The Planets
Holst’s spectacular orchestral work starts with the alarming fury of ‘Mars’ and ends with the subtle colours of ‘Neptune’.
Recommended recording:
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Adrian Boult
EMI 627 8982
Hymn of Jesus
This setting for double choir and orchestra of a hymn supposedly sung by Christ and his disciples at the Last Supper is both ecstatic and other-worldly.
Recommended recording:
BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Adrian Boult
Decca 470 1912
Seven Robert Bridges Part-Songs
Holst wrote several works for his pupils, but few are more hauntingly beautiful than these settings of Robert Bridges poems for sopranos and strings.
Recommended recording:
Holst Singers & Orchestra/Hilary Davan Wetton
Helios CDH 55170
Egdon Heath
After the acclaim of The Planets, Holst was drawn to composing more austere works. Of those, this is his bleakest.
Recommended recording:
Royal Scottish National Orchestra/David Lloyd-Jones
Naxos 8.553696
The Wandering Scholar
Holst's sense of humour rarely featured in his music, but surfaces here in this sure-footed chamber opera concerning a young wife’s spring-time rendezvous with a priest.
Recommended recording:
Norma Burrowes, Michael Langdon, Robert Tear; English Opera Group/Steuart Bedford
EMI 968 9292
