



Gustav Holst was born on September 21st, 1874 in Gloucestershire; the son of a Swedish mother and an English father. His father, Adolph, was a piano teacher and made Holst take trombone and violin lessons; Gustav also played piano. When Gustav was eight, his mother passed away but his father encouraged him to persevere and continue attendance at the Cheltenham Grammar School; Adolph remarried to one of his piano students.. At age twelve, Holst began composing original music and starting taking inspiration from the works of Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Arthur Sullivan, Edvard Grieg and Richard Wagner and grew a love of English folk music which is beautifully exhibited in his later compositions.

Gustav had light hair and wore glasses, he suffered from breathing problems and had neuritis (a chronic pain in his arm.) Despite this, Gustav was very intelligent and was also interested in astronomy and literature. Throughout his life, Gustav stayed shy and reserved and was often lonely; he was a vegetarian but also chose not to smoke or drink. He had one brother; Ernest Cossart who was two years younger than him and became an actor starting with a stage career in England before appearing on Broadway and in American films in the 1930s and 1940s.

At age fourteen, Holst won a prize in an “amateur” musical competition for a vocal piece, A Christmas Carol. He attended a choir and played trombone and violin in an orchestra before moving to London and attending the Royal College of Music in hopes of becoming a concert pianist. He watched a performance of Mahler at Covent Garden which he thought was brilliant and motivated him in his studies. Gustav befriended a fellow student; Ralph Williams. Shortly thereafter, his neuritis was so painful that he had to quit piano and his childhood dream of becoming a concert pianist.

Gustav left college in 1898, and went to work in the Carl Rosa Opera Company as a coach. He started work on his famous Cotswold Symphony and on his opera Sita which was inspired by his growing interest in Hindu philosophy; the work was never performed during his lifetime. Gustav wrote these pieces on and off while working as a trombonist for the opera company. He finished the symphony in 1900. The Cotswold Symphony was a work keen on establishing Gustav’s style which is grounded in the composers of France and Germany that came before him, the classic folk music he heard around him and his own ear which had a distinctive voice of its own.

In 1901, Gustav married Emily Harrison whom he met in choir; his father died the same year. Gustav described her as a beautiful blue-eyed blonde and little else is known about her life and figure. It was around this time, Gustav learned to play organ, his fourth instrument. The following year, Gustav premiered his symphony which was a massive success but nowhere near the extravagences of his future works. And the year after that, Gustav left the opera company for James Allen’s Girls School in South London. He then took on directorship of music at St. Paul’s Girls School which is where he wrote the St. Paul’s Suite before taking on another teaching position at Morley College.

It was around this time that Gustav finished his opera and started to get more interested in English folk music leaving behind Wagner and others who were a major influence in his adolescence. He wrote Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda and Somerset Rhapsody. He bought a small house in Richmond which would be the family’s new home.

His opera Sita failed to win a prestigious musical competition and Holst began to sink himself further into depression. His doctor ordered him to take a vacation and regain health after burning out and overworking himself in London to establish a career and to make money. Holst took his advice, and went on a trip to the nation of Algeria in North Africa. Gustav enjoyed his trip which became the founding ground for his followup work for orchestra; Beni Mora. He continued teaching music in London. Gustav also worked on his next opera, Savitri; also based on Hindu philosophy.

After a failed performance in 1912 at Morley College, Gustav left for Spain. In Spain, his interest in astronomy and astrology skyrocketed and he would be interested in horoscopes for the rest of his life. When he returned to England, he was given a soundproof studio in St. Paul’s where he spent hours composing music.

Little did he know, his compositions would go dark during the First World War and even today, little is known about that period in Gustav’s life. During the war, Gustav was denied service because of his age even though his brother had left New York for the battlefield as did his closest friend; Ralph Williams. After the war, Gustav started work on his most famous composition; The Planets. He also took more teaching positions at local colleges.

After the release of The Planets and of The Hymn of Jesus Gustav enjoyed major success. His life was starting to calm down after the war when he attempted to leave Britain to help. In 1923, Gustav suffered a concussion after falling down the stairs at one of his rehearsals; this would haunt him for his whole life.

After he recovered, Gustav accepted an invitation to America to conduct a music festival at the University of Michigan. While he was in America one of his operas was being produced back in Britain. When the opera was released it became an instant failure and some audience members who were devoted fans demanded their money back.

Gustav was upset. His work The Planets brought him much deserved attention which Gustav hated. He sunk himself into depression once more. He also complained of head pains likely related to his concussion which would haunt him for the rest of his life. He continued teaching at St. Paul’s until he died in 1933 of a heart failure.

Gustav had one child; a girl, Imogen Holst who also became a composer. She died in 1984 and had no children.