Gustav Holst: Swansea Town (SATB): SATB: Vocal Score

Swansea Town is a lively and spirited folksong which has been beautifully arranged for SATB by Gustav Holst.A Piano Accompaniment part is also scored for rehearsal purposes.

In his use of authentic Englsh folksongs Gnostic texts and Vedic hymns one can discern Holst’s search for a compositional Voice beyond the constraints of the European canon in the early 1900’s. In 1916 he published Six ChoralFolk Songs of which Swansea Town is the final number.The setting is a demanding one for amateur Chorus. There is a particularly effective passage in the middle that evokes a storm at sea before resolving the story with thesailors in a tavern anticipating another trip to sea.Gustav Holst has earned a place among the most revered of late 19th and early 20th century composers and is best known for his enduring Orchestral suite The Planets.