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and CD of her string music
The Music of Imogen Holst - an introductory note
Imogen Holst identified herself closely with composers (and, to a lesser extent, writers) of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries - she arranged and edited music of that time and developed a rapport with it. Naturally the affinity extended itself to folk modality; she never disguised it with a raised seventh (perhaps the dominant seventh) but enjoyed instead a certain freedom of harmony through linear thought. She favoured E as a tonal base, and the Dorian Mode was the most commonly used. The arrangements for SSA are littered with device such as pedal and imitation; more individual to this composer is use of oblique motion. However, although far more of her arrangements than compositions were published (because of demand, especially from schools), it is within her compositions that the true character of this musician can be fully understood. This is, in a way, a more intimate, private output, as yet largely unknown outside an inner circle.
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A Selection of Major Works of Imogen Holst
Phantasy String Quartet 1928
The Unfortunate Traveller 1930
A Hymne to Christ 1940
Serenade 1942
Three Psalms 1943
Five Songs 1944
String Trio No 1 1944
String Quartet No 1 1946
Traditional Carols (arrangements for SSA) 1946, 1948, 1949, 1958
Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow 1950
Loth to Depart 1963
The Fall of the Leaf 1963
The Sun’s Journey 1965
Duo for viola and piano 1968
Hallo my fancy 1972
String Quintet 1982
Sextet for recorders 1984
Published Books and Articles
Gustav Holst – a Biography 1938 OUP
The Book of the Dolmetsch Descant Recorder 1957 Boosey and Hawkes
The Story of Music 1958 Rathbone
Purcell 1959 OUP
Tune 1961 Faber and Faber Ltd
An ABC of Music 1963 OUP
Bach 1965 Faber and Faber
Britten 1966 Faber and Faber
The Music of Gustav Holst 1951 OUP
The Music of Gustav Holst 2nd Edition 1968 OUP
Gustav Holst – A Biography 2nd Edition 1969 OUP
Holst (Short Biographies series) 1972 Novello
Byrd 1972 Faber and Faber
Conducting a Choir 1973 OUP
Holst (Great Composer series) 1974 Faber and Faber Ltd
A Thematic Catalogue of Gustav Holst’s Music 1974 Faber Music Ltd
A Scrapbook for the Holst Birthplace Museum 1978 Lowe and Brydone
The Music of Gustav Holst 3rd Edition
and Holst’s Music Reconsidered 1985 OUP
