Non-Planets Holst

Started by vandermolen, April 21, 2007, 12:24:15 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

aligreto

I have just completed listening to this CD:





Walt Whitman Overture: This is obviously quite early Holst. It is rather effusive and profusely lyrical. There are, however, portentous voices in evidence here. This work is obviously an early one. One can judge this immediately.

Suite de Ballet: The music in the opening movement is light, airy and quite celebratory in tone. It could well be renamed as a Festival Overture. The music in the second movement has more depth to it. It is well constructed and paints wonderful sound pictures. However, the third movement is portentous in that one can begin to hear his later, more mature voice coming through, particularly in the counterpoint. The final movement is very colourful in terms of musical content, tone and orchestration. The orchestration throughout is also particularly fine.

Suite in E flat Op. 28/1: The opening movement contains very stirring and powerful music. The Intermezzo is, essentially, a lighter and livelier affair but is no less meaningful for that. The March is a robust and somewhat declamatory romp. The orchestration is wonderful throughout.

Suite in E flat Op. 28/2 "A Hampshire Suite": The opening March is light, bright and sunny and would be readily at home on a promenade bandstand on a summer afternoon. The second movement is a wonderfully poignant song without words using woodwinds to great effect. The third movement, Song of the Blacksmith, is a more robust song without words. It is wonderfully scored. The final movement is an animated folk dance based work interwoven with wonderful, exciting counterpoint. Once again the orchestration is terrific.

A Moorside Suite: This is a work with a quite plaintive and poignant extended central movement which is sandwiched between two more protracted but robust and assertive movements.


VonStupp

#321
Quote from: aligreto on June 22, 2022, 11:33:06 AM
I have just completed listening to this CD:



"A Hampshire Suite": The opening March is light, bright and sunny and would be readily at home on a promenade bandstand on a summer afternoon. The second movement is a wonderfully poignant song without words using woodwinds to great effect. The third movement, Song of the Blacksmith, is a more robust song without words. It is wonderfully scored. The final movement is an animated folk dance based work interwoven with wonderful, exciting counterpoint. Once again the orchestration is terrific.

Nice write up! It is a wonderful recording altogether.

As to the Hampshire Suite, in some ways, I almost prefer it to the 2nd Suite for Military Band which Hampshire was molded from, even though it is not orchestrated by Holst, and posthumously so, too (in addition to the others you mentioned).

Something about substituting clarinets and oboes in lieu of saxophones appeals to me more. On the other hand, the opening movement euphonium solo, played on cello in Hampshire (I believe), sounds so wrong after many years of hearing the wind-band original.

Of course, the Six Choral Folksongs for a cappella choir, also mostly based around that 2nd Suite for Military Band are an outright gas. I guess I am just a sucker for Holst in all forms.

VS
"All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff."

aligreto

Quote from: VonStupp on June 22, 2022, 12:27:28 PM
Nice write up! It is a wonderful recording altogether.

As to the Hampshire Suite, in some ways, I almost prefer it to the 2nd Suite for Military Band which Hampshire was molded from, even though it is not orchestrated by Holst, and posthumously so, too (in addition to the others you mentioned).

Something about substituting clarinets and oboes in lieu of saxophones appeals to me more. On the other hand, the opening movement euphonium solo, played on cello in Hampshire (I believe), sounds so wrong after many years of hearing the wind-band original.

Of course, the Six Choral Folksongs for a cappella choir, also mostly based around that 2nd Suite for Military Band are an outright gas. I guess I am just a sucker for Holst in all forms.

VS

Thank you very much for the comments and information.
I am not nearly as familiar with the music of Holst as I would like to be.

I am working with a download for this CD and I do not have access to the booklet.
I am intrigued to know please, if you know, who did orchestrate the music on this CD?

Lisztianwagner

Quote from: aligreto on June 22, 2022, 01:22:00 PM
Thank you very much for the comments and information.
I am not nearly as familiar with the music of Holst as I would like to be.

I am working with a download for this CD and I do not have access to the booklet.
I am intrigued to know please, if you know, who did orchestrate the music on this CD?

Gordon Jacob.
"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." - Gustav Mahler


Karl Henning

Quote from: VonStupp on June 22, 2022, 12:27:28 PM
Nice write up! It is a wonderful recording altogether.

As to the Hampshire Suite, in some ways, I almost prefer it to the 2nd Suite for Military Band which Hampshire was molded from, even though it is not orchestrated by Holst, and posthumously so, too (in addition to the others you mentioned).

Something about substituting clarinets and oboes in lieu of saxophones appeals to me more. On the other hand, the opening movement euphonium solo, played on cello in Hampshire (I believe), sounds so wrong after many years of hearing the wind-band original.

Of course, the Six Choral Folksongs for a cappella choir, also mostly based around that 2nd Suite for Military Band are an outright gas. I guess I am just a sucker for Holst in all forms.

