This is the first score I’ve applied anti-aliasing to. How does it look? 0:00:01 Curtain, the Wizard is making a potion 0:01:18 Dance of the Spirits of Earth 0:05:05 Dance of the Spirits of Water 0:07:57 Dance of the Spirits of Fire 0:11:08 The Mother comes with her son the Fool 0:14:28 The Wizard touts the potion's abilities to the Mother 0:21:16 The Wizard practices courting the Princess with the Mother 0:25:25 The Wizard goes to sleep to await the Princess; the Mother gives her son the potion 0:30:29 The Princess and her procession come 0:33:18 The Wizard tries to court the Princess, but fails as the potion was replaced; he runs away (39:37) 0:39:57 A troubadour comes to court the Princess 0:43:35 A traveler comes to court the Princess 0:46:53 The Princess sees the Fool and falls in love with him due to the potion 0:50:44 A peasant warns of oncoming fire and monsters (the Wizard) 0:56:33 The procession prepares to fight 1:00:20 The Mother holds the Fool's head towards the Wizard, killing the Wizard 1:02:04 The Princess asks the Fool if he loves her; he says no 1:05:27 The prophecy is fulfilled; the Fool is crowned Prince, but falls asleep during the ceremony
I have not yet listened to the whole opera, but I already want to officially declare: Dance of the Spirits of Water is most beautiful thing I've ever heard from Holst (and probably in all classical music of 20 century)
Two thoughts continually strike me as I listen: 1. Hints of melodic, harmonic and orchestration ideas familiar from "The Planets" (all composers have favorite devices!). 2. Hints of Prokofiev (though Holst is elder, of course) - may just be coincidental in the use of "folk" ideas, etc.
Wow what a weird piece. Have always loved the dances like mad but not surprised people found it confusing - the book's a shambles! Thank you for posting this amazing document of this rare piece!
If something disappears or sinks without trace any composer would rescue the good bits for use or even plonk it into something later on down the line. Most audiences had short memories before the ubiquity of recording.
that music during the part where the princess becomes enchanted and falls in love, made me feel like a princess who was becoming enchanted and falling in love.
Lot of thanks for this discovery ! Excellent music, hilarious parody of Wagner and Verdi, absurd but very enjoyable plot... I had a lot of fun and musical pleasure listening to this. Thanks again !
L'œuvre d'un compositeur vit du regard qu'on lui donne. Elle n'est pas limitée à ce qu'elle est, ni à celui qui l'a produite, elle est aussi faite par celui qui l'entend. La musique, la peinture sont un espace de questionnement et de méditation où les sens que l'on lui attribue peuvent venir se faire et se défaire à tout moment ♨
Of course he said "no". Of course it was confusing to the audience. The philosophy here is perfectly spelled out, though admittedy the libretto is so awkward. The score however is ravishing
What a great shame this excellent recording was never released on CD. The only one out there is of a 1967 Radio Broadcast (in Mono) with Sir Charles Groves from Lyrita..
LOVE this work! Holst & other British composers of this couple of decades had limited British plays & ballets to work with. Most of the plays & ballets/choral ballets for which Holst was commissioned to write were not very successful as the storylines went... but his music survives the "lack of enthusiasm" the stage efforts. Holst's music can stand alone beautifully without the action on the stage in almost all cases, although if the stage works had been written after WW2, they probably would have been more popular. "The Perfect Fool" ballet was a bit more successful than some of the others, but the MUSIC is fantastic & as I mentioned, can stand beautifully alone as a concert opus. Holst's orchestration & use of Quartal/Quintal Harmonies & his scoring for winds is amazing. You can tell from the opening of "The Perfect Fool" that Holst was a very fine trombonist himself. Love his scoring & harmonic mastery. The sound is fresh every time I listen.
I'd heard of this opera many years ago--when I originally read about it, it was implied that it was a lost work and I'd never have a chance to hear it. Now that I finally have: the music is gorgeous, and it's a moderately engaging story. An early version of a "fractured fairy tale." For me, however, the highlight was the Wagner parody of the traveler. Aside from the music, the parody of Wagner's stabreim was perfect. I think this work suffers from an audio-only presentation. I would love to see this staged, but given how expensive such a production would be, I doubt if it will ever happen
If Gustav Holst were alive today, what kind of beer/ale/wine/liquor/etc do you think he would drink, if he wanted to drink? Did he drink at all? Or maybe he became intoxicated by moonbeams and æther? (You can't say "absinthe", that can't be right.)
This libretto (even a comic one like this) is not great, though I do give props to one line, "May Hell receive you home!" I think I'll use that. 🙂 The music is marvelous, of course. The chorus in particular is really giving it their all in this recording.
Lots of funny little jokes in this (too many to list here), but, I confess, I'll probably never listen to it again soon... But, it was totally worth the "pain", just to laugh, out loud, especially when The Mother says, "I have one more thing to say" 1:05:28.. 😂. I almost spilled my beer while i was choking on it because I was quietly chuckling to myself so vehemently...
