Editing Gustav Holst (section)

==Life and career==
===Early years===
====Family background====
[[File:Holst-family-tree.tif|thumb|upright=1.4|right|alt=family tree diagram showing Gustav in relation to three earlier generations|{{center|Holst family tree (simplified)}}]]
Holst was born in [[Cheltenham]], Gloucestershire, the elder of the two children of Adolph von Holst, a professional musician, and his wife, Clara Cox, ''née'' Lediard. She was of mostly British descent,{{refn|Clara had a Spanish great-grandmother, who eloped and lived with an Irish peer; Imogen Holst speculates whether this family scandal may have mitigated the Lediard family's disapproval of Clara's marrying a musician.<ref>Holst (1969), p. 6</ref>|group=n}} daughter of a respected [[Cirencester]] solicitor;<ref name=m3>Mitchell, p. 3</ref> the Holst side of the family was of mixed Swedish, Latvian and German ancestry, with at least one professional musician in each of the previous three generations.<ref name=m2>Mitchell, p. 2</ref>

One of Holst's great-grandfathers, Matthias Holst, born in Riga, Latvia, [[Baltic Germans|was of German origin]]; he served as composer and harp-teacher to the Imperial Russian Court in [[Saint Petersburg|St Petersburg]].<ref name=grove/> Matthias's son Gustavus, who moved to England with his parents as a child in 1802,<ref name=short9>Short, p. 9</ref> was a composer of salon-style music and a well-known harp teacher. He appropriated the aristocratic prefix "von" and added it to the family name in the hope of gaining enhanced prestige and attracting pupils.{{refn|Imogen Holst records, "A second cousin in the eighteenth century had been honoured by the German Emperor for a neat piece of work in international diplomacy, and the unscrupulous Matthias had calmly borrowed the 'von' in the hopes that it might bring in a few more piano pupils."<ref name=h196952/>|group=n}} 

Holst's father, Adolph von Holst, became organist and choirmaster at [[All Saints' Church, Cheltenham|All Saints' Church]], Cheltenham;<ref name="Short, p. 10">Short, p. 10</ref> he also taught, and gave piano recitals.<ref name="Short, p. 10"/> His wife, Clara, a former pupil, was a talented singer and pianist. They had two sons; Gustav's younger brother, Emil Gottfried, became known as [[Ernest Cossart]], a successful actor in the [[West End theatre|West End]], New York and [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]].<ref>Short, p. 476; "The Theatres", ''The Times'', 16 May 1929, p. 1; [[Brooks Atkinson|Atkinson, Brooks]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/1932/04/05/archives/over-the-coffee-cups-with-george-bernard-shaw-in-a-play-entitled-to.html "Over the Coffee Cups With George Bernard Shaw in a Play Entitled ''Too True to Be Good''], ''The New York Times'', p. 27, 5 April 1932 {{subscription}}; and Jones, Idwal. [https://www.nytimes.com/1937/11/07/archives/buttling-a-way-to-fame.html "Buttling a Way to Fame"], ''The New York Times'', 7 November 1937 {{subscription}}</ref> Clara died in February 1882, and the family moved to another house in Cheltenham,{{refn|Adolph moved the family from 4 Pittville Terrace (named today Clarence Road) to 1 Vittoria Walk.<ref name=dnb>{{cite web|author-link= John Warrack|last= Warrack|first= John|title= Holst, Gustav Theodore|url= http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33963?docPos=1|publisher= Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online edition|date= January 2011|accessdate= 4 April 2013|archive-date= 20 June 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210620115640/https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-33963;jsessionid=888D81E17EB3EF4A9B587C296B19218D?docPos=1|url-status= live}}{{subscription}}</ref><ref>Short, p. 11</ref>|group=n}} where Adolph recruited his sister Nina to help raise the boys. Gustav recognised her devotion to the family and dedicated several of his early compositions to her.<ref name=m3/> In 1885 Adolph married Mary Thorley Stone, another of his pupils. They had two sons, Matthias (known as "Max") and Evelyn ("Thorley").<ref name=m34/> Mary von Holst was absorbed in [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|theosophy]] and not greatly interested in domestic matters. All four of Adolph's sons were subject to what one biographer calls "benign neglect",<ref name=m34>Mitchell, pp. 3–4.</ref> and Gustav in particular was "not overburdened with attention or understanding, with a weak sight and a weak chest, both neglected—he was 'miserable and scared'."<ref>Dickinson (1957), p. 135</ref>

====Childhood and youth====
Holst was taught to play the piano and the violin; he enjoyed the former but hated the latter.<ref name=h19697>Holst (1969), p. 7</ref> At the age of twelve he took up the trombone at his father's suggestion, thinking that playing a brass instrument might improve his [[asthma]].<ref name=timesobit>{{cite news|title=Mr Gustav Holst|newspaper=The Times|date=26 May 1934|page=7}}</ref> Holst was educated at [[Pate's Grammar School|Cheltenham Grammar School]] between 1886 and 1891.<ref>Holst (1981), p. 15</ref> He started composing in or about 1886; inspired by [[Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay|Macaulay]]'s poem ''[[s:Horatius|Horatius]]'' he began, but soon abandoned, an ambitious setting of the work for chorus and orchestra.<ref name=h19697/> His early compositions included piano pieces, organ voluntaries, songs, anthems and a symphony (from 1892). His main influences at this stage were [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]], [[Frédéric Chopin|Chopin]], [[Edvard Grieg|Grieg]] and above all [[Arthur Sullivan|Sullivan]].<ref>Mitchell, p. 5 and Holst (1969) p. 23</ref>{{refn|Ralph Vaughan Williams quoted [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]'' in characterising Holst: "'in spite of all temptations [to belong to other nations]', which his name may suggest, Holst 'remains an Englishman'"<ref name=vwml>{{cite journal|last=Vaughan Williams|first=Ralph|title=Gustav Holst, I|journal=[[Music & Letters]]|date=July 1920|volume=1|issue=3|jstor=725903|pages=181–90|doi=10.1093/ml/1.3.181}} {{subscription}}</ref>|group=n}}

