Born: 21 September 1874, Cheltenham, England
Died: 25 May 1934, London, England

Holst, Gustav

An English composer of distant Swedish descent, who was interested in Hindu philosophy and mythology. Holst was an orchestra trombonist until his retirement to teaching and he composed in his spare time. He mainly wrote music for amateur musicians, whom he trained in the school where he managed musical activities. He was influenced by Wagner and Vaughan Williams, his lifelong friend who collected, like him, English folk songs and integrated them into his work.

His famous piece, the orchestral suite "The Planets", won enormous success, and following this, he started dedicating more time to composition, and created an exhilarating, original oratorio named "The Hymn of Jesus", after which came many other pieces, less famous. His music is mostly tonal, drawing on the English folk songs, yet it tends to be severe.

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