Canon
Where to start with Holst
Essential works to know this composer by — spread across their styles-
OrchestralThe Planets, suite for orchestra and female chorus, op. 32, H.125
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Vocal12 Songs, op. 48, H.174
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ChamberDuo Concertante, for trombone and organ
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OrchestralBeni Mora, op. 29, no. 1, H.107
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OrchestralEgdon Heath, op. 47, H.172, "Homage to Hardy"
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OrchestralSt. Paul's Suite, for strings, op. 29, no. 2, H.118
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OrchestralSuite no. 1, for Military Band in E flat major, op. 28, no. 1, H.105
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Vocal2 Eastern Pictures, for chorus and harp
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Vocal2 Motets, op. 43, H.159-160
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Vocal2 Psalms, for chorus, strings and organ, H.117
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Orchestral2 Songs Without Words, op. 22, H.88
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Vocal3 Carols, H.133
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Vocal4 Old English Carols, op. 20b, H.82
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Vocal4 Songs, for soprano and violin, op. 35, H.132
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Vocal4 Songs, op. 4. H.14
Listening guide
Hand-curated paths into Holst's catalogueMost Popular
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The Planets (complete)
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St. Paul\’s Suite (strings)
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Brook Green Suite
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Planets — Mars, the Bringer of War
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Planets — Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
Most Acclaimed
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Egdon Heath
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St. Paul\’s Suite
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Choral Symphony
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The Hymn of Jesus
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Seven Partsongs
Most Weird
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Egdon Heathbased on Thomas Hardy’s bleak Dorset landscape — almost no melody; Holst called it his best work and almost nobody plays it
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The Perfect Fool (opera)the whole opera is a parody of other operas; it’s only known for the ballet music
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Hammersmith (prelude and scherzo)grey urban portrait — the Thames and the traffic
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Choral SymphonyKeats texts — enormous apparatus; rarely performed
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Savitri (chamber opera)three singers, small ensemble; Death comes for Savitri’s husband — she outwits him
Similar composers
Same era, overlapping styles — by genre & period affinityWorks 79
- Orchestral
- ● The Planets, suite for orchestra and female chorus, op. 32, H.125
- Beni Mora, op. 29, no. 1, H.107
- Egdon Heath, op. 47, H.172, "Homage to Hardy"
- St. Paul's Suite, for strings, op. 29, no. 2, H.118
- Suite no. 1, for Military Band in E flat major, op. 28, no. 1, H.105
- 2 Songs Without Words, op. 22, H.88
- A Fugal Concerto, for flute, oboe, and string orchestra, op. 40, no. 2, H.152
- A Fugal Overture, op. 40, no. 1, H.151
- A Moorside Suite, for brass band, H.173
- A Somerset Rhapsody, op. 21, no. 2, H.87
- A Song of the Night, for violin and orchestra. Op.19, no. 1, H.74
- A Winter Idyll, for orchestra
- Brook Green Suite, for strings, H.190
- Capriccio, H.185
- Double Concerto, for 2 violins and orchestra, op. 49, H.175
- Elegy In Memoriam William Morris, op. 8, H.47
- Greeting, H.54
- Hammersmith, op. 52, H.178
- Hammersmith, op. 52, H.178
- Indra, op. 13
- Invocation, for cello and orchestra, op. 19, no. 2, H.75
- Japanese Suite, op. 33, H.126
- Lyric Movement, for viola and chamber orchestra, H.191
- Pagaent of St. Martin-in-the-Field, incidental music
- Pan's Anniversary, incidental music
- Scherzo, H.192
- Suite de ballet in E flat major, op. 10, H.43
- Suite no. 2, for Military Band in F major, op. 28, no. 2, H.106
- Walt Whitman Overture, op. 7, H.42
- Vocal
- 12 Songs, op. 48, H.174
- 2 Eastern Pictures, for chorus and harp
- 2 Motets, op. 43, H.159-160
- 2 Psalms, for chorus, strings and organ, H.117
- 3 Carols, H.133
- 4 Old English Carols, op. 20b, H.82
- 4 Songs, for soprano and violin, op. 35, H.132
- 4 Songs, op. 4. H.14
- 6 Choral Folk Songs, op. 36b, H.136
- 6 Songs, for soprano and piano, op. 16, H.69
- 7 Partsongs, for soprano, female chorus and strings, op. 44, H.162
- A Choral Fantasia, for soprano, chorus, organ, strings, brass, and percussion, op. 51, H.177
- A Dirge for Two Veterans, for male chorus, brass, and percussion, H.121
- Ave Maria, for female chorus, op. 9b, H.49
- Bring us in Good Ale, op. 34, no. 4, H.131
- Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, op. 26, H.97-100
- Christmas Day, H.109
- First Choral Symphony, op. 41
- Hymns from the Rig Veda, op. 24, H.90
- I Vow to Thee, My Country, H.148
- In the Bleak Midwinter, for chorus and organ, H.73
- Lullay My Liking, for soprano and chorus, op. 34, no. 2, H.129
- My Sweetheart's Like Venus, arranged for chorus
- Nunc dimittis, H.127
- O Lady, Leave That Silken Thread, part-song for unaccompanied mixed chorus, H.4/1
- O Lady, Leave that Silken Thread, H.4/2
- Ode to Death, op. 38, H.144
- Personent hodie
- Short Partsongs, H.13
- Sing Me the Men ere This, op. 43, no. 2, H.160
- Songs from The Princess, for female chorus, op. 20a, H.80
- The Autumn is Old, H.1
- The Cloud Messenger, op. 30, H.111
- The Evening-watch, op. 43, no. 1, H.159
- The Heart Worships, H.95
- The Hymn of Jesus, for 2 choruses, female semi-chorus, and orchestra, op. 37, H.140
- The Mystic Trumpeter, for soprano and orchestra, op. 18, H.71
- The Wandering Scholar, op. 50, H.176
- This Have I Done for My True Love, op. 34, no. 1, H.128
- Wassail Song, H.182
- Winter and the Birds 2, App. 1/40:2
- World In Union, for voice and orchestra
- Chamber
- Duo Concertante, for trombone and organ
- Quintet, for piano and winds in A minor, op. 3, H.11
- Quintet, for winds in A flat major, op. 14, H. 67
- Terzetto, for flute, oboe, and viola, H.158
- Keyboard
- Jig, for piano, H.179
- Nocturne, for piano, H.179
- Stage
- Sávitri, op. 25, H.96
- The Perfect Fool, op. 39, H.150