Adolph tried to steer his son away from composition, hoping that he would have a career as a pianist. Holst was oversensitive and miserable. His eyes were weak, but no one realized that he needed to wear spectacles. Holst's health played a decisive part in his musical future; he had never been strong, and in addition to his asthma and poor eyesight he suffered from [[neuritis]], which made playing the piano difficult.<ref>Holst (1969), p. 9</ref> He said that the affected arm was "like a jelly overcharged with electricity".<ref>Holst (1969), p. 20</ref>

After Holst left school in 1891, Adolph paid for him to spend four months in Oxford studying [[counterpoint]] with George Frederick Sims, organist of [[Merton College, Oxford|Merton College]].<ref>Short, p. 16</ref> On his return, Holst obtained his first professional appointment, aged seventeen, as organist and choirmaster at [[Wyck Rissington]], Gloucestershire. The post brought with it the conductorship of the [[Bourton-on-the-Water]] Choral Society, which offered no extra remuneration but provided valuable experience that enabled him to hone his conducting skills.<ref name=h19697/> In November 1891 Holst gave what was perhaps his first public performance as a pianist; he and his father played the [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]] ''[[Hungarian Dances (Brahms)|Hungarian Dances]]'' at a concert in Cheltenham.<ref name=m6>Mitchell, p. 6</ref> The programme for the event gives his name as "Gustav" rather than "Gustavus"; he was called by the shorter version from his early years.<ref name=m6/>

===Royal College of Music===
In 1892 Holst wrote the music for an operetta in the style of [[Gilbert and Sullivan]], ''Lansdown Castle, or The Sorcerer of Tewkesbury''.<ref>Holst (1981), p. 17</ref> The piece was performed at Cheltenham Corn Exchange in February 1893; it was well received and its success encouraged him to persevere with composing.<ref>Short, pp. 17–18</ref> He applied for a scholarship at the [[Royal College of Music]] (RCM) in London, but the composition scholarship for that year was won by [[Samuel Coleridge-Taylor]].<ref name=h19698>Holst (1969), p. 8</ref> Holst was accepted as a non-scholarship student, and Adolph borrowed £100 to cover the first year's expenses.{{refn|According to Imogen Holst the most probable lender was Adolph's sister Nina.<ref name=h19698/>|group=n}} Holst left Cheltenham for London in May 1893. Money was tight, and partly from frugality and partly from his own inclination he became a vegetarian and a teetotaller.<ref name=h19698/> Two years later he was finally granted a scholarship, which slightly eased his financial difficulties, but he retained his austere personal regime.<ref>Holst (1969), pp. 13 and 15</ref>
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Holst's professors at the RCM were Frederick Sharpe (piano), William Stephenson Hoyte (organ), George Case (trombone),{{refn|group=n|Case was instrumental in having Beethoven's [[Three Equals for four trombones, WoO 30]] played at [[W. E. Gladstone]]'s funeral in May 1898.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mansfield |first=Orlando A. |title=Some Anomalies in Orchestral Accompaniments to Church Music |journal=The Musical Quarterly |volume=2 |issue=2 |date=April 1916 |publisher=Oxford University Press |jstor=737953 |doi=10.1093/mq/II.2.199 |url=https://academic.oup.com/mq/search-results?page=1&q=Some%20Anomalies%20in%20Orchestral%20Accompaniments%20to%20Church%20Music%20%7Cjournal&fl_SiteID=5223&SearchSourceType=1&allJournals=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=3 April 2021 |archive-date=20 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620115638/https://academic.oup.com/mq/search-results?page=1&q=Some+Anomalies+in+Orchestral+Accompaniments+to+Church+Music+%7Cjournal&fl_SiteID=5223&SearchSourceType=1&allJournals=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>}} [[Georges Jacobi]] (instrumentation) and the director of the college, [[Hubert Parry]] (history). After preliminary lessons with [[W. S. Rockstro]] and [[Frederick Bridge]], Holst was granted his wish to study composition with [[Charles Villiers Stanford]].<ref>Mitchell, p. 9</ref>

To support himself during his studies Holst played the trombone professionally, at seaside resorts in the summer and in London theatres in the winter.<ref name=h198119>Holst (1981), p. 19</ref> His daughter and biographer, [[Imogen Holst]], records that from his fees as a player "he was able to afford the necessities of life: board and lodging, manuscript paper, and tickets for standing room in the gallery at Covent Garden Opera House on Wagner evenings".<ref name=h198119/> He secured an occasional engagement in symphony concerts, playing in 1897 under the baton of [[Richard Strauss]] at the [[Queen's Hall]].<ref name=grove>{{cite web|last=Matthews|first=Colin|title=Holst, Gustav|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/13252|publisher=Grove Music Online|accessdate=22 March 2013|author-link=Colin Matthews|archive-date=31 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531051939/https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000013252|url-status=live}}{{subscription}}</ref>

