On His 150th Anniversary, Holst’s Music Is Still Relevant Today

Of musical figures celebrating their 150th anniversaries in 2024, Ives and Schoenberg are the most celebrated, but Gustav Holst has had a bigger impact on our culture than both of them. 

You probably know Holst’s The Planets; everyone does. Seven short character studies depicting the Roman gods after which the planets in our solar system (except for Pluto and Earth) were named, it received its premiere in 1918 in a private performance funded by Henry Balfour Gardiner, the son of a rich wholesale draperies entrepreneur who was himself a composer and ardent–even lavish–defender of contemporary composers (he bought Delius’s house for him). From these humble beginnings, The Planets grew in notoriety to the point where today it is a concert-hall staple and radio favorite: in 2023, the piece was #23 on WQXR’s Classical Countdown, and “Jupiter” was #57 on KUSC’s California Ultimate Playlist. You’ll hear it on BoJack Horseman, in ads for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and you’ll sense its presence throughout the Star Wars soundtrack. 

You’ll also find, lodged within “Jupiter,” the melody that became “I Vow Thee, My Country.” Holst set the poem by Sir Cecil Spring Rice to his tune in 1921 and added additional voices to create the patriotic hymn in 1926. It’s still a standard Remembrance Day anthem and British state ceremonies; it was performed at the funerals of Princess Diana (below) and Queen Elizabeth II. So, if you’re an Anglophile or a Royal Family buff, you’ve certainly heard this hymn, and I’m sure it will bring a tear to your eye.  

Few people are familiar with Holst’s music inspired by Vedic mysticism, yet even it has a toe-hold in our popular imagination. His opera Sita and chamber opera Savitri are based on Sanskrit epics, and he wrote two tone poems, Cloud Messenger and Indra, on related subjects. Perhaps the most moving of his music in this vein are his Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda (1908-12; premiered 1911-1914) for SSAA choir and harp or piano. The third hymn from the third set gained some notoriety a few years ago for being quoted in Billie Eilish’s song “Goldwing.” “Hymn to Vena” moves like a slow-moving fog as the voices float on top of the harp accompaniment. It’s wispy and smooth, truly beautiful music.  

There is so much more to explore in Holst’s catalog, including his Second Suite for Military Band in F Major, which almost every high-school band member (including me). All of it is worth your time, and I hope you take the opportunity to enjoy his music before his 150th birthday year ends.