersmith Socialist Choir when he met Isobel Harrison, whom he would marry in 1901. During this period, he composed early orchestral efforts such as A Winter Idyll (1897), Walt Whitman (1899) and Suite de Ballet (1899).

A gifted trombonist, Holst also managed to play for a variety of orchestras, including the Queen’s Hall Orchestra under the baton of Richard Strauss. By 1903, however, he decided to give up a career in performance for one in teaching, eventually settling on a position at the St. Paul’s Girl’s School in Hammersmith, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. 

Meanwhile, two seemingly diverse interests occupied Holst’s mind and infiltrated his music: the English folksong and Hindu mysticism. Inspired in part by his friendship with Vaughan Williams, the former manifested itself in A Summerset Rhapsody and the popular First and Second Suites for military band. An interest in Indian literature, philosophy, and Sanskrit influenced the composition of his Rig Veda Hymns (1908-1910), the opera Savitri (1908), and the choral and orchestral work The Cloud Messenger (1912). His reputation continued to steadily grow throughout this period, but it was the success of The Planets (1914-1916) following its 1918 premiere at New Queen’s Hall that led him to stardom.

Even following this triumph, he continued to teach, adding the RCM to his growing list of academic duties. The early part of the 1920s found Holst in ill health following a trip to the United States and the failure of his opera, The Perfect Fool (1922). After these misadventures, he scaled down his schedule, returning to the comfort of his post at St. Paul’s. In 1927, a major festival of his music took place at Cheltenham in which Egdon Heath was premiered. The Choral Fantasia (1930), Hammersmith (1930), and The Wandering Scholar (1929-30) all followed in a particularly prolific late period.

Another visit to the States followed in 1932 in which he lectured at Harvard and taught a young Elliot Carter. Illness once again forced Holst to return to England where he wrote both the Brook Green Suite and Lyric Movement for viola and orchestra in 1933. He died in the following year aged only fifty-nine.