Like many musicians of his generation, Holst came under [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]'s spell. He had recoiled from the music of ''[[Götterdämmerung]]'' when he heard it at Covent Garden in 1892, but encouraged by his friend and fellow-student [[Fritz Hart]] he persevered and quickly became an ardent Wagnerite.<ref>Holst (1969), p. 11</ref> Wagner supplanted Sullivan as the main influence on his music,<ref>Holst (1969), pp. 23, 41; and Short, p. 41</ref> and for some time, as Imogen put it, "ill-assimilated wisps of ''[[Tristan und Isolde|Tristan]]'' inserted themselves on nearly every page of his own songs and overtures."<ref name=h198119/> Stanford admired some of Wagner's works, and had in his earlier years been influenced by him,<ref>Rodmell, p. 49</ref> but Holst's sub-Wagnerian compositions met with his disapprobation: "It won't do, me boy; it won't do".<ref name=h198119/> Holst respected Stanford, describing him to a fellow-pupil, [[Herbert Howells]], as "the one man who could get any one of us out of a technical mess",<ref>{{cite journal|last=Howells|first=Herbert|title=Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924). An Address at His Centenary| jstor= 766209|work=Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, 79th Sess. (1952–1953)|pages=19–31}} {{subscription}}</ref> but he found that his fellow students, rather than the faculty members, had the greater influence on his development.<ref name=h198119/>

In 1895, shortly after celebrating his twenty-first birthday, Holst met [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]], who became a lifelong friend and had more influence on Holst's music than anybody else.<ref>Mitchell, p. 15</ref> Stanford emphasised the need for his students to be self-critical, but Holst and Vaughan Williams became one another's chief critics; each would play his latest composition to the other while still working on it. Vaughan Williams later observed, "What one really learns from an Academy or College is not so much from one's official teachers as from one's fellow-students&nbsp;... [we discussed] every subject under the sun from the lowest note of the double bassoon to the philosophy of ''[[Jude the Obscure]]''.<ref>Moore, p. 26</ref> In 1949 he wrote of their relationship, "Holst declared that his music was influenced by that of his friend: the converse is certainly true."<ref name=archive>{{cite web|last=Vaughan Williams|first=Ralph|title=Holst, Gustav Theodore (1874–1934)|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/olddnb/33963|publisher=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online edition|accessdate=22 March 2013|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924162936/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/olddnb/33963|url-status=live}} {{ODNBsub}}</ref>

The year 1895 was also the bicentenary of [[Henry Purcell]], which was marked by various performances including Stanford conducting ''[[Dido and Aeneas]]'' at the [[Lyceum Theatre, London|Lyceum Theatre]];<ref>{{cite book|last=de Val|first=Dorothy|title=In Search of Song: The Life and Times of Lucy Broadwood|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|series=Music in Nineteenth-Century Britain|date=2013|page=66|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=scuhAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA66|access-date=18 May 2016}}</ref> the work profoundly impressed Holst,<ref name=grove/> who over twenty years later confessed to a friend that his search for "the (or <u>a</u>) musical idiom of the English language" had been inspired "unconsciously" by "hearing the [[Recitative|recits]] in Purcell's ''Dido''".<ref name=GHolstWhit23>Holst, Gustav (1974), p. 23</ref>

Another early influence was [[William Morris]].<ref name=h196916>Holst (1969), p. 16</ref> In Vaughan Williams's words, "It was now that Holst discovered the feeling of unity with his fellow men which made him afterwards a great teacher. A sense of comradeship rather than political conviction led him, while still a student, to join the [[Socialist League (UK, 1885)|Socialist League]] which met at Kelmscott House in [[Hammersmith]]."<ref name=archive/> At [[Kelmscott House]], Morris's home, Holst attended lectures by his host and [[George Bernard Shaw|Bernard Shaw]]. His own socialism was moderate in character, but he enjoyed the club for its good company and his admiration of Morris as a man.<ref>Holst (1969), p. 17</ref> His ideals were influenced by Morris's but had a different emphasis. Morris had written, "I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few. I want all persons to be educated according to their capacity, not according to the amount of money which their parents happen to have".<ref>Holst (1981), p. 21</ref> Holst said, "'Aristocracy in art'—art is not for all but only for the chosen few—but the only way to find those few is to bring art to everyone—then the artists have a sort of masonic signal by which they recognise each other in the crowd."{{refn|Vaughan Williams recorded this in a letter dated 19 September 1937 to Imogen Holst, signing himself, as was his custom, "Uncle Ralph". In the same letter he wrote of Holst's view "That the artist is born again & starts afresh with every new work."<ref>Vaughan Williams, p. 252</ref>|group=n}} He was invited to conduct the Hammersmith Socialist Choir, teaching them [[madrigals]] by [[Thomas Morley]], choruses by Purcell, and works by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], Wagner and himself.<ref name=ih198123/> One of his choristers was (Emily) Isobel Harrison (1876–1969), a beautiful [[soprano]] two years his junior. He fell in love with her; she was at first unimpressed by him, but she came round and they were engaged, though with no immediate prospect of marriage given Holst's tiny income.<ref name=ih198123>Holst (1981), p. 23</ref>

===Professional musician===
[[File:HolstStatue.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=outdoor full length statue showing Holst conducting|Statue of Holst at his birthplace, [[Cheltenham]]. He is shown with the baton in his left hand, his frequent practice because of the [[neuritis]] in his right arm.<ref>Holst (1981), p. 60</ref>]]
In 1898 the RCM offered Holst a further year's scholarship, but he felt that he had learned as much as he could there and that it was time, as he put it, to "learn by doing".<ref name=ih198123/> Some of his compositions were published and performed; the previous year ''[[The Times]]'' had praised his song "Light Leaves Whisper", "a moderately elaborate composition in six parts, treated with a good deal of expression and poetic feeling".<ref>{{cite news|title=The Hospital for Women|newspaper=The Times|date=26 May 1897|page=12}}</ref>

