Gustav Holst (GOO-stav)

Born September 21, 1874 in Cheltenham, England

Died May 25, 1934

Nationality: English

Period/Style: Modern

About the composer:

Gustav Holst came from a Swedish family that lived in Russia for a while before settling in England early in the 19^th Century.  He was born in England.  As a child Gustav was rather frail and had lots of health problems including asthma and poor eyesight, and later he developed severe arthritis. When he was a young boy his stern father made him practice the piano for hours at a time, even after his arms and hands became tired. It was probably because of that strain that he injured the nerves in his right arm.  By the age of seventeen he knew he would never be able to be a concert pianist, so he studied composition and other music courses at the Royal College of Music in London. He also played trombone in concert bands.  He became more interested in writing music than playing it, but he didn’t make very much money on his first few compositions so he had to take teaching jobs to earn extra money.  One of those jobs was at a School for Girls in Hammersmith, England.  He believed students should learn by doing, so instead of using textbooks, he had his students make up “rounds” and taught them how to create harmony by singing in groups.

About the music:

First Suite for Band (approx. 14 min)

Holst was a trombonist who played in bands, and he realized that there wasn’t much good music written for concert bands so he was determined to write some.  He wrote two suites for band that became very popular, and even today they are considered some of the best music written for the concert band.  The first suite is based on several English folk songs. It is in three movements: Chaconne, Intermezzo, and March.

Suggested activities:

Find Cheltenham on the map of England. What large cities, in England and other countries, are nearby?

Does your school have a band?  If so, perhaps you could get permission from the director to listen in for a bit of their rehearsal.