Gustav Holst

The Holst Songbook Vol. 3 for High Voice

Thirteen songs for high voice.
Gustav Holst composed solo songs for voice and piano at various stages of his career, but with an abundance from the late 1890s (towards the end of his student days) into the early 1900s. Richard Capell, writing in The Musical Times in January 1927, mentions that songs by Holst were appearing in the programmes of London recitals early in the 1900s and several early examples were heard in company with the first performances of Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel and The House of Life in 1904. Only a relatively small number of Holst's songs were published and, of those that were, many have been out of print for some time. The Holst Songbook (in 4 volumes, published in versions for both high and low voice) brings together all the solo songs for the first time and presents a wonderful opportunity for these hitherto undiscovered gems to be performed and appreciated for the first time. And, we hope, recorded too.

Volume 3 includes one song dating from the 1890s, another from the 1900s, nine from the period 1906 to 1914 (precise date unknown) and two from 1906/07. Most of these songs were composed when Holst, born in 1874, had reached his maturity as a composer and created his own distinctive style. Holst's daughter, Imogen, was fairly dismissive of much of her father's early output and refused to use her H-numbering sequence for such early works (namely anything dating from 1894 or before). Of course, by that date Holst had reached his 20th birthday. Although Imogen was probably correct in her dismissal of some of these early works, it is a pity that she was so dismissive of everything predating 1895. Nevertheless, as all the songs in Volume 3 have been allocated an H-number, I think that we can safely assume that Imogen approved of them.

CONTENTS: Now Sleep and Take Thy Rest (Range Db-Gb); To Hope (D-F); Sovay (C-C);The Seeds of Love (C-D); The Female Farmer (D-F); Thorneyfield Woods (C-D); Moorfields (D-G); I Love My Love (C-F); Claudy Banks (D-G); On the Banks of the Nile (D-F); Here's Adieu (D-D); Stu Mo Run (Eb-F); Ratri (Night) (C-D).

The audio sample is a computer-generated performance [no words!] with female soloist. See GM367 for the LOW voice version where the audio has a male voice.