Occasional successes notwithstanding, Holst found that "man cannot live by composition alone";<ref name=archive/> he took posts as organist at various London churches, and continued playing the trombone in theatre orchestras. In 1898 he was appointed first trombonist and ''[[répétiteur]]'' with the [[Carl Rosa Opera Company]] and toured with the [[Royal Scottish National Orchestra|Scottish Orchestra]]. Though a capable rather than a virtuoso player he won the praise of the leading conductor [[Hans Richter (conductor)|Hans Richter]], for whom he played at Covent Garden.<ref>Short, p. 34; and Holst (1969), p. 20</ref> His salary was only just enough to live on,<ref name=ih198127>Holst (1981), p. 27</ref> and he supplemented it by playing in a popular orchestra called the "White Viennese Band", conducted by Stanislas Wurm.<ref>Short, p. 28</ref>

Holst enjoyed playing for Wurm, and learned much from him about drawing [[rubato]] from players.<ref>Holst (1969), p. 15</ref>{{refn|Imogen Holst recounts an occasion when Holst was persuaded to relax his teetotalism. Fuelled by a single glass of champagne he played on his trombone the [[piccolo]] part during a waltz, to Wurm's astonishment and admiration.<ref name=h196916/>|group=n}} Nevertheless, longing to devote his time to composing, Holst found the necessity of playing for "the Worm" or any other light orchestra "a wicked and loathsome waste of time".<ref>Holst (1981), p. 28</ref> Vaughan Williams did not altogether agree with his friend about this; he admitted that some of the music was "trashy" but thought it had been useful to Holst nonetheless: "To start with, the very worst a trombonist has to put up with is as nothing compared to what a church organist has to endure; and secondly, Holst is above all an orchestral composer, and that sure touch which distinguishes his orchestral writing is due largely to the fact that he has been an orchestral player; he has learnt his art, both technically and in substance, not at second hand from text books and models, but from actual live experience."<ref name=vwml/>

With a modest income secured, Holst was able to marry Isobel; the ceremony was at Fulham Register Office on 22 June 1901. Their marriage lasted until his death; there was one child, [[Imogen Holst|Imogen]], born in 1907.<ref>Holst (1969), p. 29</ref> On 24 April 1902 [[Daniel Eyers Godfrey|Dan Godfrey]] and the [[Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra|Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra]] premiered Holst's symphony ''The Cotswolds'' (Op. 8), the slow movement of which is a lament for William Morris who had died in October 1896, three years before Holst began work on the piece.<ref>Dickinson (1957), p. 37</ref> In 1903 Adolph von Holst died, leaving a small legacy. Holst and his wife decided, as Imogen later put it, that "as they were always hard up the only thing to do was to spend it all at once on a holiday in Germany".<ref>Holst (1969), p. 24</ref>

===Composer and teacher===
[[File:St Paul's Girls' School, London 03.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=commemorative plaque to Holst|Blue plaque at [[St Paul's Girls' School]], London]]
While in Germany, Holst reappraised his professional life, and in 1903 he decided to abandon orchestral playing to concentrate on composition.<ref name=dnb/> His earnings as a composer were too little to live on, and two years later he accepted the offer of a teaching post at [[James Allen's Girls' School]], [[Dulwich]], which he held until 1921. He also taught at the [[Mary Ward Centre|Passmore Edwards Settlement]], where among other innovations he gave the British premieres of two Bach cantatas.<ref>Holst (1981), p. 30</ref> The two teaching posts for which he is probably best known were director of music at [[St Paul's Girls' School]], [[Hammersmith]], from 1905 until his death, and director of music at [[Morley College]] from 1907 to 1924.<ref name=dnb/>

Vaughan Williams wrote of the former establishment: "Here he did away with the childish sentimentality which schoolgirls were supposed to appreciate and substituted Bach and [[Tomás Luis de Victoria|Vittoria]]; a splendid background for immature minds."<ref name=archive/> Several of Holst's pupils at St Paul's went on to distinguished careers, including the soprano [[Joan Cross]]<ref>Gibbs, pp. 161–162</ref> and the oboist and [[cor anglais]] player Helen Gaskell.<ref>Gibbs, p. 168</ref>

Of Holst's impact on Morley College, Vaughan Williams wrote: "[A] bad tradition had to be broken down. The results were at first discouraging, but soon a new spirit appeared and the music of Morley College, together with its offshoot the 'Whitsuntide festival'&nbsp;... became a force to be reckoned with".<ref name=archive/> Before Holst's appointment, Morley College had not treated music very seriously (Vaughan Williams's "bad tradition"), and at first Holst's exacting demands drove many students away. He persevered, and gradually built up a class of dedicated music-lovers.<ref>Holst (1969), p. 30</ref>

According to the composer [[Edmund Rubbra]], who studied under him in the early 1920s, Holst was "a teacher who often came to lessons weighted, not with the learning of [[Ebenezer Prout|Prout]] and [[John Stainer|Stainer]], but with a miniature score of ''[[Petrushka]]'' or the then recently published [[Mass in G minor (Vaughan Williams)|Mass in G minor]] of Vaughan Williams".<ref>Rubbra, p. 40</ref> He never sought to impose his own ideas on his composition pupils. Rubbra recalled that he would divine a student's difficulties and gently guide him to finding the solution for himself. "I do not recall that Holst added one single note of his own to anything I wrote, but he would suggest—if I agreed!—that, given such and such a phrase, the following one would be better if it took such and such a course; if I did not see this, the point would not be insisted upon&nbsp;... He frequently took away [because of] his abhorrence of unessentials."<ref>Rubbra, p. 41</ref>

