a new look at g. holst - j. warrack
TRANSCRIPT
7/25/2019 A New Look at G. Holst - J. Warrack
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/a-new-look-at-g-holst-j-warrack 1/5
A New Look at Gustav HolstAuthor(s): John WarrackReviewed work(s):Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 104, No. 1440 (Feb., 1963), pp. 100-103Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/948417 .
Accessed: 07/10/2012 15:40
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
Musical Times Publications Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The
Musical Times.
http://www.jstor.org
7/25/2019 A New Look at G. Holst - J. Warrack
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/a-new-look-at-g-holst-j-warrack 2/5
.................
.
...........
ZX;
ji
...........
..
.
.....
in
.
......
.
K:i
...............
......
....
John
Warrack
A New
Look
at
Gustav
Holst
photograph y
Sydney
W.
Loeb
Of
the
hree
major
English
omposers
ho died n
1934,
Holst has been he
mostmisvalued.
Neither
Elgar
nor
Delius
has
lacked
performance
nd
sympatheticnderstanding:olst has remained
virtually
he
composer
f The Planets and The
Perfect
ool
ballet
music,
of the
once-admired
Hymn fJesus
nd
the
lways-admired,
ever-heard
Egdon
Heath. His
daughtermogen's
ooks,
Gustav
Holst
(1938)
and more
especially
he
Music
of
Gustav olst
1951),
ut
he asefor
him
with
reat
critical
nsight;
et
concert
y
Boult n
1956
nd
his recent ecca record
f
the
Hymn,
gdon
Heath
and
the
erfect
ool ballet re
olitary
andmarksn
the
post-war
areer f Holst'smusic.
With
one
exception. Aldeburgh,
hereMiss
Holstnow
ives,
as
ncluded
Holstwork n most
recent
festivals-two
Rig
Veda
Hymns,
Turn
Back,O Man', theTerzetto, avitri, heOde to
Death,
gdon
Heath
nd a
project
orAt
the oar's
Head
that
had
to
be shelved. Britten
as a
great
admiration
or
Holst;
and
though
here re few
superficial
olstian traits n
his
music,
he has
certainly
enefited
rom
Holst's
vigorous
atchet
workon the Victorian
eed-jungle.
No
man,
of
however
riginal enius,
ould
wishfor
a
greater
gift
han
he
rationallyeveloped
raditions
n the
country
n
which
he is
born',
wrote
Bernard an
Dieren.
Though
ur
age
is
scarcely
comfortable
one
for Britteno arrive
n,
Holst
did
openup
a
clear
viewof the real traditionsf
English
music.
And
as
Miss
Holst
says,
his
mistakes eed never
bemadeagain.
But ike ll
originals,
olst s
fascinating
ven
n
his
mistakes.
Mostof
his alamities
pring
ot
from
wild
xperiment,
utfrom
suddenly
aive
ccept-
ance
ofone
conventionr another:
echnically,
uch
things
s
thetext-book
equential
ntries hatmar
TheHymn fJesus t 'Beholding hat suffer'a
passage
he later
egretted,hough
e
immediately
repeated
he
disaster t
'For life nd
joy'
in the
Ode
to
Death);
emotionally,
he
dreadful eartiness
of
The
Sergeant's
ong',
the confusion f dance
exhilaration
ith mere
galumphing
which
the
frequent
ecourse o
7/8
r
5/8
ime id
nothing
o
alleviate).
There
were lso blind
pots
hat ould
permit
n
irreproachably
haste
Mating
Dance in
The
Morning
f
the Year and
a
Bacchanal n the
FirstChoral
Symphony
hat s stone old
sober.
Yet similar echnical
abits
ould
give
rise to
effects
hich o other
omposer
ouldhave
brought
off.
Only
he could have written
he
chords
hat
moveawayfrom unison o create heblinding
radiance
f
To
you
who
gaze
a
lamp
m
I';
while
the
handling
f an
insistent
hythm
n Mars is
superior
o that n theBattle cene
n
Ein
Helden-
leben-this
s the nakedface
of
war,
not a
heroic
daydream.
For
the
vision s
mystic.
It
is
also
precise:
ll
mystical
xperiences,
olst
wrote,
are
either
llusions
r
direct nd
intimate
ealizations'
(his talics).
He
was
practical
t his
most
ar-seeing:
he was
never
ne who
liked
to lose
himself,
ike
Sir
Thomas
Browne,
n
an
'O
Altitudo '.
