Line #7 Music/GustavHolst


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7	->''"Never compose anything unless the not composing of it becomes a positive nuisance to you."''
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9	Gustav Theodore Holst (21 September 1874, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire - 25 May 1934) was an English composer (of [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Swedish]] and UsefulNotes/{{Latvia}}n descent) of the late 19th to early 20th century. He suffered from neuritis, so he had significant difficulty with his right-hand motor skills. This shattered his childhood dream of being a concert pianist. Holst is most notable for his orchestral Suite ''The Planets'', a composition that became very popular and would go on to influence many of the composers and musicians of the 20th century.
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11	The music of "I Vow To Thee, My Country" is derived from the section "Jupiter" of ''The Planets'', by the way, so you most certainly have heard of Holst's work if you're in Britain or other Commonwealth countries.
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13	!!Operas by Gustav Holst
14	* ''Theatre/{{Sita}}'' (1906), based on the ''Literature/{{Ramayana}}'''s tale of Rama and Sita. Libretto by Holst.
15	* ''Theatre/{{Savitri}}'' (1916), based on the tale of Savitri and Satyavan from the ''Literature/{{Mahabharata}}''. Libretto by Holst.
16	* ''Theatre/ThePerfectFool'' (1923), a humorous swipe at several other composers. Libretto by Holst.
17	* ''Theatre/AtTheBoarsHead'' (1924), adapted from sections of [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare]]'s plays ''Theatre/HenryIVPart1'' and ''Theatre/HenryIVPart2''. Libretto by Holst.
18	* ''Theatre/TheWanderingScholar'' (1934), based on Helen Waddell's history book ''The Wandering Scholars''. Libretto by Clifford Bax.
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21	!!Tropes present in Holst's works:
22	* {{Bookends}}: ''The Planets'' begins and ends with a composition in [[UncommonTime quintuple meter]]. It also begins with a FadeIn and ends with a FadeOut.
23	* BringerOFWarMusic: [[TropeNamer Named after]] "Mars, Bringer Of War", he also [[TropeCodifier codified]] the militant, orchestral pounding that is the signature of that piece.
24	* DrumsOfWar: The "Mars" movement of ''The Planets'', named for the Roman god of war, is suffused with a powerful, pounding drumbeat.
25	* EtherealChoir: "Neptune" from ''The Planets'' ends with a choir singing, suggesting the infinity of the universe.
26	* FadeOut: "Neptune, the Mystic" actually does this ''in a live performance''. Holst's note in the score says the female choir should be singing in a room adjacent to the concert hall, with the doors to the room slowly and silently closed during the final measures.
27	* LastNoteNightmare: "Uranus: The Magician" is mostly whimsical and bouncy, until the end, where the 4th to last note is a dissonant crash, followed by a softer echo, and an unsettling resolution. It's a near-polar opposite from the previous movement, "Saturn: The Bringer of Old Age".
28	* MinimalistCast: ''Sāvitri'' has three solo singing roles (Sāvitri, Satyavān and Death) and no other characters. There is a female chorus, but they're purely part of the music - they don't appear within the story itself and they sing no words.
29	* PatrioticFervor: "Jupiter" from "The Planets" has a mid-section (now known as "Thaxted", named after the village in rural [[UsefulNotes/HomeCounties Essex]] where Holst lived) that was later used as the melody for the patriotic hymn "I Vow to Thee My Country", adapted from a poem by Sir Cecil Spring Rice. Even without the words, the pastoral tune easily evokes the green of the English countryside. ''With'' the words, it evokes the heartbreak of the British people in their millions who sent their sons to die in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI believing (possibly rightly, possibly not) that in doing so they were protecting that green land.
30	* ShoutOut: ''Edgon Heath'' was based on the novels of Creator/ThomasHardy, whom Holst particularly liked. He also considered ''Edgon Heath'' to be the most perfectly realised of his own works.
31	* SmallReferencePools: Better known for ''The Planets'' than anything else he ever composed, much to his annoyance.
32	* StandardSnippet: "Mars", "Jupiter", and "Neptune" from ''The Planets'' are among the most plagiarized and quoted musical compositions of all time. Virtually every science fiction movie or battle movie has a score directly inspired by these movements.
33	--> "The ghost of Gustav Holst will appear before you and refuse to leave until you admit that Music/JohnWilliams has been ripping him off for decades." -- A Horoscope from ''Website/TheOnion''.
34	* TimeMarchesOn: ''The Planets'' was composed in 1915, before Pluto was named a planet in 1930. Holst was still alive at the time, but his CreatorBacklash regarding ''The Planets'' meant that he had no interest in writing a movement for Pluto. For decades people felt this absence was unfortunate, and other composers such as Clive Strutt and Colin Matthews have added movements about Pluto to the work, which are occasionally included in concerts and recordings. The situation changed again when in 2006 Pluto was declared to be a dwarf planet, making Holst's musical piece up to date again.
35	* TropeMaker: Almost single-handedly popularized the wind ensemble. Your school band would not exist if it weren't for Holst. He did this particularly with First Suite in E-flat for Military Band, and ''Hammersmith'', named after [[UsefulNotes/OneLondonThirtyThreeBoroughs his home neighborhood in London]].
36	* TheVonTropeFamily: He was born "Gustavus Theodore von Holst" using the noble prefix that his grandfather, a Baltic German, had appropriated because he felt it sounded more distinguished. Gustav didn't use it in his adulthood, perhaps because of the foreign implications. Music/RalphVaughanWilliams said of Holst "'[[WaxingLyrical in spite of all temptations]]', which his name may suggest, Holst '[[Theatre/HMSPinafore remains an Englishman]]'".
37	* WarIsHell: "Mars: Bringer of War" is a dark and brooding opener of ''The Planets'', evoking the militaristic marching associated with warfare. It was composed during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI too.
38	* WingedHumanoid: "Mercury, the Winged Messenger" from ''The Planets.''

Context Music / GustavHolst