Gustav Holst

Holst's popular suite was named for the St. Paul's Girls' School of Hammersmith, London - where he was the music director from 1904 until his death thirty years later. Composed in 1912 as a token of gratitude for the installation of a sound-proof teaching studio, where Holst composed this and nearly all subsequent works. The four movement suite was also premiered at St. Paul's by the school orchestra under Holst's direction in the winter months of 1913. Not long after the premiere, the school purchased wind instruments, resulting in the addition of parts for flutes, oboe, clarinets and horn to the original string orchestra setting. The premiere date of this amended setting is unknown but the extra parts seem to have been added by 1920. Clark McAlister's new edition the setting with winds is based on the composer's manuscript, which differs in several respects from the string orchestra setting published in 1922. McAlister's score was first issued in 2006 by the now-defunct publisher E. F. Kalmus. Serenissima is proud to make this outstanding work available and is now the exclusive publisher for not only the study score offered here but the large score and orchestra parts.

Holst's popular suite was named for the St. Paul's Girls' School of Hammersmith, London - where he was the music director from 1904 until his death thirty years later. Composed in 1912 as a token of gratitude for the installation of a sound-proof teaching studio, where Holst composed this and nearly all subsequent works. The four movement suite was also premiered at St. Paul's by the school orchestra under Holst's direction in the winter months of 1913. Now available in a newly-engraved, easy-to-read score edited by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. which is based on the composer's manuscript and first edition score and parts. IMSLP page Wikipedia

Considered by many to by Holst's most beautiful choral work, Ode to Death was composed as a tribute to friends who died in World War I. Using the poetry of Walt Whitman, who he considered a mystic new world prophet, Holst set the last section of "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" using open chords with the feeling of infinite space. This haunting classic is now available in a newly engraved and thoroughly researched score by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. The full score and orchestra parts are also available for sale from Serenissima Music.

Composed while working on The Planets, Holst wrote this suite for the Japanese dance Michio Ito in 1916. Ito supplied the Japanese melodies for all numbers save the "Marionette Dance" and possibly performed in the premiere at London's Coliseum Theatre the same year. The first confirmed performance of this 11-minute suite took place on September 1, 1919 in Queen's Hall with the New Queen's Hall Orchestra conducted by the composer. The suite was finally published in 1925 by Hawkes and Son. This newly engraved edition prepared by Richard W. Sargeant draws on primary sources and is a welcome addition to the libraries of Holst aficionados worldwide. With a clean and readable layout, the score is a reduced-format version of the full score - also available from Seremissima Music along with the orchestral parts.

Holst composed the Moorside Suite for the BBC and the National Brass Band Festival Committee for the final of the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain at Crystal Palace in 1928. He was excited to be able to listen to all 15 performances of the competition, in which the Black Dyke Mills Band conduced by William Halliwell won. This was his only work for Brass band and its immediate popularity and success lead to other commissions for the genre. For the newly engraved score offered here, editor Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. has reorganized the traditional British brass band instrumentation for the symphonic brass ensemble found in most orchestras, with the additional flugelhorn and euphonium to retain something of the sound Holst heard at the 1928 premiere. The full score and instrumental parts for this new edition are also available for sale from Serenissma Music.

Gustav Holst's 'Choral Fantasy on Old Carols' was composed in 1910, just two years before the similar work, Fantasia on Christmas Carols, by his good friend Ralph Vaughan Williams made its debut. It seems to have been composed for a Christmas concert given in London by Morley College, where the premiere likely took place. The carols employed - Good Christian Men Rejoice, God Rest You Merry Gentlemen, Come Ye Lofty, Come Ye Lowly, and The First Nowell - include a couple also found in the Vaughan Williams work. This newly engraved and researched vocal score by Richard W. Sargeant Jr. is based upon the composer's manuscript and the first edition vocal score and orchestral parts issued by Novello in the same year it was written. Holst's fantasy is shorter by about 5 minutes than the Vaughan Williams and offers a different view of the familiar tunes. Printed in a very readable large size with a chorus' needs in mind, this new definitive vocal score will be a welcome addition to choral libraries everywhere. The full conductor's score and orchestral parts are also available from Serenissima Music.

Gustav Holst's 'Choral Fantasy on Old Carols' was composed in 1910, just two years before the similar work, Fantasia on Christmas Carols, by his good friend Ralph Vaughan Williams made its debut. It seems to have been composed for a Christmas concert given in London by Morley College, where the premiere likely took place. The carols employed - Good Christian Men Rejoice, God Rest You Merry Gentlemen, Come Ye Lofty, Come Ye Lowly, and The First Nowell - include a couple also found in the Vaughan Williams work. This newly engraved and researched edition by Richard W. Sargeant Jr. is based upon the composer's manuscript and the first edition vocal score and orchestral parts issued by Novello in the same year it was written. Holst's fantasy is shorter by about 5 minutes than the Vaughan Williams and offers a different view of the familiar carols. The full conductor's score and orchestral parts are also available from Serenissima Music.

Together for first time in a single volume, two classic wind band scores: English composer Gustav Holst's First Suite in E-flat for Military Band and Second Suite in F for Military Band. Now entering their second century as part of the wind band repertoire, these works are performed by bands around the world, from school bands to professional military bands. Designed to serve as study scores, each piece has been newly engraved using contemporary publication standards.

Spectacular symphonic suite, scored for large orchestral forces and a wordless chorus, is divided into seven movements, the music of each embodying the astrological and mystical qualities of a different planet. Remarkable emotional sweep and innovative techniques have made the work a staple of the orchestral repertoire. Only full-size score available.