A
composer
ho mixes
alamitiesnd
glories
o
indiscriminately,
ometimes ven
managing
to
produce
stonishinglyriginal
ffects rom heir
juxtaposition,ayfairlyaysomeoftheblame n
his
environment.
he
first
art
of
Holst's
career
was
marked
y
the ffort
o
discover
mancipating
100
7/25/2019 A New Look at G. Holst - J. Warrack
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/a-new-look-at-g-holst-j-warrack 3/5
sources
f
nspiration,
nd the
big
brown
nvelope
of
"Early
orrors'
might,
ess
modestly,
ave
been
marked
EarlyStruggles'.
But
such
a
quest
must
also
spring
rom sense
f
outsiderness.
here s a
world f difference
etween
he
homely heology
f
Bunyan's ilgrim,
hosen
y
Vaughan
Williams,
nd
fallen
man
glimpsing
he
Heavens n The
Hymn
f
Jesus, azzledbywhathe sees. Pilgrim asalways
sure o
arrive
afely.
But
Holst
could
only
ourney
urtherutwards.
Savitri's
xchanges
with Death
('our only
sane
possession')
re far
more
cute
nd realthan hose
with
her
husband
atyavan:
he s
at
least
half
n
love with aseful
Death,
the musicmakes
plain.
The
drifting
are
fifths
hat
open
and
close
the
Odeto
Death,
ound he
word
Come ',
re
ublimely
calm:
it is at 'For
life nd
oy'
that
manufacture
takes
ver o
pull
the
omposer hrough patch
f
unfamiliar
erritory.
This
is the
split
between lesh nd
spirit
t its
most
bvious
n
Holst. Not all theblamefor he
erratic
rogress
fhismusic, ven none and the
same
work,
an
be blamed n
a
necessary
mpiricism.
The more
ne
studies
is
music,
he
deeper
eems
to lie this
chism
n
his
character;
nd
as he
grew
older,
nd
musically
ore
elf-knowing,
e
gradually
absorbed
t
nto he
bonesof his diom.
It
is
surprising
ow
early
he
split
dramatized
itself n
his
technique
s
a
pull
between
pposed
keys.Thefirst usic xamplen Miss
Holst's ook,
from he
opera
TheRevoke
Op
1,
1895),
hows n
emphasized
wist
rom
major
o G
#
major;
nd
by
The
Mystic
TrumpeterOp
18,
1904)
the
pursuing
trumpets
nd
horns ave
begun:
Ex
MoLto
sostenuto
.tr
--
'This
piercing ursuit',
Miss Holst
observes,
was
to follow im
hroughout
hewhole fhis
ife'. The
familiarnstancesMars early 914); t recurs ear
the
nd of his ife n theChoral
antasia
1930)
A
against
D,
the diabolus
in
musica)
and
in
Egdon
Heath
(1927),
where
C
against D5,
the
other
great
tonal onflictf Holst's
ife,
eachests
ownresolu-
tion.
They
re not
always
o
fiercely
ramatized;
but
he ame onal onfrontations
re
at the entre
of
his wholeharmonic
ay
of
thinking.
here s
nothing
f 'Es ist
genug'
n
this
quintessentially
Holstian
rogression
rom
he Choral
antasia:
see
example
2
Not the least
characteristiclement
here is
the
smooth
rogression
f
parts
hat rrives
erfectly
naturallyt a bitonalchord. Bitonalitys the
logical
utcome f much
n
early
mature
olst,
ut
Mercury
s the
irst,
nd
most
rilliant,xample
f
Ex
2
Organ
,4W
-
- -- "-- 2
"i
:
split
etween
eys
eing xplored
or
ts
possibilities,
rather
han
transpiring
nd
then
being
rejected-
here
E
major
versus
major,
he diabolus
gain
but
now
welded
nto
single
cale.
This
s
already
a
presage
f the
opponents
eing
reconciled,ust
as the treatmentf E minor nd G#minorn
Neptune
ach
as the other's
resolution
oints
forward
orHolst.
The
purely
itonal
or
tri-tonal)
exercise
of the Terzetto
remains
basically
an
exercise,hough
ne thatwas
maginatively
nough
worked
o
give
he
piece
value
nd character
f ts
own.
But wo
years
ater
ame
Egdon
Heath.
