Holst was influenced during these years by socialism, and attended lectures and speeches by George Bernard Shaw, with whom he shared a passion for vegetarianism, and by William Morris, both of whom were among the UK's most outspoken supporters of the socialist movement in the UK. Stanford, and there in 1895, he met fellow student and lifelong friend Ralph Vaughan Williams, whose own music was, for the most part, quite different from Holst’s, but whose praise for his work was abundant and who later shared an interest in Holst teaching the English vocal and choral tradition (folk song, madrigals, and church music). He attended the newly relocated Royal College of Music in London on a scholarship, studying with Charles V. Both he and his sister learned piano from an early age, but Holst, stricken with a nerve condition that affected the movement of his right hand in adolescence, gave up the piano for the trombone, which was less painful to play. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, Doyle, Gauguin, Monet, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, and Puccini. Holst grew up in the world of Oscar Wilde, H. Holst's father was the organist at All Saints' Church in Pittville, and his childhood home is now a small museum, devoted partly to Holst, and partly to illustrating local domestic life of the mid-19th century. As a frail child whose early recollections were musical, Holst had been taught to play piano and violin, and began composing when he was about twelve. Holst's father Adolph Holst, an organist, pianist, and choirmaster, taught piano lessons and gave recitals and his mother, Clara von Holst, who died when Gustav was eight, was a singer. Holst's grandfather, Gustavus von Holst of Riga, Latvia, a composer of elegant harp music, moved to England, becoming a notable harp teacher. He was born in 1874 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England to a family of Swedish extraction (by way of Latvia and Russia), and was educated at Cheltenham Grammar School for Boys. He was originally named Gustavus Theodor von Holst but he dropped the von from his name in response to anti-German sentiment in Britain during World War I, making it official by deed poll in 1918. He was the brother of Hollywood actor Ernest Cossart, and father of the composer and conductor Imogen Holst, who wrote a biography of her father in 1938. Holst died on May 25, 1934, after stomach surgery, at age 59. Holst became music master at St Paul's Girls' School in 1905 and also director of music at Morley College in 1907, continuing in both posts until retirement (as detailed below). Gustav Holst wrote almost 200 catalogued compositions, including orchestral suites, operas, ballets, concertos, choral hymns, and songs. Holst's music is well known for unconventional use of metre and haunting melodies. Having studied at the Royal College of Music in London, his early work was influenced by Ravel, Grieg, Richard Strauss, and Ralph Vaughan Williams, but most of his music is highly original, with influences from Hindu spiritualism and English folk tunes. Holst is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets. Gustav Holst (born SeptemCheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK - died May 25, 1934) was an English composer and a music teacher for over 20 years.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |