Holst

Gustav Holst is one of my favorite people to have read about thus far in class. At least from what I was able to gather from the essay by Vaughn Williams, Holst had no ulterior motives in regard to composition or teaching, he did what he did because he loved it and he wanted to.

In regard to Holst as a teacher I’m really quite inspired by him. He took only those students who shared his passion to learn and express, and had little patience for those who were lazy or indifferent. He demanded excellence of himself and of his students, and it sounds as though he was very devoted and almost took on a roll as a mentor to many of his students. So often we hear of people whose performing careers failed to really takeoff, and so they were ‘reduced’ to teaching, but Holst enjoyed teaching and actually revamped the music program at Morely College.

In regard to his life, I loved the quote on page 133, “Life and art to Holst are not enemies but the complements of each other; and as time goes on and his life gets busier and more varied, his artistic production becomes larger and finer, his style more mature, pronounced, and individual.” I just love that music was so much a part of him and such a source of joy, that life never hindered what he was able to accomplish as a composer, it simply inspired him.

I also thought the different musical inspirations were interesting and quite eclectic, that’s probably why I found them so interesting. But Holst’s modernity wasn’t random or modern for the sake of being modern, there is a clear progression of the past in his present ‘modern’ state. For example, he was a great lover of Bach, and Bach’s influence appears in his music. He also employs the use of folk song which Vaughn Williams I’m sure was very happy about when writing this essay, and Holst was inspired by mysticism which can be heard in his choral music from the Rig Veda.

Clearly, Vaughn Williams very much respected Holst and admired his style as a composer, teacher, and it sounded to me like he even admired the man.