VS

The two Military /band Suites are part of my youth, so for me, the scoring is just fine. I must seek out the Six Choral Folksongs
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

VonStupp

#327
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on June 22, 2022, 03:22:13 PM
The two Military /band Suites are part of my youth, so for me, the scoring is just fine. I must seek out the Six Choral Folksongs

No, I love the Military Suites; but given the chance between clarinet and saxophone, I choose clarinet 9 times out of 10.  :laugh:

Here are two; the first a real a cappella showpiece, the second, a choral stunner.

VS


https://www.youtube.com/v/OVDGz31wjqU&ab_channel=BaccholianSingersofLondon-Topic

https://www.youtube.com/v/iLTqb-fMHIA&ab_channel=BartjeBartmans

The last I heard all six was from the Holst Singers on Hyperion, for more samples:

https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W1077_66705

"All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff."

Karl Henning

Quote from: VonStupp on June 22, 2022, 03:31:16 PM
No, I love the Military Suites; but given the chance between clarinet and saxophone, I choose clarinet 9 times out of 10.  :laugh:

What can I say? It's the wise choice 8)
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Roasted Swan

I just happened across this performance of The Hymn of Jesus on YouTube;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AjiLqRC8EQ&t=166s

"The Hymn of Jesus," (from the "Acts of St. John"), Opus 37, composed by Gustav Holst, performed by the University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra and Grand Chorus at the Murchison Performing Arts Center on April 25, 2012 conductor Jerry McCoy.  It is really very good indeed - some lovely orchestral playing and high quality singing.  Perhaps the 1st great "Glory to Thee" is just a little polite?  Conductor Jerry mcCoy is on the button too - the only odd thing is he looks disconcertingly like Sir Charles Groves!

Christo

Quote from: Roasted Swan on July 25, 2022, 02:07:29 AM
I just happened across this performance of The Hymn of Jesus on YouTube;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AjiLqRC8EQ&t=166s

"The Hymn of Jesus," (from the "Acts of St. John"), Opus 37, composed by Gustav Holst, performed by the University of North Texas Symphony Orchestra and Grand Chorus at the Murchison Performing Arts Center on April 25, 2012 conductor Jerry McCoy.  It is really very good indeed - some lovely orchestral playing and high quality singing.  Perhaps the 1st great "Glory to Thee" is just a little polite?  Conductor Jerry mcCoy is on the button too - the only odd thing is he looks disconcertingly like Sir Charles Groves!
Love this performances of a piece I admire: thanks for sharing it!
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

Lisztianwagner

Some thoughts about Holst's Double Concerto for two violins and small orchestra, which I've recently revisited: it is an absolutely intriguing work for the use of bitonality, irregular rhythmic variations as well as the juxtaposition of parts contrasting in moods, and the brilliant, assured use of the counterpoint, inventive in the trimbric variety and the melodic lines reaching interesting harmonic points; nonetheless it doesn't lose the organic unity, a sober beauty and that simple, yet evocative and pastoral mysterious atmosphere, very typical of Holst.
The first movement is a suggestive Scherzo, that alternates calm, contemplative passages, with more energetic, intense ones, but also shows changes in pace with cross rhythms and in keys in the texture of the solo violins. The Lament is somberly melancholic and reflecting, and played for more than half by the solo violins, before the other instruments enter quietly and continue losing more and more intensity till ending in a pianissimo. The gloomy atmosphere of the previous movement is contrasted by the more colourful and lively third movement, that is introduced by a solo violins theme, continually repeated in the bass and developed in the variations, before ending in a darker coda (recalling themes from the Scherzo) which suddenly grows in a final powerful climax.

My favourite recording is the Hickox/CLS, but I've recently discovered the Griffiths/English Sinfonia too, that has impressed me very much for the beauty of playing and the clarity and fullness of the sound.
"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." - Gustav Mahler

Albion

#332
Currently embarking on listening to as much Holst as I can, whilst resolutely avoiding The Planets (miraculous though that score is). Although I have songs, part songs and the operas (even a substantial chunk of Sita) as well, I'm concentrating on the orchestral and choral works which means piling up these eight truly excellent discs:

Walt Whitman Overture; The Cotswolds Symphony; A Winter Idyll; Japanese Suite; Indra - Naxos 8.572914

Somerset Rhapsody; Beni Mora; Invocation; Fugal Overture; Egdon Heath; Hammersmith - Naxos 8.553696

A Choral Fantasia; Dirge for Two Veterans; Ode to Death - Chandos CHAN 9437

Ballet from The Perfect Fool; The Golden Goose; The Lure; The Morning of the Year - Chandos CHSA 5069

The Mystic Trumpeter; Choral Symphony - Chandos CHSA 5127

The Cloud Messenger; The Hymn of Jesus - Chandos CHAN 8901

Two Songs without Words; Fugal Concerto; Nocturne; Double Concerto; Lyric Movement; Brook Green Suite; Capriccio - Lyrita SRCD 223

Suite de Ballet; Suite in E flat; A Hampshire Suite; A Moorside Suite - Lyrita SRCD 210


So little of Holst is listened to, let alone programmed other than you-know-what, but there is just so much more to his wonderful and highly individual (barring the earliest works) music. That should be plenty for the weekend!

