Gustav Holst

The Coming Of Christ was a Mystery Play written by John Masefield in 1927 at the request of the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral based on the Christmas story. Holst's incidental music was composed at the sametime and published separately in 1928. Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was an English composer and teacher. Having studied under Stanford and Parry he became a close friend of Vaughan Williams they would oftencritique each other’s work and influenced composers such as Tippet and Britten. He is best remembered for his Planets suite.

3-5 Octaves of Handbells-A sensitive arrangement of a lovely tune by Gustav Holst. Use a solo instrument or chimes for the melody in the middle section.

Arr. Johan de Meij. Par HOLST GUSTAV. / Niveau : 3 / Pièce de concert / Répertoire / Concert Band ou Harmonie

The Splendour Falls and the other songs from The Princess were written for a performance of tableaux from The Princess by the girls of James Allen Girls’ School in London where Holst taught. The song is scored for Female Voices SA with a small echo choir unaccompanied and is full of recognizably Holstian shifting harmonies and Vocal effects. In 1847 Alfred Tennyson later Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom published a narrative poem The Princess that concerned the education of women. In The Princess set at a summer fete a new college for women is created by Princess Ida. A Prince and his friends infiltrate dressed as women. A love story ensues. ThePrincess was also the source material for Gilbert and Sullivan’s Princess Ida.

Work for SATB Chorus and Orchestra. Revised by Colin Matthews in 1973 in consultation with Imogen Holst. Words by Walt Whitman.