[[File:Muller-Whitman-Hardy-Bridges.tif|thumb|left|alt=mug shots of four literary luminaries from the 19th and 20th centuries|Literary influences, from top left clockwise: [[Max Müller]], [[Walt Whitman]], [[Thomas Hardy]], [[Robert Bridges]]]]
As a composer Holst was frequently inspired by literature. He set poetry by [[Thomas Hardy]] and [[Robert Bridges]] and, a particular influence, [[Walt Whitman]], whose words he set in "Dirge for Two Veterans" and ''The Mystic Trumpeter'' (1904). He wrote an orchestral ''Walt Whitman Overture'' in 1899.<ref name=grove/> While on tour with the Carl Rosa company Holst had read some of [[Max Müller]]'s books, which inspired in him a keen interest in [[Sanskrit]] texts, particularly the [[Rigveda|Rig Veda]] hymns.<ref name=r30/> He found the existing English versions of the texts unconvincing,{{refn|Holst considered them either "misleading translations in colloquial English" or else "strings of English words with no meanings to an English mind."<ref name=h24>Holst (1981), p. 24</ref>|group=n}} and decided to make his own translations, despite his lack of skills as a linguist. He enrolled in 1909 at [[University College London|University College, London]], to study the language.<ref name=h24/>

Imogen commented on his translations: "He was not a poet, and there are occasions when his verses seem naïve. But they never sound vague or slovenly, for he had set himself the task of finding words that would be 'clear and dignified' and that would 'lead the listener into another world'".<ref name=h198125>Holst (1981), p. 25</ref> His settings of translations of Sanskrit texts included ''Sita'' (1899–1906), a three-act opera based on an episode in the ''[[Ramayana]]'' (which he eventually entered for a competition for English opera set by the Milan music publisher [[Casa Ricordi|Tito Ricordi]]);<ref>Short, p. 55</ref> but which was not performed until October 2024 in [[Saarländisches Staatstheater|Saarbrücken]].<ref>Jaffé, Daniel. Review of Sita in Saarbrücken. ''[[Opera (British magazine)|Opera]]'', January 2025, Vol. 76 No. 1, pp. 78–80.</ref> ''[[Savitri (opera)|Savitri]]'' (1908), a [[chamber opera]] based on a tale from the ''[[Mahabharata]]''; four groups of ''Hymns from the Rig Veda'' (1908–14); and two texts originally by [[Kālidāsa]]: ''Two Eastern Pictures'' (1909–10) and ''The Cloud Messenger'' (a setting of the ''[[Meghadūta]]'', 1910, premiered in 1913).<ref name=grove/>

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, British musical circles had experienced a new interest in national folk music. Some composers, such as Sullivan and [[Edward Elgar|Elgar]], remained indifferent,<ref>Hughes, p. 159 (Sullivan); and Kennedy, p. 10 (Elgar)</ref> but Parry, Stanford, Stainer and [[Alexander Mackenzie (composer)|Alexander Mackenzie]] were founding members of the [[English Folk Dance and Song Society|Folk-Song Society]].<ref name=graebe/> Parry considered that by recovering English folk song, English composers would find an authentic national voice; he commented, "in true folk-songs there is no sham, no got-up glitter, and no vulgarity".<ref name=graebe/> Vaughan Williams was an early and enthusiastic convert to this cause, going round the English countryside collecting and noting down folk songs. These had an influence on Holst. Though not as passionate on the subject as his friend, he incorporated a number of folk melodies in his own compositions and made several arrangements of folk songs collected by others.<ref name=graebe>{{cite journal|last=Graebe|first=Martin|title=Gustav Holst, Songs of the West, and the English Folk Song Movement|journal=Folk Music Journal|year=2011|volume=10|issue=1|pages=5–41|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/884536926 }}{{subscription}}</ref> The ''Somerset Rhapsody'' (1906–07), was written at the suggestion of the folk-song collector [[Cecil Sharp]] and made use of tunes that Sharp had noted down. Holst described its performance at the Queen's Hall in 1910 as "my first real success".<ref>Short, p. 88</ref> A few years later Holst became excited by another musical renaissance—the rediscovery of English madrigal composers. [[Thomas Weelkes|Weelkes]] was his favourite of all the Tudor composers, but [[William Byrd|Byrd]] also meant much to him.<ref>Short, p. 207</ref>

[[File:House on The Terrace, Barnes - geograph.org.uk - 1309706.jpg|thumb|right|alt=exterior of small, pretty early 19th-century house|upright|The house in [[Barnes, London|Barnes]] where Holst lived between 1908 and 1913. A commemorative [[blue plaque]] is fixed to the front]]
Holst was a keen [[hiking|rambler]]. He walked extensively in England, Italy, France and Algeria. In 1908 he travelled to Algeria on medical advice as a treatment for asthma and the depression that he suffered after his opera ''Sita'' failed to win the Ricordi prize.<ref>Short, pp. 74–75</ref> This trip inspired the suite ''[[Beni Mora]]'', which incorporated music he heard in the Algerian streets.<ref>Mitchell, p. 91</ref> Vaughan Williams wrote of this exotic work, "if it had been played in Paris rather than London it would have given its composer a European reputation, and played in Italy would probably have caused a riot."<ref name=ml2>{{cite journal|last=Vaughan Williams|first=Ralph|title=Gustav Holst (Continued)|journal=[[Music & Letters]]|date=October 1920|volume=1|issue=4| jstor= 726997|pages=305–317|doi=10.1093/ml/1.4.305}} {{subscription}}</ref>

