Little
comment is needed on this short appreciation written shortly after the death of
English composer Gustav Holst on 25 May 1934. It was written by Sheffield-born Arnold (Wilfred
Allen) Foster (1896?-1963) who was a conductor, composer and pedagogue. I will
include a couple of notes where appropriate. The article appeared in the The Monthly Musical Record, July-August
1934.
It
would be difficult adequately to express the deep sense of loss which the death
of Gustav Holst has caused within the circle of his friends and pupils.
He
inspired in them a love and devotion which was difficult for anyone outside
this circle to understand. In uncongenial company Holst's reserve was so great
as often to lead to a misconception of his true nature. His long struggle in
early life against ill-health and adverse circumstances had helped to give him
a deep insight into the difficulties which others had to contend with. In
addition to this, his natural sympathetic qualities were a great asset to him
in his capacity as a teacher. He got the very best out of keen amateurs and
young people by making even the least gifted among them feel that their efforts
were essential to the venture in hand.
The
story of his sixteen years' directorship of the music classes at Morley College
is an inspiring one. From the beginning he insisted on performing only the best
music. This policy led at first to the disappearance of those who did not like
hard work, but soon there gathered round him a devoted band of students who,
under his leadership, did valuable and important work. To give only one
instance, the revival of Purcell's works was undertaken. King Arthur was performed in 1909, The Fairy Queen in 1911, and Dioclesian
[1] (arranged in the form of a pageant by one of his most gifted pupils,
the late Jane Joseph) in 1921.[2]
The Fairy Queen performance was
the first since Purcell's death in 1695. To make it possible the students
copied out the entire vocal and instrumental parts-1500 pages of manuscript.
The Dioclesian performance was the
first since 1784, and again the parts were copied. The labour involved is an
example of the willing service which Holst obtained from his students in the
cause of music. This capacity of extracting willing and happy service from all
kinds of people was one of the greatest characteristics of Gustav Holst, the
man. They were eager to follow his own example.
Holst
believed intensely in the social value of music and to this end began his
Whitsuntide Festivals at Thaxted in 1916. The main purpose was to give pleasure
to the performers and to influence them with the idea of making music together
for the pure joy of it. The plan followed at first was for players and singers
to assemble for the Whitsuntide week-end at some country town or village to
provide music for the church services and any other occasion that arose. It is
typical of Holst's thoroughness of organization and delicacy of feeling that he
always used any local talent and was very careful to work in harmony with the
church organist. Saturday was spent in rehearsing, Sunday morning and evening
in the church, Sunday afternoon in informal music or a performance at the local
hospital or other institution. On Monday morning the parts of a chosen work of
a dramatic nature which gave opportunity for pageantry and costume were given
out and rehearsed, out of doors if possible. A performance was given in the
afternoon.
Holst
was by no means a dry academician; in his make-up there was a love of simple
fun, and he was fond of ending his festival with some carefully planned item of
a humorous nature. After his return from Salonica the festivals were held in
London for several years. The places visited were Dulwich, Isleworth,
Blackheath, All Hallows (Toc H church) and Camberwell, with the garden
belonging to St. Paul's Girls' School as a centre for some of the Whit Monday
performances.
One
reason for stressing these festivals is that they had an important influence on
Holst's own career as a composer. He wrote many works expressly for them. 'A
Festival Chime,' 'Turn back O man,' 'Let all mortal flesh,' ' All people that
on earth do dwell,' and 'This have I done,' were all written for the Thaxted
Festivals in 1916-18. 'A Short Festival Te Deum' was written for Blackheath in
1922 and ‘The Coming of Christ' for Canterbury Cathedral in 1928. Monday
programmes included 'Opera as she is Wrote,' a brilliant skit on various
operatic styles (Thaxted), 'Seven Choruses from the Alcestis of Euripides,'
incorporated into a reading of the play (Blackheath), and The Golden Goose, a choral ballet specially written for the 1926
Festival. These Whitsuntide Festivals will have to be taken into account when a
full-length study of Holst comes to be written. They had an essential influence
on his career as a composer, and they also show how he put into practice his
belief in the social value of music. It is to be hoped that someone will
shortly collect the necessary material, a great part of which exists in the
memories of people who attended them.
Holst's
name will surely always figure on the small list of really great English
composers. He was a pioneer and, together with his friend Vaughan Williams, he
helped English music to break away finally from a long German domination. His
powerful and original mind was influenced by Purcell and our Tudor composers,
especially in regard to the problem of the marriage of words and music. His
knowledge of choral effect is amazing; writing that often looks dubious on
paper comes off magnificently in performance. There is a bleakness about his
later works that may prevent their appealing to a large public. The tragedy of
his early death is that he seemed to be evolving a new technique, and, had he
regained his health, there is no knowing what such an original mind would have
achieved.
Holst's
favourite Tudor composer was Weelkes. [3] The two men had much in common. Their
works are conspicuous for originality and boldness of harmonic outlook, and it
is fitting that the ashes of Gustav Holst should have been interred near to the
Weelkes tablet in Chichester Cathedral.
The Monthly
Musical Record,
July-August 1934 (with minor edits).
Notes:
[1]
Henry Purcell wrote King Arthur in 1691,
The Fairy Queen in 1692, and Dioclesian on 1690.
[2]
Jane Joseph (1894-1929) was an English composer, arranger and music teacher.
She had been pupil and latterly a colleague of Gustave Holst. See Holst’s appreciation
of her on this blog.
[3]
Thomas Weelkes (?1576–1623), was an important English writer of madrigals and liturgical
pieces. He contributed to the Elizabethan The
Triumphs of Oriana.