- Fact 2 - Date of Birth: Holst was
born on September 21, 1874
- Fact 3 - Place of Birth:
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England - he was from a Swedish /
Russian family
- Fact 4 - Full Name: Gustav Holst
aka Gustavus Theodor von Holst
- Fact 5 - Lifespan: 1874-1934
- Fact 6 - Name of mother and father:
His parents names were Adolph von Holst and Clara von
Holst
- Fact 7 - Family background: Highly
musical his grandfather was composer of harp music and a harp
teacher and his father was an organist and choirmaster. His
mother was a singer
- Fact 8 - Childhood and education:
Gustav Holst was taught music by his family and was educated at
Cheltenham Grammar School for Boys and went on to attend the
Royal College of Music on a scholarship.
- Fact 9 - A fellow student and
friend of Gustav Holst at the Royal College of Music was Ralph
Vaughan Williams.
- Fact 10 - Gustav Holst played the
piano but due to a nerve condition which affected the movement
of his right hand he moved on to play the trombone and
concentrate on composing
- Fact 11 - The career of Gustav
Holst included appointments as the musical director at James
Allen's Girls' School, Director of Music at St Paul's Girls'
School and director of music at Morley College
- Fact 12 - Gustav Holst was shy,
thin and anaemic. He was also a strict vegetarian
- Fact 13 - Gustav Holst married his
wife Isobel on 1901
- Fact 14 - The most famous work by
Gustav Holst is the Planets, Op. 32 (aka the Planet Suite) which
is a seven-movement orchestral suite. Each movement of the suite
is named after a planet of the Solar System - Earth was not
included
- Fact 15 - The 7 movements by Gustav
Holst which each last for about 50 minutes are called:
- Mars, the Bringer of War
Venus, the Bringer of Peace
Mercury, the Winged Messenger
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
Uranus, the Magician
Neptune, the Mystic
- Fact 16 - Date of Death: Gustav
Holst died on May 25, 1934 in London
- Fact 17 - Holst composed nearly 200 works, including operas,
ballets, choral hymns and songs - his most famous work was the
Planet Suite
- Fact 18 - His music lives on and
the musical works of Holst include the following:
- The Planets
A Somerset Rhapsody
The Perfect Fool
Savitri
Egdon Heath
Choral Fantasia
The Wandering Scholar
Double Concerto for Two Violins and OrchestraFugal Concerto
Ode to Death
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