Holst, part 2!

Since I didn't quite get my fix from the last post, here's more about Gustav Holst! I will limit myself to one or two things I like about every piece I mention. I left off with the brief version of my First Suite in Eb speech, and I wanted to say a little about the Second Suite in F. Instead of an original melody that grows through each movement, Holst uses actual folk melodies as well as some original ones. What it lacks for me is that sense of unity from the first to the last. Still, it is a great piece, and his setting of the 6/8 Dargason effortlessly counterpointing the 3/4 Greensleeves in the fourth movement is one of the most rousing works I have ever heard. I also like the Song of the Blacksmith. It is more difficult to play than it sounds. It has so much rhythmic interest that listeners don't really know where the downbeat is for far too long. Before I spend too long on that, I want to gush about the Planets. My favorite movement is Jupiter, and I know that puts me with 90% of all other people, but its an amazing piece and the most fun to play. One thing that makes this piece so amazing to me is his use of percussion. The very end with timpani accenting the trombones makes me feel that shock down my spine. He also is able to use the percussion with such a light touch to make a line shine. After the first large cymbal crash and pause, he has a new melody introduced by violas and horns. In the reiteration of this melody, he puts it in a high register and uses the lightest woodwind voices. as they play the melody, the first three notes of every phrase are accompanied by bells. It can escape notice because the bells do not play the entire melody, but the fact that they strengthen the opening gesture and leave the pitch hanging makes the entire line sparkle. I hope if anyone reads this that they will listen to Holst with an ear for the instruments providing "background effect." He used them extremely well, and even though they wouldn't make it onto a Schenker graph (important fundamental things only), they matter. We often miss the point that anyone who knows the rules can write a fundamental and functional piece. The composition masters are great for studying that because it's all there, and we all acknowledge the beauty in their craft of melody, counterpoint, and harmony that made them special, but the tiniest things can often be what makes a piece really special.

Class this week

So I was going to give up blogging for lent, but 3 days in, the insatiable addiction takes over, and here we are. We covered one of my all time favorites in class this Tuesday, Gustav Holst! I was glad we finally got to him and disappointed to leave him behind.
Of all the English composers, Holst is my favorite, but in his own time, the world was not so quick to appreciate him. I could spend an entire post talking about a single piece, but I'll try to fit 2 in. The first is one is his pioneer accomplishment for winds, The First Suite in Eb for Military Band. It was the first serious piece written for modern wind band. The piece did the most important thing that could be done for wind bands; it standardized the instrumentation, and it showed good idiomatic writing for the medium. Before the First suite, wind bands of different sizes were popping up everywhere playing transcriptions of orchestral works and popular music. Composers would not write for them because the ensembles were believed unable to blend, and the instrumentation was too inconsistent. Gustav Holst wrote this work without a commission in 1909. It spent the next decade unknown in a drawer and did not receive a premiere until 1920. It is scored for 19 players with 17 other parts notated ad lib. The extra arts can be used or left out while maintaining the functionality and spirit of the piece. Wind ensembles of the day had anywhere from 20-40 performers, so the piece was, in a sense, made to order. The harmony and cooperation Holst brought out of the winds, brass, and percussion was so stunning that others took notice of the ensemble and began to write new works. I'll spare you the in depth analysis, but the construction and development of this piece is absolutely amazing. From the chaconne, his original folk-like melody grows organically and becomes more interesting through each of the 3 movements. The chaconne maintains harmonic intrigue for the entire movement even though the theme stays on tonic, minor tonic, and inverted on tonic for the entire piece until a half recitation in the dominant at the very end. The intermezzo and the march both use the technique of presenting two melodies and then combining them in a very effective way. The work as a whole has a pleasant form and each movement has its own personal appeal.
I went on very long about this work, so my next post will also be for Gustav Holst covering a couple of other works.