Gustav Holst

My name is Gustavus Theodore von Holst, and this is my story.; I was born on Septmeber 21, 1874in Cheltenham, where I was educated at Pate's Grammar School. I then went on later to study music at the Royal College of Music in London. I dropped the 'von' because I was a tad scared of being identified as a German. You know how those things when, you kill a Jew, and they kill you. My most famous piece of music is as you all know The Planets. I wrote this while I was a teacher in St Paul's Girls' School. Lucky me a girls school. Here I also wrote another of my famous pieces called St Paul's Suite in 1913. I also composed the Hammersmith. I made so that I could recreate the haunting river sound of the River Thames. I also did a brass band score called A Moorside Suite. I also played the trombone. You know since a composer's life is not always so generous in the beginning. I played in a band that was not up to my standards. I considered the "White Viennese Band," as a crime against music. The band under the direction of Stanislas Wurm, was very cheap and repetetive. I finally got out when my copositions became more popular and I was given the income stabilty to work at St Paul's Girls' School and Morley College, where I established Morley College Choir. My Golden Period You could say would have beeen before the First World War, where I wrote the The Planets and the masterpiece The Hymn of Jesus. From here I became and international star. However my next large scaled work was a catastrophe. First Choral Symphony, failed to inspire many. Then I made the Edgon Heath and the Hammersmith and they recieved better notices. I then became a vegetarian, but vegetarianism was not encouraged in his cheap lodgings in the 1890's. My eyes became weak and my hands remained in constant pain. In 1933, I suffered from severe stomach problems, and on May 25, 1934, I died of complications and was buried in Chichester Cathedral, West Sussex. By the way I also have my one and only daughter, Imogen Holst who is also a composer and conductor.