Gustav Holst (1874–1934) was an English composer and teacher, a friend and contemporary of Ralph Vaughan Williams and one of the distinguished figures of the English musical revival. He was interested not only in English folklore but also in Eastern philosophy and astrology.
Worldwide fame came to him from a single work — the grand orchestral suite “The Planets,” each of whose seven movements portrays the musical “character” of the corresponding planet, from the warlike “Mars, the Bringer of War” to the mystical “Neptune.” This music astonishes with the colour of its orchestration and its powerful imagery, and its influence is felt even in modern film scores. Although the rest of Holst's output is less known, he wrote many worthy choral, orchestral, and chamber works and was a devoted music teacher.