 8)
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

Albion

#333
Forget the recent Lyrita release of The Perfect Fool (1920-22), which was ridiculously cut and pretty indifferent. Here is the 1995 broadcast under Vernon Handley which is complete and splendidly realised. Also, the highly impressive and otherwise unrecorded Hecuba's Lament (1911). Both of these broadcasts deserve commercial release...

https://www.mediafire.com/file/2bsp2781ojb7sso/Holst_-_The_Perfect_Fool%252C_Op.39_%25281920-22%2529.mp3/file

https://www.mediafire.com/file/tlplovj9cyp8srw/Holst_-_Hecuba%2527s_Lament%252C_Op.31_No.1_%25281911%2529.mp3/file

 :)
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

Albion

#334
Holst was a composer who invariably confounded expectations and didn't court popularity. When the public expected a repeat of the spectacular orchestral riot The Planets he turned neo-classical (Fugal Overture and Fugal Concerto) and then decidedly bleak (Egdon Heath and Hammersmith), when they clamoured for a repeat of the phenomenal Hymn of Jesus he gave them an Ode to Death (always likely to cheer a geriatric audience), a wonderful but bizarre Choral Symphony (more a choral suite) and a particularly knobbly Choral Fantasia. His opera The Perfect Fool baffled just about everybody, but Holst didn't seem to really care very much unless the criticism came from his great friend Vaughan Williams. A truly great maverick and a great composer...

 :)
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

Albion

Particular highlights from my recent listening (see above) have been

Japanese Suite
Beni Mora
Fugal Overture
Egdon Heath
Hammersmith
Choral Fantasia
The Lure
Choral Symphony
Fugal Concerto
Double Concerto
Lyric movement
Capriccio
The Cloud Messenger
The Hymn of Jesus
Suite de Ballet


It's been really wonderful revisiting this repertoire after such a long time...

 :)
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

Albion

#336
What impresses me most, amongst many things, about Holst is that every one of his works sounds pretty much unlike any of his others - he was never content to sit on one style from one score to the next. For example, you would expect the Fugal Overture and the Fugal Concerto to sit side by side but they don't really. Likewise, the two late works Egdon Heath and Hammersmith inhabit completely different worlds in terms of aural conception. You could programme any one of The Planets separately as a stand-alone work such is the diversity within the suite. The Cloud Messenger sounds nothing like The Hymn of Jesus which sounds worlds away from Ode to Death which sounds highly distinct from the Choral Symphony which in turn is highly distinct from the Choral Fantasia. Also, with the operas, each one is a true individual from Sita through to The Wandering Scholar. This is not to say that there aren't certain harmonic and orchestral "trademarks" but he was constantly reinventing, certainly to a greater extent than Vaughan Williams and Bax. Cyril Scott's idiom definitely evolved, but once it reached maturity with its vertical harmony, rhythmic fluidity and orchestral glitter it was pretty much fixed for the remainder of his career. Similarly with Bantock, Brian and Holbrooke. You could play half a dozen major Holst scores to the unwary listener and easily convince them that they were by completely different composers. Sheer bloody genius and a questing spirit...

 :)
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

vandermolen

Quote from: Albion on December 17, 2022, 08:02:14 AMParticular highlights from my recent listening (see above) have been

Japanese Suite
Beni Mora
Fugal Overture
Egdon Heath
Hammersmith
Choral Fantasia
The Lure
Choral Symphony
Fugal Concerto
Double Concerto
Lyric movement
Capriccio
The Cloud Messenger
The Hymn of Jesus
Suite de Ballet


It's been really wonderful revisiting this repertoire after such a long time...

 :)
The Cloud Messenger is a particular favourite of the lesser-known works.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Albion

Quote from: vandermolen on December 17, 2022, 11:53:40 AMThe Cloud Messenger is a particular favourite of the lesser-known works.

It's just bloody gorgeous (track 4 under Hickox is particularly wonderful especially when the side-drum kicks in at around 08:26), but it will never (of course) be programmed in concert. Likewise with Bax we are so fortunate that virtually all of Holst's music has been committed to disc. You simply can't hear a work once and take it in so thank Dog for recording technology that enables repeated listening...

;)
A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)

Albion

A piece is worth your attention, and is itself for you praiseworthy, if it makes you feel you have not wasted your time over it. (SG, 1922)