===1910s===
In June 1911 Holst and his Morley College students gave the first performance since the seventeenth century of Purcell's ''[[The Fairy-Queen]]''. The full score had been lost soon after Purcell's death in 1695, and had only recently been found. Twenty-eight Morley students copied out the complete vocal and orchestral parts. There were 1,500 pages of music and it took the students almost eighteen months to copy them out in their spare time.<ref>Holst (1981), pp. 30–31</ref> A concert performance of the work was given at [[The Old Vic]], preceded by an introductory talk by Vaughan Williams. ''The Times'' praised Holst and his forces for "a most interesting and artistic performance of this very important work".<ref>{{cite news|title=Music—Purcell's 'Fairy Queen'|newspaper=The Times|date=12 June 1911|page=10}}</ref>

After this success, Holst was disappointed the following year by the lukewarm reception of his choral work ''The Cloud Messenger''. He again went travelling, accepting an invitation from [[H. Balfour Gardiner]] to join him and the brothers [[Clifford Bax|Clifford]] and [[Arnold Bax]] in Spain.<ref>Mitchell, p. 118</ref> During this holiday Clifford Bax introduced Holst to [[astrology]], an interest that later inspired his suite ''[[The Planets]]''. Holst cast his friends' [[horoscope]]s for the rest of his life and referred to astrology as his "pet vice".<ref>Holst (1969), p. 43</ref>

In 1913, St Paul's Girls' School opened a new music wing, and Holst composed ''[[St Paul's Suite]]'' for the occasion. The new building contained a sound-proof room, handsomely equipped, where he could work undisturbed.<ref>Mitchell, p. 126</ref> Holst and his family moved to a house in [[Brook Green]], very close to the school. For the previous six years they had lived in a pretty house overlooking the [[River Thames|Thames]] at [[Barnes, London|Barnes]], but the river air, frequently foggy, affected his breathing.<ref>Short, p. 117</ref> For use at weekends and during school holidays, Holst and his wife bought a cottage in [[Thaxted]], Essex, surrounded by mediaeval buildings and ample rambling opportunities.<ref>Holst (1981), p. 40</ref> In 1917 they moved to a house in the centre of the town, where they stayed until 1925.<ref>Short, p. 151</ref>

[[File:The Manse - geograph.org.uk - 845330.jpg|thumb|left|alt=exterior of house in country town|The Manse in Thaxted where Holst lived from 1917 to 1925]]
At Thaxted, Holst became friendly with the Rev [[Conrad Noel]], known as the "Red Vicar", who supported the [[Independent Labour Party]] and espoused many causes unpopular with conservative opinion.<ref>Mitchell, pp. 139–140</ref> Noel also encouraged the revival of folk-dancing and processionals as part of church ceremonies, innovations which caused controversy among traditionally-minded churchgoers.<ref>Short, pp. 126 & 136</ref> Holst became an occasional organist and choirmaster at Thaxted Parish Church. He started an annual music festival at Whitsuntide in 1916; students from Morley College and St Paul's Girls' School performed together with local participants.<ref>Holst (1981), p. 41</ref>

Holst's ''[[a cappella]]'' carol, "[[This Have I Done for My True Love]]", was dedicated to Noel in recognition of his interest in the ancient origins of religion (the composer always referred to the work as "The Dancing Day").<ref>Short, p. 135</ref> It received its first performance during the Third Whitsun Festival at Thaxted in May 1918. During that festival, Noel, who would become a staunch supporter of Russia's [[October Revolution]], demanded in a Saturday message during the service that there should be a greater political commitment from those who participated in the church activities; his claim that several of Holst's pupils (implicitly those from St Paul's Girls' School) were merely "camp followers" caused offence.<ref>Short, p. 158; and Mitchell, pp. 154–55</ref> Holst, anxious to protect his students from being embroiled in ecclesiastical conflict, moved the Whitsun Festival to [[Dulwich]], though he himself continued to help with the Thaxted choir and to play the church organ on occasion.<ref>Mitchell, p. 156</ref>

===First World War===
At the outbreak of the First World War, Holst tried to enlist but was rejected as unfit for military service.<ref name=dnb/> He felt frustrated that he could not contribute to the war effort. His wife became a volunteer ambulance driver; Vaughan Williams went on active service to France as did Holst's brother Emil; Holst's friends the composers [[George Butterworth]] and [[Cecil Coles]] were killed in battle.<ref>Holst (1969), pp. 51–52</ref> He continued to teach and compose; he worked on ''The Planets'' and prepared his chamber opera ''[[Savitri (opera)|Savitri]]'' for performance. It was first given in December 1916 by students of the London School of Opera at the Wellington Hall in [[St John's Wood]].<ref>Short, p. 144</ref> It attracted no attention at the time from the main newspapers, though when professionally staged five years later it was greeted as "a perfect little masterpiece."<ref>{{cite news|title=Savitri|newspaper=The Times|date=24 June 1921|page=13}}</ref> In 1917 he wrote ''[[The Hymn of Jesus]]'' for chorus and orchestra, a work which remained unperformed until after the war.<ref name=grove/>

In 1918, as the war neared its end, Holst finally had the prospect of a job that offered him the chance to serve. The music section of the [[YMCA]]'s education department needed volunteers to work with British troops stationed in Europe awaiting demobilisation.<ref>Short, p. 159</ref> Morley College and St Paul's Girls' School offered him a year's leave of absence, but there remained one obstacle: the YMCA felt that his surname looked too German to be acceptable in such a role.<ref name=h196952>Holst (1969) p. 52</ref> He formally changed "von Holst" to "Holst" by [[deed poll]] in September 1918.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30928|page=11615|date=1 October 1918|}}</ref> He was appointed as the YMCA's musical organiser for the Near East, based in [[Thessaloniki|Salonica]].<ref>Mitchell, p. 161</ref>

[[File:Holst-planets-inscription.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.4|alt=Handwritten inscription: "This copy is the property of Adrian Boult, who first caused the Planets to shine in public and thereby earned the gratitude of Gustav Holst"|Holst's inscription on [[Adrian Boult]]'s score of ''[[The Planets]]'']]
Holst was given a spectacular send-off. The conductor [[Adrian Boult]] recalled, "Just before the Armistice, Gustav Holst burst into my office: 'Adrian, the YMCA are sending me to Salonica quite soon and Balfour Gardiner, bless his heart, has given me a parting present consisting of the Queen's Hall, full of the Queen's Hall Orchestra for the whole of a Sunday morning. So we're going to do ''The Planets'', and you've got to conduct'."<ref name=b35>Boult (1973), p. 35</ref> There was a burst of activity to get things ready in time. The girls at St Paul's helped to copy out the orchestral parts,<ref name=b35/> and the women of Morley and the St Paul's girls learned the choral part in the last movement.<ref>Boult (1979), p. 32</ref>

The performance was given on 29 September to an invited audience including [[Henry Wood|Sir Henry Wood]] and most of the professional musicians in London.<ref name=m165>Mitchell, p. 165</ref> Five months later, when Holst was in Greece, Boult introduced ''The Planets'' to the general public, at a concert in February 1919; Holst sent him a long letter full of suggestions,{{refn|In the letter, sent according to Holst from "Piccadilly Circus, Salonica", one suggestion read, "Mars. You made it wonderfully clear&nbsp;... now could you make more ''row''? And work up more sense of climax? Perhaps hurry certain bits? Anyhow, it must sound more unpleasant and far more terrifying".<ref>Boult (1979), p. 34</ref>|group=n}} but failed to convince him that the suite should be played in full. The conductor believed that about half an hour of such radically new music was all the public could absorb at first hearing, and he gave only five of the seven movements on that occasion.<ref>Boult (1979), p. 33</ref>

Holst enjoyed his time in Salonica, from where he was able to visit Athens, which greatly impressed him.<ref name=s171>Short, p. 171</ref> His musical duties were wide-ranging, and even obliged him on occasion to play the violin in the local orchestra: "it was great fun, but I fear I was not of much use".<ref name=s171/> He returned to England in June 1919.<ref>Holst (1969), p. 77</ref>

===Post-war===
On his return from Greece, Holst resumed his teaching and composing. In addition to his existing work he accepted a lectureship in composition at the [[University of Reading]] and joined Vaughan Williams in teaching composition at their ''alma mater'' the RCM.<ref name=graebe/> Inspired by Adrian Boult's conducting classes at the RCM, Holst tried to further pioneer music education for women by proposing to the High Mistress of St Paul's Girls' School that he should invite Boult to give classes at the school: "It would be glorious if the SPGS turned out the only women conductors in the world!"<ref>Mitchell, p. 212</ref> In his soundproof room at SPGS he composed the ''[[Ode to Death]]'', a setting of a poem by Whitman, which according to Vaughan Williams is considered by many to be Holst's most beautiful choral work.<ref name=archive/>

[[File:Holst-1921.jpg|thumb|upright|Holst, caricatured as "The Bringer of Jollity", by F Sanchez, 1921]]
Holst, in his forties, suddenly found himself in demand. The [[New York Philharmonic]] and [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]] vied to be the first to play ''The Planets'' in the US.<ref name=graebe/> The success of that work was followed in 1920 by an enthusiastic reception for ''The Hymn of Jesus'', described in ''[[The Observer]]'' as "one of the most brilliant and one of the most sincere pieces of choral and orchestral expression heard for some years."<ref>{{cite news|title=Music of the Week: Holst's 'Hymn of Jesus'|newspaper=The Observer|date=28 March 1920|page=11}}</ref> ''The Times'' called it "undoubtedly the most strikingly original choral work which has been produced in this country for many years."<ref>{{cite news|title=Holst's 'Hymn of Jesus'|newspaper=The Times|date=26 March 1920|page=12}}</ref>

To his surprise and dismay Holst was becoming famous.<ref name=archive/> Celebrity was something wholly foreign to his nature. As the music scholar [[Byron Adams]] puts it, "he struggled for the rest of his life to extricate himself from the web of garish publicity, public incomprehension and professional envy woven about him by this unsought-for success."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Adams|first=Byron|title=Gustav Holst: The Man and His Music by Michael Short|journal=Musical Quarterly|date=Winter 1992|volume=78|issue=4|page=584|jstor=742478}} {{subscription}}</ref> He turned down honours and awards proffered to him,{{refn|The two exceptions Holst made to this rule were [[Yale University]]'s [[Howland Memorial Prize]] (1924) and the Gold Medal of the [[Royal Philharmonic Society]] (1930).<ref name=dnb/>|group=n}} and refused to grant interviews or sign autographs.<ref name=graebe/>

Holst's comic opera ''[[The Perfect Fool]]'' (1923) was widely seen as a satire of ''[[Parsifal]]'', though Holst firmly denied it.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mr. Holst on his New Opera|newspaper=The Observer|date=22 April 1923|page=9}}</ref> The piece, with [[Maggie Teyte]] in the leading soprano role and [[Eugene Aynsley Goossens|Eugene Goossens]] conducting, was enthusiastically received at its premiere in the [[Royal Opera House]].<ref name=timespf/> At a concert in Reading in 1923, Holst slipped and fell, suffering [[concussion]]. He seemed to make a good recovery, and he felt up to accepting an invitation to the US, lecturing and conducting at the [[University of Michigan]].<ref>Holst (1981), p. 59</ref> After he returned he found himself more and more in demand, to conduct, prepare his earlier works for publication, and, as before, to teach. The strain caused by these demands on him was too great; on doctor's orders he cancelled all professional engagements during 1924, and retreated to Thaxted.<ref>Holst (1981), pp. 60–61</ref> In 1925 he resumed his work at St Paul's Girls' School, but did not return to any of his other posts.<ref name=h198164>Holst (1981), p. 64</ref>

