I heard Imogen Holst perform at Juilliard when I was a student there in the late 1950s. She was an inspiration to me then, and I am so happy to see this documentary of her memories of her distinguished father. His Planets was a special favorite of my own son, Michael, when he was growing up!
Well, what a pleasure. For me it was to see Imogen Holst again. When I was a student at the new University of East Anglia on its now long-gone temporary University Village site, in 1965/66, Imogen Holst gave a series of three talks entitled "East Anglian Composers" - that tiny figure seated on what seemed to be a huge stage, just talking. The first was about the Monks of St Edmundsbury (now more commonly known as Bury St Edmunds), the second was about her father, and the third about Benjamin Britten, whose amanuensis she was. Thank you for reminding me of this!
A v. articulate, delicate odd little bird. But birds do fly, and fly she does. Her experiences as Britten's amanuensis must have been thrilling indeed, tho' a mixed one, since she was totally (& totally) in love w the man. I wonder what her feelings were about him & so many things. I suspect that it was what she did not say which most propelled her. Her father & Vaughan Williams were great friends, Britten not fond of either. She certainly had a huge heart to make room for all that conflict. As to her inner life w of these & many other personalities & music itself, she was a fount of knowledge & experience we shall never know much about. A fine composer she was too! My biggest feeling about her was that she lived a life w/o the love she (& we all) need so much to fulfil ourselves. But Imogen Holst had a specific, if in part tragic destiny to fulfil & that too she did. Bless her! R.I.P.
Valuable interview for all those with an interest in Holst's life and music. I can't imagine ITV (central television 1984) making such a documentary these days, and the BBC only seems to show repeat documentaries tucked away on an obscure evening only station called "BBC Four"...
I honestly thought the title said "Remembering Gustav Mahler". But when I recognized Imogen Holst when she popped up, I figured she might've met Mahler. But then I saw the title again...she's the daughter of one of the most famous composers ever, and remembering him, speaking about what a marvelous and extraordinary man he was. It makes sense now. Imogen Holst herself is a very well-spoken woman, for sure. I could tell she loved her father very much, and looked up to him.
Thoroughly enjoyed this very informative and interesting biographical presentation of Holst's life and work. Thank you for making this available to us. Sincerely, David C Border.😊 enjoyed
I’m sure that an ambitious documentary could still use some of this footage and he would make a great subject. His music was so much more than just The Planets. For students of all ages, there is challenging music for you from Holst no matter if you are in band, orchestra or chorus. I find him very interesting not just as a composer but as a humble man who was totally uninterested in fame. A massive ego is not unusual in composers, but that was not Gustav Holst.
Amazing, i came about Holst's work through John Williams work in Star Wars. I've always liked the Imperial March theme and then later i found a video that compared the soundtrack to The Planets and came to the conclusion that Williams had been inspired by Holst. Cheers to anyone else that also likes The Planets, my favorite is Mars Bringer of War.
Thank you for this upload. I love how she (Imogen) is such a champion of her father's music and the joy which it gave her shines out in this documentary.
Imogen Holst was the inspiration behind the setting up of a music establishment at Dartington that went on to become Dartington College of Arts. She was sent by the very first manifestation of the Arts Council to encourage the arts in Devon. What a monster the Arts Council has now become. It serves no real purpose anymore. I remember singing some of her father's music at Dartington when she came to conduct a student reunion event. Delightful lady.
Holst's career as a composer was a classic example of someone going to the right place and/or meeting someone who might promote, encourage or create the right conditions for advancing a career. The contacts and conditions, unfortunately, weren't influential enough to be of real use, hence a lifetime spent with small amateur choirs and a flirtation with Anglican ritual, English folk music via RV-W (more impediment than help, in my view) and Hindu mysticism. Couple all this with daily bread earned teaching music in St Paul's Girls' School and having to hear his own music through the incipient school orchestra and it's easy to understand why Holst's output was quite modest. The curious and dazzling exception to this was The Planets, civering a vast orchestral canvas and speaking with an authentic voice. The orchestration is imaginative and totally flawless and hints at what might have been had Holst had access to a wider range of musical "enablers".
Thanks so much for uploading this! It's produced by Jim Berrow, who also made a documentary about Elgar (late 1970s?) with all the Elgar commentators (Moore, Kennedy, Young, McVeagh, etc.) and orchestra conducted by Rattle. I wonder if you have this? It would be wonderful to see it again. Thanks (also for the 1964 Proms War Requiem, which ought to be available on a commercial DVD).
No, sorry. I don't have that. However, I notice that you can buy it at Madison Art Shop. Btw, I too hope that War Requiem will come out on DVD. I've been told that for the Burning Fiery Furnace which the BBC broadcast in the late 60s that they cannot locate the artist's original contracts, so they cannot negotiate for commercial release. I wonder if that's also the case for the War Requiem since that would be even earlier.
@@johnrandolph6121 it is an unfinished film made in the late 70s, the bbc even published the rare footage in 2009, but they were deleted from the site some time later: www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/content/articles/2009/07/09/holst_films_feature.shtml (if there is an error in the link, just search for 'Holst the lost films', assuming it is the first link that appears) but after a lot of searching and getting in touch with a lot of people, I got the films with the help of Colin Matthews, we got copies of the Gloucestershire Archive, it wasn't easy, we had to get authorization from the former directors of the film to get copies for studies private, and we got copies of the DVDs with a quote, that's about 4 weeks ago, now we're waiting for the copies to arrive.
