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THE TRUTH ABOUT: Gustav holst | History Defined

Snippets? Apps? Visuals? Why classical music should stop trying to be pop

Classical music’s blessing is also its curse: you’ve simply got to pay it attention. Plus: No wonder Rossini was an Olympics hit – he invented disco

The Guardian - UK

‘It became a running joke how much my brothers and I hated it’: the sound of Christmas to me

Beyond Wham! and Elton, Guardian writers from across the generations select the songs that conjure the personal magic and memories of the season

The Guardian - UK

Lim Cosmic Rhapsody: this orchestral journey to outer space aims to deliver hope amid global crisis – but falls short

On the evening of May 5, I took my seat in London’s Barbican Centre to experience a programme of interplanetary music. The concert began with the world premiere of Lim Cosmic Rhapsody, a piece by composer Manu Martin, and ended with Gustav Holst’s The Planets (completed in 1916 and first…

The Conversation

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Bungalow which was home to composer Imogen Holst protected with listed status

Holst also worked as an assistant to Benjamin Britten in Aldeburgh, Suffolk.

Evening Standard

“They unite Lennon and McCartney, Michael Jackson and even the classic work Mars by Gustav Holst”: Exploring the joy of diminished chords

"They unite Lennon and McCartney, Michael Jackson and even the classic work Mars by Gustav Holst"

MusicRadar

Holst: Sāvitri album review – underrated jewel of 20th-century British music

Switching a mezzo for a soprano in the title role, this impressive recording of one of Holst’s most important works is a fitting celebration of the 150th anniversary of his birth

The Guardian - UK

Three Choirs Festival review – 300-year-old festival celebrates the past and looks to the future

The GBSR duo’s two concerts were particular highlights, while mezzo Beth Taylor was a standout in Holst’s choral ode The Cloud Messenger, programmed to celebrate his 150th anniversary

The Guardian - UK

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Learn to play In the Bleak Midwinter with this festive jazz-blues guitar arrangement that really sleighs

It's time to embrace the Yuletide season and sharpen up your legato skills and melodic development with a jazz-blues arrangement of this classic Christmas song

Guitar World

Il trovatore; The Planets; Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed at the Orchestra review – from Bosch to Bash Street

Spellbinding Jamie Barton and company excel in Adele Thomas’s clear-sighted take on volatile Verdi; to the final frontier via Peckham; and kazoos at the ready for a Beano Concerto

The Guardian - UK

BBC Proms 2023: the 20 concerts to book now, from Anna Lapwood to a Northern Soul night

From Portuguese Fado to the Rite of Spring played from memory, a Horrible Histories opera and a tribute to a Bollywood legend, there’s something for everyone

Evening Standard

Salisbury Cathedral pipe organ will breathe new life into Holst’s Planets

Unique performance with help of children is intended to get people thinking about the work afresh

The Guardian - UK

How an American magazine helped launch one of Britain’s favorite Christmas carols

In 1906, a new carol appeared in “The English Hymnal,” an influential collection of British church music. With words by British poet Christina Rossetti, set to a tune by composer Gustav Holst, it became one of Britain’s most beloved Christmas songs. Now known as “In the Bleak Midwinter,” it was…

The Conversation

‘A nonconformist with a conservative’s regard for tradition’: Ralph Vaughan Williams at 150

He has long been the nation’s favourite composer, but there’s more to him than The Lark. As he turns 150, it’s time to listen afresh to this radical traditionalist

The Guardian - UK

‘I stole CDs off the front of Reader’s Digest’: Myleene Klass’s honest playlist

The former Hear’Say singer grew up on Kylie and Gustav Holst, and can belt out the Clash, but whose songs will she always avoid at karaoke?

The Guardian - UK

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The Guardian - UK

The week in classical: Don Pasquale; Holst’s Sāvitri

The charms of Donizetti’s comic opera continue to elude, while a Holst rarity shines in an elegant fusion of music and movement

The Guardian - UK

Britten Sinfonia/Elder review – Holst’s Indian gem takes centre stage

Savitri was given a rare outing in a concert that framed Holst’s Indian opera with works by Grace Williams and Britten, and closed with a boundary-crossing fusion that Holst would have relished

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