===Later years===
Holst's productivity as a composer benefited almost at once from his release from other work. His works from this period include the ''[[Choral Symphony (Holst)|Choral Symphony]]'' to words by [[John Keats|Keats]] (a ''Second Choral Symphony'' to words by George Meredith exists only in fragments). A short Shakespearian opera, ''[[At the Boar's Head]]'', followed; neither had the immediate popular appeal of ''[[A Moorside Suite]]'' for brass band of 1928.<ref>Holst, Imogen (1974), pp. 150, 153, 171</ref>

In 1927 Holst was commissioned by the [[New York Symphony Orchestra]] to write a symphony. Instead, he wrote an orchestral piece ''[[Egdon Heath (Holst)|Egdon Heath]]'', inspired by [[Thomas Hardy's Wessex]]. It was first performed in February 1928, a month after Hardy's death, at a memorial concert. By this time the public's brief enthusiasm for everything Holstian was waning,<ref name=h198164/> and the piece was not well received in New York. [[Olin Downes]] in ''[[The New York Times]]'' opined that "the new score seemed long and undistinguished".<ref>{{cite news|last=Downes|first=Olin|title=Music: New York Symphony Orchestra|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/02/13/archives/music-new-york-symphony-orchestra.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=13 February 1928|access-date=23 July 2018|archive-date=23 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723064934/https://www.nytimes.com/1928/02/13/archives/music-new-york-symphony-orchestra.html|url-status=live}}{{subscription}}</ref> The day after the American performance, Holst conducted the [[City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra|City of Birmingham Orchestra]] in the British premiere. ''The Times'' acknowledged the bleakness of the work but allowed that it matched Hardy's grim view of the world: "''Egdon Heath'' is not likely to be popular, but it says what the composer wants to say, whether we like it or not, and truth is one aspect of duty."<ref>{{cite news|title=Egdon Heath|newspaper=The Times|date=14 February 1928|page=12}}</ref> Holst had been distressed by hostile reviews of some of his earlier works, but he was indifferent to critical opinion of ''Egdon Heath'', which he regarded as, in Adams's phrase, his "most perfectly realized composition".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Adams|first=Byron|title=Egdon Heath, for Orchestra, Op. 47 by Gustav Holst;|journal=Notes|date=June 1989|volume=45|issue=4|page=850|jstor=941241|doi=10.2307/941241}} {{subscription}}</ref>

Towards the end of his life Holst wrote the ''[[A Choral Fantasia (Holst)|Choral Fantasia]]'' (1930) and he was commissioned by the [[BBC]] to write a piece for military band; the resulting prelude and scherzo ''[[Hammersmith (Holst)|Hammersmith]]'' was a tribute to the place where he had spent most of his life. The composer and critic [[Colin Matthews]] considers the work "as uncompromising in its way as ''Egdon Heath'', discovering, in the words of Imogen Holst, 'in the middle of an over-crowded London&nbsp;... the same tranquillity that he had found in the solitude of Egdon Heath'".<ref name=grove/> The work was unlucky in being premiered at a concert that also featured the London premiere of [[William Walton|Walton]]'s ''[[Belshazzar's Feast (Walton)|Belshazzar's Feast]]'', by which it was somewhat overshadowed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mowat|first=Christopher|year=1998|title=Notes to Naxos CD 8.553696|location=Hong Kong|publisher=Naxos Records|oclc=39462589}}</ref>

Holst wrote a score for a British film, ''[[The Bells (1931 film)|The Bells]]'' (1931), and was amused to be recruited as an extra in a crowd scene.<ref>Holst (1981), p. 80</ref> Both film and score are now lost.<ref>Holst, Imogen (1974), p. 189</ref> He wrote a "jazz band piece" that Imogen later arranged for orchestra as ''Capriccio''.<ref>Holst (1981), p. 78</ref> Having composed operas throughout his life with varying success, Holst found for his last opera, ''[[The Wandering Scholar]]'', what Matthews calls "the right medium for his oblique sense of humour, writing with economy and directness".<ref name=grove/>

[[Harvard University]] offered Holst a lectureship for the first six months of 1932. Arriving via New York he was pleased to be reunited with his brother, Emil, whose acting career under the name of Ernest Cossart had taken him to [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]; but Holst was dismayed by the continual attentions of press interviewers and photographers. He enjoyed his time at Harvard, but was taken ill while there: a [[duodenal ulcer]] prostrated him for some weeks. He returned to England, joined briefly by his brother for a holiday together in the [[Cotswolds]].<ref>Holst (1981), pp. 78–82</ref> His health declined, and he withdrew further from musical activities. One of his last efforts was to guide the young players of the St Paul's Girls' School orchestra through one of his final compositions, the ''[[Brook Green Suite]]'', in March 1934.<ref>Holst (1981), p. 82</ref>

Holst died in London on 25 May 1934, at the age of 59, of heart failure following an operation on his ulcer.<ref name=grove/> His ashes were interred at [[Chichester Cathedral]] in Sussex, close to the memorial to Thomas Weelkes, his favourite Tudor composer.<ref>Hughes and Van Thal, p. 86</ref> Bishop [[George Bell (bishop)|George Bell]] gave the memorial oration at the funeral, and Vaughan Williams conducted music by Holst and himself.<ref>{{cite news|title=In Memory of Holst|newspaper=The Times|date=25 June 1934|page=11}}</ref>