Here
t is that
he
tonalconfrontations
nd
the
fourths
armony,
he
atter f which
n
particular
had
become
dangerous
ourceof
self-imitation,
find
heir rue utcome.
ll of Holst s
in this
rey,
magical
work:
he
quintuple
nd
septuple
hythms,
the
bitonal
nflections,
he
piercing
ursuit',
he
folk-tune
measures,
he
processional,
he chains
offourths-yetheir ontexts so closeto Holst's
essential
pirit
hat
hey
t ast chieve ull
xpressive
power.
This is nature
poetry
t
its
strongest.
Though
Holst's
music must be
forever ssoci-
ated
with that
ominous stretch
f
Dorset,
for
those
who know
both,
t is
neither
mitation
or
some
kind
f
accompaniment
o
TheReturn
f
the
Native,
whose
famous
pening hapter
ave
Holst
his
epigraph.
Egdon
was
for
Hardy
recurrent
symbol
f
a Fate
apathetic
o
man's
ittle ife. It
was
part
f
whathe ater
alled,
n
Tess,
the
plight
of
being
live'. For
Holst,
his
daughter
ells
us,
RECENTLY
PUBLISHED
A
Miniature
core
of
Holst's
EGDON
HEATH
5/-
NOVELLO & COMPANY LTD
160 Wardour
treetLondon
W1
7/25/2019 A New Look at G. Holst - J. Warrack
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/a-new-look-at-g-holst-j-warrack 4/5
'there
s
no
hint f
exile n the
oneliness f
Egdon
Heath: it is a
homecoming'.
All is
resolved:
ll
thathad
gone
befores
summed
p
in
the
Nirvana
of that inal
adence:
CL
VLn
,g
Vc
But
his
was not
by
any
meansHolst's
astwork.
He was too
naturally
neven n
artist,
nd
by
now
perhaps
too
physically xhausted,
o
apply
the
'lessons' f
Egdon
Heath-which n
any
ase
was
a
unique
work
because he
omplete xpression
f
a
single,
ifficult
oncept.
That he should henhave
discovered he now almostforgotten umbert
Wolfe eems
nevitable,
o
much s
there,
n
the
twelve
oems
he
chose
o
set
as
unevenly
s
ever),
thatmatches is own
cast of
mind.
But t
s
with
four
ate
masterpieces
hathe
finds realease and
flexibility
f
language-the
Choral
Fantasia,
Ham-
mersmith,
he
Lyric
Movement nd the
Scherzo
from
he
unfinished
ymphony.
A new
feeling, eaching
owards
real
human
warmth,
egins
to
come over his
style
n this
'resolved'
hase.
The calm
nd bustle n Hammer-
smith
re
equal experiences
ow,
solitude
and
gregariousness
ulfilling
qual
human
needs;
they
are
direct nd
living,
not
refracted
gainst
the
vastness f
uncaring gdon,
whose
erene,
final'
fourthsre
ctually
urnedo the iveliest
ccount
n
the
cherzo:
CL
Fag
-
There s
a
fluency
nd
geniality
ere
and in
the
Lyric
Movementhat
are
tokenof the inner
e-
conciliation
hat
eemed o
have
been
won:while
f
the
Fantasia's
pening,
Miss
Holst
writes,
it
held
not
only
he
pull
between lesh
nd
spirit
ut
also
the
recognition
f their
eliance n each
other'.
This
ouldwell
tand s a
summary
f
theworks
f
Holst's
final
eriod.
That t didprovefinal s a very eriousoss to
English
music.
Probably
he
ompleted
ymphony
would have
been
uneven,
uttheres little
oubt
that
f
Holsthad ived s
long
s
Vaughan
Williams
he
wouldhave
gone
on to
produce
more
master-
pieces.
Miss
Holst
doubts his
influence n
his
successors,
xcept
s a clearer
way
of
d6bris.
But
there s
much
Holst
n
Vaughan
Williams's ourth
and
Sixth
Symphonies.
