Fun Trivia : Holst

Structure Sub-topic of: Classical Music Quizzes Interesting Questions, Facts and Information There are a total of 15 general entries. Special Topics Mars - The Bringer of War

Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information

Holst

Holst's daughter wrote his biography?

Gustav Holst


t. Imogene, Holst's only child, wrote her father's life, and was a conductor and musicologist herself, once being assistant to Benjamin Britten.



What conductor is most associated with Holst?

Gustav Holst


Boult. Sir Adrian Boult conducted the debut of "The Planets" and other works of Holst, as well as those of Vaughn Williams and other British composers.



What star did Holst write a song on?

Gustav Holst


Betelguese. "Betelguese" was one of Holst's many songs.



What novelist inspired one of Holst's works?

Gustav Holst


Hardy. Thomas Hardy's description of Egdon Heath in his "Return of the Native" was the basis of Holst's unforgettable rhapsody "Egdon Heath".



What poet did Holst base a choral symphony on?

Gustav Holst


Keats. Holst set some poems of Keats' to music in his Choral Symphony, including a ravishing setting of the immortal "Ode To A Grecian Urn".



How many operas did Holst write?

Gustav Holst


thirteen. His best-known operas are "Savriti", inspired by his Hindu studies, "At The Boar's Head", inspired by Shakespeare's Falstaff plays, "The Tale of the Wandering Scholar" and "The Perfect Fool". But Holst also penned nine earlier works: "Landsdown Castle", "Ianthe", "The Revoke", "The Idea", the operas for children "Cinderella", "he Magic Mirror" and "The Youth's Choice", another Hindu-influnced opera "Sita" and the parody "Opera As She Wrote".



"The Planets" were inspired by astrology?

Gustav Holst


t. Holst also studied astrology, which inspired "The Planets". BTW, the two missing planets from the suite are Earth and Pluto (which was undiscovered by the time of the score's debut.)



When did his best-known work, "The Planets" debut?

Gustav Holst


1918. World War One still raged when Holst premiered his symphonic suite, a breakthrough in British orchestral music (and still one of my all-time favorites.)



What school was he a teacher at?

Gustav Holst


St. Paul's. For most of his adult life, Holst taught music at St. Paul's, a girl's school in the Hammersmith district of London. He paid tribute to the school and the area in his "St. Paul's Suite" for strings and "Hammersmith" Prelude and Scherzo for military band.



What language did he once study?

Gustav Holst


Sanskrit. Fascinated by Hindu philosophy, Holst studied Sanskrit so he could read Hindu texts in their original language.



Who was his favorite composer?

Gustav Holst


Grieg. Despite an early influence by Wagner, Holst's favorite was Norway's Edvard Grieg.



What condition prevented him from performing?

Gustav Holst


Neuritis. Holst also suffered asthma as a boy, but trombone playing cured it. However, the neuritis in his right arm stopped his performing, as it dogged him all his life. (he was set on composing, anyway!)



What instrument did Holst never play?

Gustav Holst


bassoon. Holst also studied violin as a boy, but never learned the bassoon.



Holst's original family name was "von Holst". What nationality was his family?

Gustav Holst


Swedish. BION, the von Holsts were a musical family from Sweden, despite the German-sounding "von"!



Where was Holst born?

Gustav Holst


Cheltenham. Holst's birthplace, Cheltenham, is in Gloucestershire County, the same county his friend and fellow composer Ralph Vaughn Williams was born in.