The violent
emitonal
clash
that
pens
No
4,
and
the
onstructionf the
whole
work n fourths
with
ven D-A
relation-
ship
exposed
n
the
Scherzo )
would
hardly
ave
EGDON
HEATH
Sir
Adrian
Boult
conducting
The
London
Philharmonic
rchestra
THE
HYMN
OF
JESUS
Sir
Adrian
oult
onducting
he BBC
Chorus
nd
The
BBC
Symphony
rchestra
THE
PERFECT
FOOL
Sir
Adrian
Boult
conducting
The
London
Philharmonic
rchestra
0 SXL 6006
0
LXT 6006
THE
PLANETS
Herbert
on
Karajan
conducting
The
Vienna
Philharmonic
rchestra
O
SXL
2305
Q
LXT
5669
ON
DECCA
STEREO OR
DECCA
ONO RECORDS
THE
DECCA RECORD
COMPANY
LIMITED
DECCA
HOUSE
ALBERT
EMBANKMENT
LONDON S E 1
7/25/2019 A New Look at G. Holst - J. Warrack
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/a-new-look-at-g-holst-j-warrack 5/5
GUSTAV
HOLST
Full
Orchestra
eni
Mora
Suite
Double Concerto
2
violins)
The Planets
Opera
Savitri
ChoralWorks
Choral Fantasia
(Robert
Bridges)
The
Coming
f
Christ
SchoolOrchestra
BrookGreen uite
St Paul's Suite
For
the
prices
of
the above and
full
list
of
numerous
part-songs by
this
composer,
apply
to
the
publisher:
J.
CURWEN &
SONS LTD
29
MAIDEN
LANE,
LONDON,
WC2
been used to
produce
hat
music f
Hoist
had not
lived.
The
nfluence
s
more
markedn No
6,
with
its
pening
onal
werverom minor o
E
minor,
ts
menacing rocessional
n
the
econd
movement,
he
clambering
ugmented
ourths f
the
scherzo-
above
all,
the
purely
Holstian
desolation
f
the
finale,
eering
ut across hewastes nd
dissolving
into
two
chords,
B
major
nd
E
minor,
hat an
only
esolve
ndlessly
nto ach
other
s
in
Neptune.
Britten
as
also
gained;
and not
only
in
the
general
erms
suggested
arlier.
hough
he
C-F
opposition
f
the War
Requiem
s made from
non-Holstianecurityf tonal anguage,here re
more
han
races
hroughout
f
Hoist's
discoveries
Last
month's
issue
of
The Musical
Times was
quickly
sold
out.
We
have
of course increased
the
print-ordergain-but to be sure of your copy
place
a
regular
order,
or
clip
out
(or
copy
on a
postcard)
this
coupon,
and
post
it
to The
Musical
Times,
160
Wardour
Street,
London
WI.
of
what
he
diabohlus
an
produce eing
aken nto
different,
ut
specifically
nglish, magination.
do
not
thinkt s
stretching
point
o
see
n one of
the
Requiem's reat
moments,
At a
Calvary
ear
Ancres',
post-Holstian
reedomf declamationn
quintuple
ime,
nd a
real
touchof
Holst
in
the
sublimityheC-F # elationshipeaches.Certainly
themuttered
Pleni
suntcoeli et
terra
gloria
ua'
directly
ecalls
The
Hymn
f
Jesus
nd
'Glory
to
Thee,
Holy
Spirit'.
Britten
chieves violence n
the
/4
ies rae hat
Holst
might
ell ave
managed
(the
fanfares
ecall he
piercing ursuit',
ut
grow
more
irectly
rom
arlyBritten),
hough
e
could
never
have
gone
on to
Britten's
eartbreaking
addition
f
the
oprano's
acrimosa.
But t
is
in
Britten's
irtuoso
enseof
opposed
tonalities hat
the debt
is most
plain.
Holst
writes
familiar
C-D
(here
D-E1)
cadence to
underline he
finalwords
f one of
the
Wolfe
ongs,
All
things
are
yours
n the
peace
that ndures':
p
p
14 4
19~?
r-I
The calm
f hose
djacent
eys,
or
which e
spent
his ife's
xperienceearching,
s
transmuted
nto he
perfecteace
that
esolves
ritten's
reatRequiem.
Ex
6
Awiry
-al
A -
ckaus
I#
A-
-
mem
-en
The music
examples
are
reproduced
by
permission
of
the
respective
publishers:
Curwen
(Choral
Fantasia),
Boosey
&
Hawkes (Unfinished Symphony and Britten's War Requiem)
and
Augener
(Humbert
Wolfe
Songs).
Please send me The
Musical
Times for
a
year,
starting
with the
......................................................
umber.
I
enclose/bill
me
for
23s
(abroad
21s
6d)
name
nam
.................s
.......................................................................................
a dd r s ................ ................. ................. ................. ........................................